Mrs P Sutherland v G & L Enterprises — 2023

This was a preliminary issues judgment in a case brought by Mrs P Sutherland arising from her maternity leave and the asserted transfer of her work to Food Creations (Bathgate) Ltd. The tribunal separated the claimant's work into kilt administration work and Duntarvie Castle venue work. It found she was an employee doing the kilt administration work, first for GTHC and then for G & L after 1 April 2023, but that her venue work was carried out under a contract for services.

On the venue work, the tribunal accepted that the claimant personally carried out promotion, sales and delivery work and that there was mutuality of obligation and sufficient control for part of the status analysis. However, standing back it found the overall picture was inconsistent with employment: the claimant invoiced through her business CPD, was paid commission and a separate £150 site attendance fee gross, bore the risk of no commission if bookings were not secured, and was expected to make up time spent on venue work within her salaried hours. The tribunal also found the £150 payment was a site attendance fee and that any on-the-day coordination fell short of full wedding-planning services.

The tribunal held there was no relevant transfer to FCB and dismissed the claim against the second respondent. It found that FCB's post-transfer operation was materially different because it included the catering and management package, so the economic entity did not retain its identity and the activities were not fundamentally the same. The judgment did not finally determine whether the August 2024 dismissal was redundancy or maternity discrimination; it said that issue remained to be determined separately.