Claimant v London Borough of Havering

Outcome

Facts

The claimant worked as a Healthcare Navigator in the respondent's Housing department from September 2020, initially engaged through Remedy Recruitment Group as an agency worker at £20/hour. She was integrated into the respondent's team, nominated for an award, asked to join two boards in mid-2021, and underwent a PDR. In January 2022, she successfully applied for and was appointed to a permanent Healthcare Navigator role with the respondent. She was dismissed in September 2023 following disciplinary proceedings. The preliminary issue was whether her employment commenced in September 2020 (giving her the two-year qualifying period for unfair dismissal) or January 2022 (leaving her 7 months short).

Decision

The tribunal dismissed the claimant's unfair dismissal claim for lack of jurisdiction. The tribunal found that from September 2020 to January 2022 the claimant was an agency worker supplied by Remedy Recruitment Group, not an employee of the respondent. The signed agreement between the claimant and Remedy created a contractual arrangement governing her placement with the respondent, and the arrangements operated consistently with this. None of the features relied upon by the claimant (integration, board appointments, PDR) were only consistent with direct employment. No contract of employment with the respondent could be implied. Her employment therefore commenced on 31 January 2022, meaning she had only 19 months' service when dismissed on 14 September 2023, 5 months short of the two-year qualifying period required by s.108 ERA 1996.

Practical note

Legal authorities cited