Mrs H J Gowland v BusinessWorks International Limited Interested Party: Secretary of State for Business & Trade — 2023

The claimant presented her claim on 11 September 2023. The reasons record that she had set up the respondent business in 2018 and was its major shareholder and director. The claim was brought in respect of a redundancy payment, arrears of pay, notice pay and holiday pay. The respondent did not serve a response, but the Secretary of State, joined as an interested party, resisted the claims.

The tribunal made directions on 12 October 2023 requiring the claimant to provide documents and a witness statement. Employment Judge Jeram later directed her to continue to comply and specifically to address why she said she was an employee or worker, but she did not prepare a file, send documents, or provide a witness statement. The Secretary of State then arranged an indexed bundle and asked her to send her witness statement, but there was no response.

The claimant sought postponements of the hearing on 3 December 2023 and again on 13 December 2023. Those applications were refused by Judges Loy and Aspden, and Employment Judge Sweeney declined to postpone the hearing further because there had been no material change of circumstances and the claimant still had not complied with the earlier directions. The reasons also note emails from the claimant referring to mental health issues.

After considering Rule 47 of the Employment Tribunal Rules of Procedure 2013, the claim form, the available information, and the absence of any witness statement or documents from the claimant, the tribunal dismissed the proceedings. No merits findings were made on employee or worker status, entitlement to redundancy pay, arrears of pay, notice pay, or holiday pay.