Mrs N Hunt v Derbyshire County Council — 2019

Mrs N Hunt was employed by Derbyshire County Council from 1 September 2014 to 21 October 2017. The tribunal found that her service was continuous across her Whitwell fixed-term contract, the later Whitwell supply arrangement, and her Brookfield appointment. It held that the short gaps in work in April and May 2016, and the longer gap over the summer of 2016, were covered by section 212(3)(b) ERA 1996 as temporary cessations of work. The Brookfield visits in summer 2016 were voluntary preparatory work and did not amount to a contract of employment.

The tribunal found that the Brookfield fixed-term paperwork was not unequivocal as to termination because it described 31 August 2017 as an approximate end date and also included notice provisions. It rejected the contention that employment ended on 31 August 2017 and held that it did not end on 30 September 2017 either. The effective date of termination was 21 October 2017, when the claimant received the letter enclosing her P45 and that communication was treated as unambiguous notice that her employment had ceased.

On time limits, the tribunal held that the automatic unfair dismissal complaint was out of time. It accepted that it was not reasonably practicable for the claimant to present that complaint within the primary period, having regard to the health difficulties affecting her baby and her own mental health, but it decided that she did not present it within such further period as was reasonable. By contrast, for the pregnancy and maternity discrimination complaint, the tribunal exercised the wider just and equitable discretion under section 123 Equality Act 2010. It accepted the claimant's explanation for the delay, found the delay after the impediment had eased to be relatively short, and found no material prejudice to the respondent, so that complaint was allowed to proceed to a final hearing.