Zoe Ashwell Respondent 1: Respondent 2: WH Pubs Ltd WHCRIC Ltd v Sophie Forrest – HR Consultant — 2020

The claimant was employed from May 2019, later moving in September 2020 to a 40-hour full-time contract at £1,600 per month. She had been furloughed in March 2020 and again between November 2020 and March 2021. The dispute focused on whether, for the second furlough, she should have been paid 80% of her new salary rather than the amount calculated by reference to her earlier furlough period.

The tribunal accepted the respondent's explanation that, under the CJRS, the reference day for an employee furloughed in March 2020 became 19 March 2020 and did not change, even if the employee later received a pay rise or changed hours. It found that the claimant's reference pay for the later furlough was therefore still based on the March 2020 calculation, and that this accorded with the email from the respondent's wages bureau saying the furlough calculations had been applied correctly and were not recalculated because of the contract change.

On that basis, the tribunal found the claimant had not shown that she was entitled to 80% of her new salary during the second furlough. It held that there had been no unauthorised deduction from wages in respect of the furlough payment. The claim in relation to holiday pay also failed because the claimant accepted in evidence that she had received her holiday pay.

The tribunal noted some initial uncertainty about the correct respondent, but in the absence of documentary evidence to the contrary and on the basis of the payslip naming WH Pubs Ltd, it found the first respondent was the employer. References to the respondent in the judgment were therefore to WH Pubs Ltd, and the claim against the second respondent was also dismissed.