Brannan v , lay representative Greater Glasgow Health Board — 2022

The claimant was employed as a registered midwife by Greater Glasgow Health Board from 20 September 2021 to 24 May 2022. The proceedings also mentioned discrimination on grounds of religion or belief and a breach of contract/unpaid wages claim, but this judgment determined only the preliminary issue of whether she had sufficient service to bring an unfair dismissal claim under s.108 ERA 1996.

The claimant argued that her earlier NHS employments should be treated as continuous, contending that NHS bodies were effectively one employer or at least associated employers for the purposes of s.218(6) and s.231 ERA 1996. The respondents relied on Argyll & Clyde Health Board v Foulds & Others and Winchester and Eastleigh Healthcare NHS Trust v Walker, and submitted that Scottish Health Boards are statutory public bodies and not companies.

The tribunal accepted the respondents' analysis. It held that Health Boards are separate statutory bodies, not companies, partnerships or charities, so s.231 did not apply. It also held that Winchester was in point and binding, so s.218(6) could not be relied on to aggregate the claimant's service across different health bodies. The tribunal further noted that the claimant was not in 'relevant employment' for the purposes of s.218(8) and (9), and that TUPE did not apply.

For those reasons, the tribunal held that the claimant did not have the qualifying service required by s.108 ERA 1996 and dismissed the unfair dismissal claim. After that ruling, the hearing moved into case management, with further and better particulars to be intimated and the discrimination issue under s.13 Equality Act 2010 left outstanding for a later hearing.