Mrs. Kim Hateley v The Lion Ltd — 2023

Mrs Tina Lonsdale brought a complaint of unlawful deduction of wages. The respondent did not attend the 25 July 2023 hearing, so the tribunal proceeded in its absence. The tribunal found the claimant to be an honest and credible witness and said her evidence went unchallenged. The respondent had alleged in its response that the holiday claim was fraudulent and that the claimant had left without notice, and it sought a counterclaim of £1,200, but that counterclaim had already been dismissed because no contract claim had been made.

On the evidence before it, the tribunal found that the claimant had been employed from 15 December 2021 until about 15 November 2022 and had resigned. It awarded £557.93 gross for unpaid wages relating to 11, 12, 13, 14 and 16 November 2022, calculated at £11.96 per hour for 46 hours and 39 minutes. It also awarded £99.35 gross as statutory sick pay for the week 18 to 24 November 2022, noting that the respondent had not challenged entitlement in its ET3 and referring to Taylor Gordon v Timmons (2004) IRLR 180.

The tribunal further found that the claimant had not been given a written statement of terms and conditions complying with section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, because the text confirmation did not identify the employer, the dates of wage payment, the holiday year, or sick pay provision. It therefore made an award of two weeks' pay, £1,076.40 gross, under section 38 of the Employment Act 2002.

For holiday pay, the tribunal said the respondent had been unclear about the start of the holiday year, with conflicting dates given by two directors. Assuming December as the start date, it found that the claimant had taken 13 days and remained entitled to the statutory amount of holiday, so it awarded £538.20 gross for 5 days. The total award was £2,271.88 gross, payable forthwith and no later than 28 July 2023, and the respondent was responsible for any tax on the award.