Mrs M Butler v Mairi Claire Dwyer — 2020

The tribunal found that Mrs M Butler was employed as a waitress at Nellie Browns from 17 March 2014, working 18 hours a week for £147 per week. When Ms Tighe sold the business, the respondent took over the same coffee shop from the same premises, under the same name, with the same staff and equipment, and the tribunal found there was no gap in the claimant's employment between 29 September 2018 and 1 October 2018.

The principal issue on the redundancy and notice claims was whether the October 2018 change of ownership broke continuity. The tribunal held that s.218(2) ERA 1996 applied, and that the purchase was also a relevant transfer under TUPE 2006. On that basis, the claimant's service with Ms Tighe counted towards her continuous employment with the respondent and her employment transferred on the same terms and conditions. The tribunal therefore found that she had 5 years' continuous service at dismissal.

The tribunal accepted that the respondent ceased trading in June 2019, so the claimant was dismissed by reason of redundancy within s.139(1)(a)(i) ERA 1996. It also found that she was dismissed on 17 June 2019 with no prior notice, so she was dismissed in breach of contract and was entitled to 5 weeks' notice under s.86 ERA 1996. Using her age of 63 and 5 years' service, the tribunal calculated statutory redundancy pay at 7.5 weeks' pay and awarded £1,102.00.

On holiday pay, the tribunal found that the contractual holiday year set out in the 2014 statement of terms transferred with the claimant under TUPE. It held that by the date of dismissal she had worked 108 days in the leave year beginning 1 March 2019 and had taken 5 days' holiday. Applying regulation 14 of the Working Time Regulations 1998, the tribunal calculated 2 days' untaken holiday at £36.75 per day and awarded £73.50. The tribunal's overall monetary awards were £1,102.00, £735.00 and £73.50, totalling £1,910.50.