The dismissal of a cleaner employed in two jobs working 17 hour days was fair

In the case of Ogumodede v Churchill Contract Services [2025] 9 WLUK 482, the Employment Tribunal found that an employee (Ms Ogumodele) had been fairly dismissed when her employer (Churchill Contract Services) learned that they employed her to in two jobs and the combined hours breached the Working Time Regulations.

Background

Ms Ogumodede was employed by Churchill Contract Services from 5 April 2004 as a cleaner at the Deutsche Bank and worked a day shift from 8am to 5pm Monday to Friday. On 20 November 2008 she commenced employment with KGB and undertook a night shift role cleaning at the Houses of Parliament from 10pm to 6am Monday to Friday. Collectively, she worked 77.5 hours per week. 

In May 2023 Churchill Contract Services took over the cleaning services for the Houses of Parliament from KGB and Ms Ogumodede’s employment transferred, under TUPE, to them. It was at this time that they became aware she was working two jobs. Concerned about the hours Ms Ogumodede was working, which were 17 hours in a 24-hour period with breaks between the two roles of only five hours in the evening and two hours in the morning, Churchill Contract Services discussed their concerns with her. They suggested reducing her hours for the Houses of Parliament work to 6pm to 9pm, which would have adhered to the working time rules, but she refused. Ms Ogumodede was dismissed with immediate effect from her contract in respect of the Houses of Parliament work.

Ms Ogumodede brought several claims including unfair dismissal.

Tribunal Decision

Ms Ogumodede accepted, during the course of the hearing, that she started working for KGB at the Houses of Parliament when she was already employed by Churchill Contract Services to work a day shift at Deutsche Bank, and she deliberately told KGB that her Houses of Parliament work was her only job as she knew she would be in breach of the law regarding working time.

The employment tribunal dismissed her claims. It concluded that Churchill Contract Services “took a reasonable approach” and the process “was clearly fair”. They had tried to discuss their concerns with her on several occasions and, to enable her to continue working at the Houses of Parliament, had offered to reduce those hours so the Working Time Regulations was not breached. However, Ms Ogumodede refused to engage in the process and refused the offer. The tribunal accepted that Churchill Contract Services could not continue to employ her in breach of the working time provisions and, when deciding which contract to suspend her from, Churchill Contract Services had chosen the Houses of Parliament as the hours and pay were not as good as for the Deutsche Bank.

The tribunal referenced the purpose of the Working Time Regulations to stop night workers risking their own and others’ health and safety by prohibiting excessive working time, which could have “a potential cost to society”. As such, they could not condone Ms Ogumodede’s conduct.

Take-away points

Whilst the dismissal in this case was held to be fair, this case serves as a reminder to employers that it is important to be aware of any additional work that employees are undertaking, to avoid being in breach of the Working Time Regulations. Breach of the regulations can give rise to penalties, including unlimited fines and imprisonment. There are a number of ways an employer can manage this, including:

• Provisions within contracts of employment prohibiting and/or requiring written disclosure of secondary employment to the employer.
• Clear policies on secondary employment which are communicated to employees.
• Awareness by managers of secondary employment, through regular conversations, and confidence to enquire about it if there is any. 
  

If you’d like advice tailored to your situation, contact Nicola Cockerill on 0800 915 7777 or email nc@kilgannonlaw.co.uk.