Case 1401442/2025 · Employment Tribunal
Mr Nicholas Hooper v Recruitment Mergers Limited — 2026
- Case reference
- 1401442/2025
- Decision date
- 14 August 2026
- Jurisdiction
- England & Wales
- Judge
- Employment Judge Lumby REPRESENTATION
Parties
2 namedClaimant
Mr Nicholas Hooper
Respondent
Key findings
Tribunal's reasoningEmployment Judge Lumby heard the case at Southampton by CVP on 14 August 2026. Mr Nicholas Hooper represented himself; Recruitment Mergers Limited did not attend. The tribunal upheld the complaint of unauthorised deductions from wages because the respondent had failed to reimburse expenses incurred by the claimant. It ordered payment of £11,907.58 as the gross sum deducted, plus £991.27 for financial loss attributable to the deduction.
The tribunal dismissed the breach of contract complaint concerning notice pay as not well-founded. It upheld the holiday pay complaint, finding that the respondent had made an unauthorised deduction by failing to pay for two days of holiday accrued but not taken when employment ended. It awarded £269.23 for that deduction. The claimant was responsible for any tax or National Insurance on the gross expenses award and holiday payment.
The tribunal also found that the respondent had breached the contract by failing to pay pension contributions to NEST. It awarded £933.56 in damages, representing the net value to the claimant of the amount due. The respondent's counterclaim was dismissed as not well-founded. The four payments ordered total £14,101.64. Reasons for the judgment were given orally at the hearing.
Claims and outcomes
5 findings recordedThis case has mixed outcomes under at least one legal claim type. A tribunal can uphold some allegations and dismiss others under the same legal head, so rows below may represent separate issues or allegation groups from the judgment.
| Claim type | Issue or finding | Outcome | Protected characteristic | Award |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unlawful deduction from wages | Unreimbursed expenses. Award comprises £11,907.58 gross wages deducted and £991.27 for financial loss attributable to the deduction. The claimant is responsible for any tax or National Insurance on the gross sum. | Upheld | — | £12,899 |
| Breach of contract | The notice pay complaint was dismissed as not well-founded. | Dismissed | — | — |
| Holiday pay | Unauthorised deduction for two days of holiday accrued but not taken when employment ended. The claimant is responsible for any tax or National Insurance. | Upheld | — | £269 |
| Breach of contract | Failure to pay pension contributions to NEST. Damages represent the net value to the claimant of the amount due. | Upheld | — | £934 |
| Other | The respondent's counterclaim was dismissed as not well-founded. Its legal basis and subject matter are not specified in the judgment. | Dismissed | — | — |
Remedy
Monetary award- Total award
- £14,102
- across all upheld claims
Official outcome judgment PDF
Gov.uk primary recordThe official judgment PDF on gov.uk contains the tribunal's outcome, reasoning, and any remedy details. Where this page does not yet show extracted outcomes for every claim, use the PDF as the authoritative source.
Published on gov.uk under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
How we got this data
Case essentials (reference, date, judge, venue, country, claim categories) are extracted from the structured metadata gov.uk publishes alongside each decision. Parties and monetary figures are extracted from the judgment PDF text. Key findings and per-claim outcomes require a second extraction pass that is not yet complete for this case — until then, the primary source linked above is the authoritative record. See full methodology.
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