Cherri Aldridge-Todman v Paul Jones — 2023

Cherri Aldridge-Todman worked for Paul Jones as a carer. The tribunal heard the case with Employment Judge Hamour sitting alone. It accepted that the respondent was a private individual with significant disabilities and treated him as a vulnerable witness. The claimant pursued constructive unfair dismissal, notice pay, holiday pay, and a wage deduction issue that she later withdrew.

On the alleged constructive dismissal, the tribunal applied section 95(1)(c) and section 98(4) ERA 1996, and referred to Orr v Milton Keynes Council, British Homes Stores Ltd v Burchell, and Turner v East Midlands Trains Ltd. It found that in May 2020 the claimant had been offered a choice between SSP and holiday pay after breaking her leg, rather than being forced to take annual leave. It also found that when the respondent asked her to work on 24 December 2020, she had not yet told him that she had been in close contact with someone with covid, so the request was not against government guidance.

The tribunal further found that the respondent's decision not to furlough the claimant, his indication that he would check the SSP position with his accountant, and his instruction that she isolate for 10 days and then retest and stay away for a further 4 days were all reasonable in the circumstances. It preferred Miss Briggs' evidence on the Christmas Day arrangements and found it reasonable for the respondent to think the claimant had been at her father's house and may have been exposed to a covid contact. For those reasons, none of the matters relied on by the claimant were found to be calculated or likely to destroy or seriously damage trust and confidence, so there was no fundamental breach, no constructive dismissal, and no entitlement to notice pay.

On holiday pay, the tribunal applied regulations 13 and 14 of the Working Time Regulations 1998. It accepted the respondent's payroll evidence that the claimant's leave year ran from 1 April to 31 March, that 272 days of the leave year had passed by termination, and that the claimant had accrued holiday worth £1,652.70. It accepted the respondent's calculation that she had been paid £1,968.88 in total leave pay, with some hours later re-categorised as wages in January 2021, so no holiday pay remained outstanding. The wage deduction claim was withdrawn during the hearing and the judgment records it as dismissed upon withdrawal.