Nikolas Clarke represented the claimant, who was successful in her unfair dismissal claim and received compensation from her former employer.
Background to the case
The claimant started working as an administrative assistant for the respondent in August 2016. She worked predominantly with the regional director but her line manager was someone else.
In September 2018 she told her employer she had been accepted onto a university course and in October gave the regional director details of her timetable and asked to reduce her working pattern to 3 days a week.
With his agreement the claimant started her revised working pattern from November 2018. However in December after her line manager returned from travelling she told the claimant that she was willing to grant her an unpaid leave of absence for the duration of her studies.
In February 2019, the claimant was sent a P45 stating that her employment with the respondent ended on 31 January.
The tribunal’s findings
The tribunal found that the issuing of the P45 reflected the respondent’s unilateral decision to put the claimant on unpaid leave without her agreement. It found that the claimant was wrongfully and unfairly dismissed.
The respondent had failed to engage with the claimant or offer an appeal to the decision of unpaid leave. The respondent was ordered to pay for failure to follow the ACAS code of practice on dismissals and grievances and to compensate the claimant for her loss of income.