Mr P Haden v Everything Deserts Foodservice Ltd and 1 other — 2023

Mr P Haden brought a claim for arrears of pay and unlawful deductions after contacting ACAS on 29 September 2022 and presenting his claim on 13 November 2022. Neither respondent presented a response or attended the hearing. The Claimant gave oral evidence and produced payslips and messages with Mr Kooner.

The Tribunal found that the Claimant had been employed by Everything Deserts Foodservice Ltd from 2 September 2020 as Warehouse Manager, that from around 1 June 2022 he was transferred to work for JL Drinks Ltd, and that this transfer occurred by contractual novation. The Tribunal accepted that the Claimant continued in the same role, with some additional sales duties, and that although his payslips still bore the first Respondent's name he was told not to worry about that.

The Tribunal found that at the termination of employment on 15 August 2022 the Claimant had not been paid for the last weeks of his employment and that employer pension contributions had not been made. It accepted the Claimant's schedule of loss and found a total shortfall of £999.88 in ordinary pay and employer pension contributions. The unlawful deduction claim therefore succeeded against the second Respondent, and the Claimant was awarded £999.88 gross. The Tribunal noted that, had it not treated the case as an unlawful deductions claim, it would have reached the same monetary conclusion on a breach of contract basis.