An employment tribunal has ordered that a firm pay around £26,500 to a Jewish employee sacked after he did not come to work on Passover.

Litigation executive Philip Bialick had booked time in April 2020 as holiday with his firm, Manchester-based NNE Law Limited, but was told to attend the office anyway. Bialick had been absent because of illness and the need to self-isolate, but the firm said it did not allow case handlers to be away from the office for more than two weeks.

The Manchester employment tribunal heard that Bialick, who had started with the firm in January 2020, is Jewish and that his faith required him to observe Jewish holidays.

The day after lockdown was announced by the prime minister, Bialick did not come into the office and received a message from one of his bosses at 9.21am asking why. His manager assured him he was allowed to come to the office for essential purposes and said the firm did not have capacity for everyone to work remotely.

Bialick did as he was instructed and came into work for two days, even though social distancing was not possible in the office. He then fell ill and was told by the NHS to stay at home.

A week later, the firm wrote to Bialick saying that it could no longer authorise leave for later that month. He responded – even breaking his religious observance in doing so – to explain the reasons, but a day later the firm contacted him saying there was ‘no alternative’ but to end his employment.

Employment judge Leach accepted that the firm had a policy of cancelling leave where an employee had been off sick, but he said Bialick suffered as a result compared to non-Jewish colleagues.

‘The practice of cancelling holidays booked for that purpose or to face dismissal therefore requires Jewish employees to choose whether to work when they are not permitted to work or be dismissed,’ said the judge. ‘That places Jewish employees whose faith requires they do not work on certain days, at a particular disadvantage when instructed to cancel annual leave.’

The judge said there was no evidence that client needs were not being met, or that any court deadline or hearing date was missed. The firm’s objective justification defence failed.

Whilst accepting that the start of the pandemic was a challenging time for employers, the judge said this required them to ‘behave responsibly and with appropriate understanding towards employees’.