A charity has been ordered to pay more than £15,000 to a former employee who was dismissed after being accused of disregarding measures introduced to stop the spread of Covid-19.

Vishwa Hindu Parishad is a registered charity, and the respondents in a recent tribunal are the trustees of that charity, which operates a religious centre (mandir) in East London.

The tribunal ordered the charity, which promotes the Hindu religion through education, to pay the claimant a total of £15,924.45 for a number of claims.

A claim of unfair dismissal was deemed to be well founded, as were claims for notice pay and unlawful deduction from wages, founded on the failure to pay the claimant the national minimum wage during the two year period ending with his dismissal on 17 November 2020.

The claim that there was a failure to pay the claimant accrued but untaken holiday pay was also deemed to be well founded.

The tribunal states the basic award for unfair dismissal would be reduced by 40% because of the claimant’s conduct before the dismissal, as will the compensatory award for unfair dismissal.

Covid safety attitude 

The claimant started volunteering at the mandir from around 2013 and said that from around 2016 he worked full time and received a regular payment for his services as a purohit (a chaplain or family priest).

On 17 November 2020, the claimant was sent a letter summarily terminating the arrangement between him and the mandir.

The Mandir had reopened from 29 June 2020, and there were a large number of measures put in place to attempt to restrict the spread of Covid-19. 

The respondents formed the view that the claimant was disregarding instructions designed to keep the mandir Covid-19 secure, according to the tribunal.

The tribunal found the claimant’s attitude to Covid-19 safety “does demonstrate an attitude of unnecessarily questioning reasonable decisions” that is “culpable and blameworthy”.

“I find that this conduct did contribute to the decision to dismiss the claimant,” reads the tribunal.

It adds: “I have found that the claimant was, in part, responsible for the actions that led to his dismissal. Whilst I have not concluded he was wholly responsible by any means the basis of my finding is that there was conduct by him which evidenced what had become a very poor working relationship. He contributed to that.”

Charity Commission data for the financial year ending 31 March 2022 puts the charity’s total income at £298,260 and total expenditure at £325,914.

Civil Society was not able to contact the charity or claimant for comment.