Mr D Phillips v Stubborn Rhino Ltd — 2025

The tribunal found that the claimant, a barista engaged on an ad hoc basis, was a worker within the meaning of s.230(3) of the Employment Rights Act 1996, on the basis of a discrete contract for each event he was booked to work. There was no overarching or umbrella contract between events because neither party was obliged to offer or accept work.

In relation to invoice 10, the tribunal found that the respondent made an unauthorised deduction from the claimant's wages on 9 February 2024 by failing to pay national minimum wage (£11.44 per hour) for his travel time, and awarded the gross sum of £30.25. The earlier deduction complaints (invoices 1-9, covering May 2023 to 7 February 2024) were presented outside the statutory time limit, and the tribunal found it had been reasonably practicable to bring them in time, so those claims were dismissed.

On the s.23 NMWA 1998 detriment claim, the tribunal accepted that the claimant had taken action in good faith to secure his right to national minimum wage and that the respondent's decision on 27 February 2024 to no longer require his services was made because of that request. However, because the claimant had not in fact been booked for the next (Cheltenham) event, he was not party to a worker's contract at the relevant time and there was no termination of a worker's contract to constitute the alleged detriment. The claim was accordingly not well-founded and failed.