Dr H Dahwa v Hywel Dda University Local Health Board — 2025

Dr H Dahwa was engaged by Hywel Dda University Local Health Board as a medical bank worker from March 2021. The tribunal accepted that she was a worker when on each assignment, but found that the arrangement was assignment-specific and that there was no overarching or umbrella contract between assignments. It found no mutuality of obligation between shifts, and held that the Claimant was free to refuse work and did in fact stop working after her last shift on 30 July 2021.

The tribunal found that the Claimant received holiday pay through the hourly rate and that the relevant terms referred to an hourly rate inclusive of annual leave payment at 12.07%. It noted that the Claimant had later argued that holiday pay had been underpaid, relying on authorities including Harpur Trust v Brazel and Smith v Pimlico Plumbers, but held that those points did not assist because the complaints were out of time. The tribunal also found that the Claimant knew, at the latest by September 2021, how her holiday pay had been calculated.

On limitation, the tribunal held that any WTR complaint should have been brought within three months of the end of the relevant assignment, and in particular within three months of the last assignment on 30 July 2021. It rejected the argument that the engagement terminated only when she was removed from the bank list on 31 December 2023. The alternative unlawful deduction claim was also dismissed: the tribunal held that the last relevant deduction was in September 2021, and that s.23(4A) ERA 1996 meant it had no jurisdiction to consider deductions more than two years before the ET1 lodged on 21 March 2024.

No monetary award was made. The claim to amend to add a breach of contract complaint was refused at the hearing and did not form part of the final judgment.