Mrs. J.P. Hewitt v Tracy Wilde and Jayne Cotton trading as TJ’s Cosy Café Limited and 1 other — 2024

The claimant had worked as a catering assistant at TJ’s Cosy Cafe since 1 April 2000. The tribunal found that the first respondent told her in August 2022 that the café had been sold, but the business was not in fact sold to the second respondent. Instead, the second respondent took over management of the café under an agreement while sale negotiations continued, and the claimant continued working without a break in her employment.

The tribunal rejected the first respondent’s assertion that there had been a meeting on 4 August 2022. It found there was no transfer of an undertaking under regulation 3(1)(a) TUPE 2006 because the second respondent had not purchased the business, but it did find a service provision change under regulation 3(1)(b). The claimant’s catering assistant work was the same before and after the management change, and the tribunal accepted her evidence that she simply continued turning up for work. When the second respondent later decided not to proceed with the purchase, it asked for the claimant to be put back on the first respondent’s payroll. The second respondent then served a P45 dated 27 July 2023 and returned the café keys on or about 30 July 2023.

The tribunal found that the first respondent dismissed the claimant when it took back the keys, locked up the café, and decided not to trade. It held that the claimant was redundant because the first respondent ceased to carry on the business for the purposes of which she was employed. The dismissal was found to be unfair because the first respondent did not engage in any consultation process or give warning to the claimant. The second respondent was dismissed from the proceedings.

On remedy, the tribunal accepted the claimant’s continuous service from 1 April 2000 and her weekly remuneration of £260 gross. It awarded a basic award of £7,800, loss of statutory rights of £500, notice pay of £2,860, and loss of earnings of £8,060. The total judgment against the first respondent was £19,220. The tribunal stated that the total monetary award payable for unfair dismissal was £16,360, with a prescribed element of £8,560 covering the period from 30 July 2023 to 5 August 2024, and a non-prescribed element of £10,660.