Claimant v Ecigarus Wishaw Ltd and The Old School Guest House Ltd — 2020

The tribunal found that both claimants were employed by Ecigarus Wishaw Ltd, not The Old School Guesthouse Ltd. Although from November 2018 they received an additional monthly payment through the guesthouse payroll and carried out guesthouse duties, the tribunal held that this did not create a separate employment relationship with the guesthouse. The claims against The Old School Guesthouse Ltd were dismissed.

On termination, the tribunal rejected the respondent's case that the claimants had resigned. Applying section 95 ERA 1996 and an objective assessment of the 8 November 2019 meeting, it held that Mr Bowman's refusal to continue with additional guesthouse duties did not amount to a resignation, and that Mrs Bowman's employment ended because her role was linked to his. The tribunal found that Mr Koiak's statement that their employment was terminated amounted to dismissal.

Because the respondent proceeded on the basis of resignation and did not establish a reason for dismissal under section 98 ERA 1996, both unfair dismissal claims succeeded. Mr Bowman received a basic award of £670 and lost wages of £249, totalling £919. Mrs Bowman received a basic award of £2,150 and lost wages of £698, totalling £2,848.

On the money claims, Mr Bowman was awarded £498 notice pay and £359.31 unpaid wages. Mrs Bowman was awarded £1,745 notice pay; her wages claim was dismissed because the parties agreed no balance remained due after deductions; and she was awarded £1,552.67 for the retained bonus sum, but not the fourth-quarter bonus she had claimed.