Ms Michaela Vickers v Teckwood Ltd — 2026

Ms Michaela Vickers was told on 4 March 2025 that her employment was ending immediately because of alleged redundancy. The tribunal found that the termination occurred towards the end of, but during, her additional maternity leave. It concluded that the dismissal was automatically unfair under section 99 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 and regulation 20 of the Maternity and Parental Leave Regulations 1999.

Teckwood Ltd filed no ET3, did not attend the hearing and had taken no part in the proceedings. Having established that the respondent had been properly served, Employment Judge R S Drake entered judgment under rule 22 of the Employment Tribunal Procedure Rules 2024 following examination of the claimant's evidence. The tribunal also upheld the breach of contract claim based on dismissal without notice.

For unfair dismissal, the tribunal awarded a basic award of £1,384.61 and a compensatory award of £19,886.72, comprising £500 for loss of statutory rights and £19,386.72 for loss from the effective date of termination, subject to a statutory maximum of 12 months. It awarded £1,118.46 net of tax for three weeks' statutory minimum notice, producing a grand total of £22,389.77.