Mrs K Lacey v The Charity of Thomas Dawson — 2023

Mrs K Lacey had been employed by The Charity of Thomas Dawson as clerk and receiver from May 1991. After a strategic review beginning in September 2019, the trustees decided to delete that role and introduce a general manager post with wider duties. The tribunal found there was a genuine redundancy within section 139 ERA 1996, that redundancy was the reason for dismissal, and that the dismissal fell within the range of reasonable responses under section 98 ERA 1996.

The tribunal accepted that the redundancy process involved consultation meetings on 14 April, 21 April and 9 May 2020, the claimant was offered the opportunity to apply for the general manager role, and her alternative proposal to split the functions into two posts was considered and rejected. It held that the consultation was carried out at a formative stage, that the claimant was given a fair chance to make representations, and that the appeal heard by trustee Ms Mary Briggs was sufficient in the context of a small charity. The unfair dismissal complaint was dismissed.

On holiday pay, the tribunal found that Mrs Lacey knew of the right to paid annual leave, that the holiday year ran with the calendar year, and that the flexible working arrangements did not prevent her taking leave. It held that she was not refused paid annual leave, that regulation 13(9) WTR 1998 meant any unused leave expired at the end of each leave year, and that the King v Sash Window Workshop principle on carry-over did not apply. The holiday pay claim under regulation 14 WTR 1998 was dismissed and no further payment was due; the judgment records a payment of £483.23 for untaken leave in 2020 and refers to an accountant's calculation based on 18.72 hours and £348.20, but concludes that nothing more was owed.