Case 3200951/2020 · Employment Tribunal
Mrs J Pachwicewicz v Wilsons Solicitors (UK) Limited — 2021
- Case reference
- 3200951/2020
- Decision date
- 19 August 2021
- Jurisdiction
- England & Wales
- Judge
- Employment Judge Russell Representation
- Venue
- East London
Parties
2 namedClaimant
Mrs J Pachwicewicz
Respondent
Key findings
Tribunal's reasoningThe claim form presented on 5 April 2020 included unfair dismissal, discrimination because of religion or belief, arrears of pay and other payments. At a preliminary hearing on 21 December 2020, the religion or belief claim was withdrawn and the unfair dismissal claim was struck out because the claimant did not have two years' continuous service. The final hearing was then converted into a preliminary hearing to decide whether the tribunal had jurisdiction over the remaining pay and payslip claims.
The tribunal set out section 230(3) ERA 1996 and the Ready Mixed Concrete approach to employee status, including the need for mutual obligations, and also referred to the worker definition and Pimlico Plumbers Ltd & another v Smith. It considered the evidence of WhatsApp messages, invoices, a witness statement from Dr Diriwari, and the parties' oral evidence. It accepted that the parties met in June 2019, exchanged messages about Polish clients, and that there was a discussion on 6 September 2019 about whether the claimant could work for the respondent.
On the evidence, the tribunal found there was no concluded contract for employment or worker status. It found that the claimant was allowed to believe that such an arrangement was a possibility, but that no binding agreement was made on 6 September 2019. The claimant had provided interpreting services on a self-employed basis outside court, there was no written contract or offer letter, and the messages and invoices were not consistent with a concluded agreement that she would be employed for 20 hours a week at £9 per hour.
The tribunal therefore found that the claimant was neither an employee nor a worker and had no jurisdiction to hear the remaining section 13 and section 8 ERA 1996 claims, which were dismissed. It noted that if jurisdiction had existed it would have considered a remedy limited to 20 hours a week at minimum wage for the period 9 September 2019 to 4 April 2020, about £4,926, but no award was made.
Claims and outcomes
4 findings recorded| Claim type | Issue or finding | Outcome | Protected characteristic | Award |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Religion or belief discrimination | Claim withdrawn at the preliminary hearing on 21 December 2020 and dismissed upon withdrawal. | Withdrawn | Religion or belief | — |
| Unfair dismissal | Struck out at the preliminary hearing on 21 December 2020 because the claimant did not have two years' continuous service. | Struck out | — | — |
| Unlawful deduction from wages | Remaining claim under section 13 ERA 1996 dismissed after the tribunal found the claimant was neither an employee nor a worker. | Dismissed | — | — |
| Other | Claim under section 8 ERA 1996 for payslips/itemised pay statements dismissed for lack of employee/worker status. | Dismissed | — | — |
Legal tests applied
3 references- section 230(3) ERA 1996
- Ready Mixed Concrete South East Limited v Minister of Pensions and National Insurance
- Pimlico Plumbers Limited & another v Smith
Official outcome judgment PDF
Gov.uk primary recordThe official judgment PDF on gov.uk contains the tribunal's outcome, reasoning, and any remedy details. Where this page does not yet show extracted outcomes for every claim, use the PDF as the authoritative source.
Published on gov.uk under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
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