Calder v William Calder — 2021

The tribunal held that there was no contract of employment for the year ending 5 April 2014 because there was no mutuality of obligation, little control over when, how or where the work was done, and no remuneration for that year. Employment therefore counted from 6 April 2014, when the Respondent accepted the Claimant was employed, and continued until the termination found by the tribunal. The Claimant had worked in the family plumbing business doing bookkeeping and administration, and was on furlough from April 2020 until her employment ended.

On dismissal, the tribunal found that the Claimant was not dismissed on 15 February 2021 and did not resign on 16 February 2021. It found that the Respondent dismissed her on 17 February 2021 by reason of the breakdown in their personal relationship, which was capable of amounting to some other substantial reason under section 98(1)(b) ERA 1996. The dismissal was nevertheless unfair under section 98(4) because no meeting was held with the Claimant and no alternative arrangements were discussed before the decision to end employment.

The tribunal awarded unpaid wages of £408 gross for 1 February 2021 to 17 February 2021, notice pay of £1,010.76 gross, and holiday pay of £808.61 gross. It also made a basic award of £1,516.14, calculated by reference to six years' service and the gross weekly pay of £168.46. No compensatory award was made because the tribunal considered that, had there been a meeting rather than a summary dismissal, the employment was likely to have ended by mutual agreement during the notice period, and it also made no award for loss of statutory rights.

On the written statement issue, the tribunal found that the Claimant had not been provided with a written statement of employment particulars. It held, however, that there were exceptional circumstances making a section 38 Employment Act 2002 award unjust or inequitable, so no further payment was made on that head. The tribunal also recorded that there was no monetary award under the recoupment regulations.