Miss C Ndiweni v Christ Embassy — 2020

Miss C Ndiweni was employed by Christ Embassy as an administrative assistant from 1 August 2016 and also served as a pastor. The tribunal found that, after discussions with Pastor Adesina in September and October 2018, she was permitted to work three days a week so that she could attend university on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It found that she started working part-time from November 2018, but that the respondent did not communicate that arrangement to Deaconess Kilsy.

The tribunal held that the respondent dismissed the claimant by word and deed. It relied on the email of 23 January 2019, which placed her on unpaid leave from 1 February 2019, and on the later P45 showing an end date of 31 January 2019. Applying the approach in Sandle v Adecco, Kelly v Riveroak Associates Ltd and Hogg v Dover College, the tribunal concluded that the email terminated the part-time arrangement and that an objective observer would understand that the claimant's employment had been brought to an end. The wrongful dismissal claim therefore succeeded because the claimant was entitled to four weeks' notice and had only been paid to 31 January 2019, leaving three weeks' pay outstanding.

The unfair dismissal claim also succeeded. The respondent argued that there was some other substantial reason because the claimant wanted to work part-time and the organisation could not accommodate it, but the tribunal did not accept that case. It found that the claimant had already been working part-time with approval, that the respondent failed to engage with her objections or requests for a meeting, and that it did not properly consider alternatives such as swapping days or allowing weekend work. The tribunal said that, even if a potentially fair reason had been shown, the dismissal would not have been fair and reasonable in all the circumstances under section 98(4) ERA 1996.

On remedy, the tribunal awarded £462.18 for wrongful dismissal. For unfair dismissal it awarded a basic award of £462.46 and a compensatory award of £1,892.76, comprising £1,505.26 for loss of earnings, £37.50 for pension loss and £350 for loss of statutory rights. It rejected the respondent's argument that the claimant had contributed to her dismissal and then applied a 25% uplift of £704.35 for the complete failure to engage with her or offer an appeal, producing a total award of £3,521.75.