In person, supported by her son Mr F Bassi For the v Mr S Swanson, Legal Representative — 2020

The tribunal found that Mrs Bassi had been employed in the laundry business from 3 November 2003 and that her employment continued when the business was transferred from 5 Starz Limited to Ad Valorem Holdings Limited in or around late March to early April 2018. It preferred the Claimant's evidence that she kept working at the premises after the transfer, rejected the Respondent's case that she only began work on 23 April 2018, and found the later contract document and its signature unreliable. The tribunal concluded that TUPE applied and that continuity of employment was not broken.

On that basis, the tribunal held that the Claimant had 14 completed years of service by the date of dismissal on 2 November 2018. It rejected the Respondent's reliance on the P45 dated 29 March 2018 and the accompanying email as proof that the employment had ended before the transfer, finding that those documents did not demonstrate a termination of employment or a break in continuity. The tribunal also noted that the Respondent's own conduct, including meeting the Claimant at the premises without surprise that she was still working there, was consistent with continued employment.

The unfair dismissal and breach of contract complaints were dismissed because they were presented after the three-month time limit and Acas had not been notified within that period, so time could not be extended. The tribunal accepted that the Claimant had waited so that she could speak to Dr St John Heath, but held that this did not make it not reasonably practicable to bring the claims in time. The redundancy payment complaint was different: it was brought within the six-month period, the dismissal was accepted to be by reason of redundancy, and the Claimant's qualifying service meant she was entitled to pursue a redundancy payment.

The judgment therefore allowed the redundancy payment claim and listed the case for a remedy hearing to calculate the amount payable. The tribunal recorded the statutory cap on a week's pay of £505.00 and noted evidence about a possible ex gratia discussion of around £1,000 plus a further £1,000, but no redundancy amount was finally assessed in this decision.