In person For the v No participation — 2021

The case was heard at Watford on 26 August 2022 before Employment Judge R Lewis sitting alone. The tribunal found that Mrs A Abnoosian, as the personal representative of the estate of the late Dr V Toomassian, was the correct respondent under section 206(1) of the Employment Rights Act 1996. The claimant had worked at the Wigmore Dental Clinic for over four years, under a contract with Dr Toomassian as an individual, and the tribunal accepted that he was admitted to hospital around 4 January 2021 and died on 22 January 2021.

The first two claims were presented out of time, but the tribunal held that it was not reasonably practicable for them to have been brought within the normal time limit. It accepted the claimant’s evidence that, after Dr Toomassian’s death, there was shock, distress and uncertainty, that she sought guidance from ACAS, and that she was advised to wait while there remained a possibility that the practice would be sold and her employment would transfer. Once Mrs Abnoosian later said the practice could not be sold, the claimant acted promptly by pursuing ACAS conciliation and then the tribunal claim.

On the merits, the tribunal accepted all three elements of the claim. It found that the net sum of £1,136.48 shown on the December 2020 payslip had not been paid, that the claimant had received no pay from 4 January 2021 onwards but was entitled to five days' guaranteed pay at £31 per day, and that she was redundant on Dr Toomassian’s death. The tribunal ordered payment of £1,136.48 net, £155 for guaranteed pay, and £1,440 as a redundancy payment, making a total of £2,731.48.