HR leader FIRED after warning boss of asking furloughed staff to work

After warning her bosses of the illegalities of asking furloughed staff to work from home (WFH), an HR worker was sacked from her role.

Sara Essa shared concerns with directors at Concert Live, who were trying to break the rules and get employees to continue working under the pretence it was for learning and development during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the Daily Mail, back in May 2020 Essa was employed as head of people for the business based in London, which created apps for live venues.

Among the firm’s directors included Harry Samuel, of the Hill Samuel banking family, who allegedly wanted to get workers who were placed on furlough to work from home.

To do this, these employees were being assigned to different roles so it would qualify as learning and development activities.

After raising concerns about this decision, as well as complaining to her bosses that she was being paid less than her male co-workers, Essa told the tribunal that she was let go without notice.

She shared that she was told that “things weren’t working out” just weeks after she communicated her fears.

It was revealed that Essa had a number of phone calls with Samuel and her line manager Andy Whitehead.

Samuel reportedly was “frustrated and unhappy” after hearing Essa’s worries, stating that he wanted to go ahead with his plans and that he had “heard enough, that it was his company and that he would run it in the way he wanted”.

Pay gap

After raising matters regards a gender pay gap, Essa also questioned the fact that she was the only female head of department on a team of nine people.

The judge went on to reveal that she was paid less than her male counterparts who were carrying out similar roles, adding that Whitehead had acknowledged the problem but did not address it because he didn’t want to “rock the boat”.

At the end of August 2020, Essa went on holiday for a week and heard nothing from her bosses while away from the business. When she returned, Whitehead informed her that they had decided to terminate her employment.

Despite asking for reasons in writing, Essa received nothing from the firm.

The judge said: “We found the claimant to be a truthful and reliable witness whose evidence was broadly consistent with the documentation we have seen.

“In our judgment, the claimant made a number of protected disclosures in informing her employer that it was illegal to ask or require staff to work while they were on furlough, secondly that their recruitment and promotion practice was gender discriminatory and thirdly that they were discriminating against her because of her sex in paying her less than her male comparators.”

As a result, the HR leader was awarded £56,000 by the tribunal, however she has recently shared that she is yet to receive any of the money as the company has now gone into administration.

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