Father Stavros Bozos v Greek Orthodox Community of Leeds — 2024

This was a reserved judgment after a preliminary hearing limited to whether Father Stavros Bozos was an employee of the Greek Orthodox Community of Leeds for the purposes of the pending unfair dismissal, wrongful dismissal and written-reasons claims. The respondent's case was that he was seconded from the Church of Greece and remained employed by that body; the claimant relied on the written offer and contract issued by the respondent. The tribunal concluded that the claimant was an employee of the respondent and that the substantive claims could therefore proceed.

The tribunal placed weight on the contemporaneous documents. The respondent's letters in June 2018 referred to a full-time employment contract and an offer letter, and the signed contract described the claimant as an employee, the respondent as employer, and contained the usual incidents of employment including pay of £25,800 per year, hours, holiday, grievance and disciplinary provisions, and a two-month notice term. Although the contract also referred to the claimant's secondment and to the Constitution of the Church of Greece, the tribunal held that the Constitution was not incorporated into the contract and that the agreement was not fixed-term on its face.

On the factual relationship, the tribunal accepted that ecclesiastical matters remained under the authority of the Archbishop and the Church of Greece, but found that the respondent controlled the claimant's day-to-day work in the UK so far as was appropriate for his role. The respondent imposed administrative, managerial and social duties not found in the Church constitution, required the claimant to seek annual leave through the respondent, and dealt with issues about his performance through committee processes. The tribunal also relied on the claimant's integration into the community and on the respondent's furloughing of him during the pandemic.

Applying the statutory definition in section 230 ERA 1996 and the authorities it cited, including Ready Mixed Concrete, Street v Mountford, Consistent Group v Kalwak, Protectacoat Firthglow, Autoclenz and Uber, the tribunal found that the written contract reflected the real relationship between the parties. It accepted that the claimant also had a secondment relationship with the Church of Greece, but held that this did not prevent an employment relationship with the respondent. No remedy was determined at this stage, and the case was left to proceed on the substantive claims.