Ms E Arrighi v Newsquest Media Group Limited — 2021

The tribunal found that Ms Arrighi was an employee of Newsquest from 1999 to March 2001, despite being described as a freelancer and invoicing at a daily rate. It accepted that the respondent controlled her hours, tasks and place of work, that she provided personal service, and that there was mutuality of obligation. The facts that she was not on payroll and accounted for her own tax and national insurance were not treated as determinative.

On that basis, the tribunal held that the redundancy payment had been calculated on the wrong length of service. Her service should have been treated as 20 completed years rather than 19, so the claim for an increased redundancy payment succeeded and £601.62 was ordered in respect of the shortfall.

The tribunal also upheld the claim for untaken annual leave. Although the respondent told the claimant that she should use remaining leave before termination, the notice did not specify the days on which leave was to be taken, so it did not comply with regulation 15 of the Working Time Regulations. The tribunal found that 13.32 days of annual leave remained unpaid and ordered £1,620.20 in respect of that entitlement.

The separate claim for a long service award failed. The tribunal accepted that the award was payable once 20 years' service had been reached, but held that entitlement arose in 2019 and that the claim was out of time by the time of the October 2020 termination. The judgment recorded the award as worth £200 in vouchers, but no sum was awarded on that claim.