A beauty therapist has been awarded £18,000 for unfair dismissal and sex discrimination after she lost her job at Bannatyne Fitness because she could not work weekends.

Emma Holt was involved in a disagreement with her employer over childcare arrangements, which resulted in Holt being dismissed, an employment tribunal in Carlisle heard.

Holt, who had worked at the Carlisle branch of Bannatyne Fitness for almost a decade, had a flexible working agreement to only work from Monday to Friday because of childcare needs. She would only work weekends in exceptional circumstances, such as a colleague being sick.

At the hearing, Holt said in early 2016 senior managers tried to impose weekend working and when she refused she was dismissed – though the company claimed it was a redundancy.

Holt had looked into paid childcare but said there were no weekend facilities available in her area.

She raised a formal grievance, but a senior manager failed to carry out “any meaningful investigation” into Holt’s complaints, the tribunal heard.

Holt told her employer that her personal life did not allow her to work weekends and that she had always given 150 per cent to the company. Holt said she had no objections in working weekends but could not get childcare that her son would go to.

Holt said enforcing a change to her work pattern was breaching her flexible work agreement.

The company admitted unfair dismissal, but rejected charges of sex discrimination.

The tribunal accepted Holt suffered “anger, distress and affront” as a result of the firm’s “indirect discrimination”, but rejected a claim that she had been victimised.

Holt was awarded £18,399, which included £10,399 for unfair dismissal and £8,000 for injury to her feelings.

A Bannatyne Group spokesperson said: “We are extremely disappointed with the outcome of the tribunal but will accept its findings.”