A cleaner who for 16 years worked two full-time jobs – a day shift at Deutsche Bank and a night shift at the Houses of Parliament (HoP) – has lost her employment tribunal claim after she was dismissed from her role at the latter.
Ms Ogumodede worked from 8am to 5pm at the German bank’s offices. After a five-hour break, she then worked 10pm until 6am in Parliament, before starting again two hours later at Deutsche Bank. In total, she worked 77.5 hours per week.
The judgment said: “It is remarkable that she was able to sustain this in circumstances where it was not in dispute that the claimant had a clean attendance and disciplinary record in respect of her HoP work.”
Her employer at the bank, Churchill Contract Services, only became aware that the cleaner was holding down two jobs when it took over the cleaning contract at the Palace of Westminster and she was TUPE transferred.
After she was dismissed from her Parliament role, she filed tribunal claims against Churchill for unfair and wrongful dismissal, breach of contract, unauthorised deductions from wages, and for not receiving a redundancy. She continues to work for Churchill at Deutsche Bank.
Ogumodede did not dispute that, when she was initially employed at the Houses of Parliament in 2008, she had declared that it was her only job and that she had deliberately hidden the fact that she had another full-time job at the bank’s offices, which she started in 2004. because she knew it breached working time rules.
When managers at Churchill realised Ogumodede had two full-time contracts with the employer in July 2024, they met with her to tell her she was breaching the Working Time Regulations, specifically the minimum requirement for 11 hours’ rest between shifts.
They told her they had to suspend her from her HoP contract on nil pay, while they looked into the matter. They said they had selected the HoP role because she received more hours and pay at Deutsche Bank.
They also shared their concerns that working so many hours could affect her physical and mental wellbeing, which could lead to mistakes or accidents.
Ogumodede told Churchill that she felt “very well” and that she had been working like this since 2008.
According to notes from the meeting, she said, “If you want me to leave, you have to give me redundancy”, adding “60% of staff at HoP are doing two full-times”. She told them she rested “properly on my weekends, I don’t clean or cook, I have a long rest.”
She was also shown a list of vacancies to see if there were any other roles that would not breach the 11-hour rest rule.
In August 2024, a voluntary redundancy scheme was launched for Churchill’s HoP staff. The judge found the claimant’s evidence confusing but concluded, on the balance of probabilities, that she did not apply for voluntary redundancy.
Churchill also offered Ogumodede the opportunity to continue to work at HoP, but from 6pm to 9pm, to adhere to working time rules. She declined this offer. She was ultimately dismissed from her HoP role in October 2024.
Employment Judge Woodhead found that the cleaner 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.
The judgment dismissed her claim for redundancy pay, as she was not dismissed because of redundancy. It also dismissed her claims for notice pay and pay during suspension because of common law illegality; Churchill could not employ her because it would have contravened the Working Time Regulations (WTR).
The judgment concluded that Ogumodede was prevented by common law illegality from relying on the contract of employment in pursuit of a claim of unfair dismissal.
It said: “The process adopted by the respondent was clearly fair. [Churchill] sought to discuss with the claimant, on a number of occasions, how her employment in the HoP role could be maintained (principally by [her] agreeing to work fewer hours that did not fall foul of the provisions of the WTR).”
All of Ogumodede’s claims were dismissed.
