Miss Emma Bunn v Ms Polly Aitken trading as Lingwood Kindergarten — 2024

Miss Emma Bunn presented a claim for a statutory redundancy payment after early conciliation. Ms Polly Aitken, trading as Lingwood Kindergarten, accepted that she had employed the claimant and that the employment ended when the kindergarten closed suddenly in or about March 2023. The only issue raised was the calculation of the redundancy payment, including length of service and the relevant weekly pay.

The tribunal found that the facts were agreed. It accepted the claimant’s evidence, supported by P60s, that employment began on 1 June 2006, and found that the employment ended on 29 March 2023 when it was clear that the kindergarten was unlikely to reopen for some time. On that basis, the tribunal found that the employment ended by reason of redundancy and that the claim was presented within time as extended by early conciliation.

The tribunal found that the claimant had 16 full years of continuous service at the date of termination. It accepted that she worked 35 hours a week during term time, excluding an unpaid 20 minute break, and that she was paid the National Living Wage of £9.50 per hour. It therefore found her weekly pay to be £332.50 and held that weeks outside term time could be discounted for the purposes of calculating a statutory redundancy payment.

Applying the statutory formula under section 162 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, the tribunal concluded that the claimant was entitled to 15 weeks’ pay. The opening reserved judgment records the redundancy payment as £4,987.50, although paragraph 12 of the reasons contains a different figure of £4,978.50 while also stating the calculation as 15 x £332.50.