In person For the v Mr Alistair Hobbs – General Counsel — 2020

The tribunal found that the claimant transferred to the respondent under TUPE on 16 August 2019 and, on the documents before it, was employed under a contract of employment rather than a contract for services. It accepted that he was placed on furlough from 24 March 2020 and that the respondent ended the assignment and furlough on 26 June 2020 because of reduced work during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The claimant’s claim for furlough pay to 3 July 2020 failed. The judge held that the 9 July 2020 text about a final furlough claim was generic and did not extend his furlough period beyond 26 June 2020. For the same reason, the claim for a full week’s furlough payment ending 26 June 2020 also failed, because he was only entitled to furlough pay up to the actual end date of 26 June 2020.

The holiday pay claim for the period before furlough also failed. The tribunal accepted the respondent’s evidence that the claimant’s remaining pre-furlough holiday entitlement had been paid in November 2020, when the payroll slip recorded a payment of £772.31 gross for holiday units, and it rejected the suggestion that this was a bonus.

The tribunal upheld the claim for holiday pay accrued during furlough. It rejected the respondent’s submission that the claimant only accrued holiday when on assignment, holding that he accrued holiday during furlough on the basis of his contract of employment and full hours of work. Applying the Working Time Regulations 1998, the tribunal calculated the holiday accrued during 24 March 2020 to 26 June 2020 at £900.52 gross, subject to tax and national insurance contributions.