R Martin v J Stevenson (solicitor) The Greenhouse Community CIC — 2021

At the preliminary hearing on 2 August 2021, the tribunal decided that The Greenhouse Community CIC, not Greenhouse Services Limited, was the claimant's employer. The judge accepted the claimant's evidence that she had responded to a vacancy for the first respondent, interviewed with the people who ran it, signed an offer letter from the first respondent dated 21 June 2018, and started work on 17 July 2018. The second respondent was never mentioned at interview, the fact that its name appeared on payslips was not enough to establish an employment relationship with it, and no evidence was produced of any offer or terms from the second respondent.

In a separate deposit order, the tribunal considered the respondent's argument that the claimant was not entitled to a redundancy payment. The judge said the response did not advance a proper basis for that position, found that the claimant was plainly redundant on the documents sent by the respondent, and said she had the requisite two years' service and had been expressly made redundant. A deposit of £500 was ordered under Rule 39 of the Employment Tribunals Rules of Procedure 2013 as a condition of continuing to advance that argument, but the judgment did not finally decide the redundancy payment claim.