Ms J Lenny v National Federation of Roofing Contractors Ltd — 2020

The tribunal found that the parties agreed on 31 March 2020 that the claimant would be furloughed on terms set out in a written letter. That letter stated that she would be paid 80% of her current monthly gross salary, capped at £2,500 per month, subject to tax, NI and pension deductions. The tribunal rejected the claimant’s case that the agreement was for £2,500 net pay, finding that the words net and gross were not used in the phone discussion and that the written agreement was clear that the figure was gross.

The tribunal also found that the written furlough agreement allowed the arrangement to continue beyond 31 May 2020 if the CJRS continued and the respondent’s circumstances remained the same. On that basis, the deductions after May 2020 were within the scope of the agreement. The tribunal held that the claimant had signified her agreement in writing before the deductions were made, so the deductions were authorised under section 13(1)(b) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 and were not unlawful. The claimant’s later grievance and concerns did not undermine the validity of the agreement, and the tribunal did not find that she had been subjected to undue pressure or that her consent was ineffective.

The claimant asked to add the first 10 days of August 2020, when she was also paid at the reduced furlough rate, but the tribunal refused the amendment. It found there was insufficient evidence to decide whether it had been reasonably practicable to bring that claim in time under section 23(4) of the Employment Rights Act 1996, and in any event the proposed August complaint would have failed for the same reasons as the main claim. The claimant’s request for compensation for taking seven days of annual leave during furlough also failed because the tribunal found no financial loss and, in any event, there was no unlawful deduction on which to base a section 24(2) claim.