Katherine Connolly v Intisar Salem Ali Alsabah and 1 other — 2022

The tribunal found that Katherine Connolly was an employee of Prismologie International Ltd, not of Intisar Salem Ali Alsabah personally. It accepted that she had been offered employment on behalf of the second respondent in December 2018, started work on 1 February 2019, worked as chief executive officer, and acted in the name of the second respondent only. It did not accept the respondent's suggestion that she was a consultant or that there had been any consultancy agreement. On that basis, the claim against the first respondent was dismissed because she was neither an employee nor a worker of the first respondent and no guarantee of the second respondent's liabilities was proved.

The tribunal found that the claimant's employment ended on 7 November 2021 when she was removed as a director, told to hand over documentation and social media because she no longer worked for the company, and lost access to email and Microsoft Teams. Her contract provided for four months' notice and there was no evidence of gross misconduct. The tribunal calculated the loss for that notice period at £48,600 gross, made up of £45,000 pay and £3,600 employer pension contributions at 8%, but the damages were capped at £25,000 under the tribunal's contract damages limit.

On holiday pay, the tribunal found that the leave year ran from 1 February to 31 January and that the claimant had taken no annual leave in any of the three leave years considered. It held that the first year's untaken leave could not be carried over because there was no express agreement and no request or refusal of leave, but that the second year's entitlement could be carried forward because COVID-19 disruption and the structure of the business meant it was not reasonably practicable for her to take leave. It then held that 58 days' accrued but untaken leave remained payable on termination, worth £30,421 gross. On wages, the tribunal found that the claimant was not paid salary from 1 February 2021 to 7 November 2021 and awarded £103,840 gross, while declining any separate award for employer pension contributions because they are not wages for the purposes of section 27 ERA 1996. The resulting awards were £25,000, £30,421 and £103,840, subject to the usual tax and national insurance deductions where applicable.