A recent tribunal ruling has highlighted the importance of employees being transparent and letting employers know if they have a second job, which might not only breach Working Time Regulations but bring reputational damage and include strong health, safety and public interest considerations.
Last week Mulikat Ogumodede, a cleaner with a good attendance and disciplinary record, who between 2008 and 2024, worked 17 hours a day split between day shifts at Deutsche Bank and night shifts at the Houses of Parliament, lost her employment tribunal claim for unfair dismissal.
The background
Ogumodede was hired as a cleaner by Churchill Contract Services on 5 April 2004, which provided cleaning services for Deutsche Bank. Her usual hours were 8am to 5pm. Four years later she began a second role cleaning at the Houses of Parliament from 10pm to 6am, which was managed through another external company, KGB Cleaning. In total she worked 77.5 hours a week.
It was only when Churchill Contract Services took over the Houses of Parliament (HoP)contract in May 2023 that they realised she was working two full time jobs under the same employer. The Working Time Regulations have a minimum requirement for 11 hours’ rest between shifts. With this clearly not happening, she was suspended from the Houses of Parliament contract with no pay while the company investigated.
Lack of disclosure
Ogumodede should have notified Churchill Contract Services that she had a second job working at the Houses of Parliament, but she deliberately did not. She was fully aware that her second job breached Working Time Regulations and despite the fact that she said she felt very well and rested on the weekends, it was ruled that her lengthy hours might increase the likelihood of mistakes and accidents. The Judge found that the company’s decision to dismiss her from the second role was a reasonable response given her breach of the Working Time Regulations and refusal to accept part time work.
After she was dismissed from her Parliament role, Ogumodede filed a tribunal claim against Churchill for unfair and wrongful dismissal, breach of contract, unauthorised deductions from wages, and for not receiving a redundancy. Churchill Contract Services did subsequently offer her part time cleaning work at the Houses of parliament from 6pm to 9pm, but she refused, complaining that her suspension without pay was unlawful.
Judge’s ruling
Employment judge Woodhead ruled that Ogumodede’s dismissal was “clearly fair” and said the company took a “reasonable approach” that was “favourable” to Ogumodede in offering her part-time work. He went onto say that she had deliberately concealed her secondary employment twice. Once when she first secured the HoP job, and again in a form she filled in when she joined Churchill (for the second time) when her HoP role transferred under TUPE.
Her redundancy claim was also dismissed. Because in the Judge’s opinion, she was not dismissed because of redundancy. In addition her claims for notice pay and pay during suspension were also dismissed. That was because of a common law illegality – Churchill could not employ her because it would have contravened the Working Time Regulations (WTR).
How can I help
There are special rules relating to night workers, and employers must properly monitor staff to ensure they are taking minimum breaks and holidays.
For advice and support on Working Time regulations and employment contract clauses where employees need to disclose if they are working with other employers etc. please get in touch today – caroline@actifhr.co.uk