Summer Holidays Amount to a Temporary Cessation of Employment

The EAT in Hussain v Acorn Independent College Ltd (EAT 2010) held that a teacher's employment continued through the summer holidays between two separate contracts. This meant that his period of continuous employment was preserved and he had the right to bring a claim of unfair dismissal.

Mr Hussain worked as an economics teacher.  He was employed on a temporary contract from 25 April 2008 to 8 July 2008, covering for a teacher who was on sick leave.  During the summer break the sick teacher resigned, and it was agreed that Mr Hussain would start working on a permanent basis from 5 September 2008 which he duly did until he was dismissed on 12 June 2009.  

The question for the EAT was whether the period between contracts (i.e. the summer break) contributed to Mr Hussain's period of continuous employment.  If it did, he would have over one year's continuous service and would be able to bring a claim of unfair dismissal.  The EAT held that the period between contracts did contribute towards his period of continuous service.  The key question was why the first contract had ended; if it was because of a ‘temporary cessation' of work then the employment would be deemed continuous.  The EAT held that in this case the first contract only ended because there was no work to do during the summer holidays, and that the cessation was temporary because the work resumed after the summer holidays.  There was therefore a temporary cessation of work which counted towards Mr Hussain's period of continuous employment.  

This is a potentially significant case for companies whose work is seasonal:  Tribunals seem to be increasingly keen to find that continuity is preserved so that employees are able to benefit from employment protections such as unfair dismissal.