Case 1403276/2023 · Employment Tribunal
Mr N Cooper (CWU representative) For the v Mr B Brown (solicitor) — 2024
- Case reference
- 1403276/2023
- Decision date
- 16 January 2024
- Jurisdiction
- England & Wales
- Judge
- Employment Judge Bax Dated
Parties
2 namedClaimant
Mr N Cooper (CWU representative) For the
Respondent
Key findings
Tribunal's reasoningThe six Claimants, employed at the Long Ashton Delivery Office, brought consolidated claims for unlawful deductions from wages covering the period September 2021 to February 2023. They contended that, following the Pathway to Change 2021 framework agreement which reduced the full-time working week from 38 to 37 hours without a pay rise, they were contractually entitled to an additional pro-rata hour of pay because they were still being required to work 38 hours. The Respondent's position was that the weekly basic pay was a flat rate, with pro-rata applying only to part-time staff, and that there was no contractual right to overtime absent line-manager approval, for which no application had been made.
Employment Judge Bax, sitting alone at Bristol, rejected the Claimants' construction of the contract, finding that the basic weekly rate was paid for a week's work and that pro-rata operated only for those working fewer than full-time hours. The Judge held that an automatic pro-rata uplift for hours worked above the basic week would be inconsistent with there being no contractual right to overtime. Scan In/Scan Out data for October 2022 to April 2023 tended to show the Claimants were on average working less than 7 hours 24 minutes per day, and the Judge was not satisfied on the balance of probabilities that they were in fact working 38 hours per week during the relevant period.
The Tribunal further observed that the data only began in October 2022, more than three months before ACAS notification, so earlier matters would have been out of time absent a series of deductions or it not being reasonably practicable to present in time, and no evidence was adduced on that point. The claims of unlawful deductions from wages were dismissed.
Claims and outcomes
1 finding recorded| Claim type | Issue or finding | Outcome | Protected characteristic | Award |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unlawful deduction from wages | Six consolidated claims (Hobbs, George, Lloyd, Coles, Turner, Leathem) alleging unpaid wages between September 2021 and February 2023 following the Pathway to Change 2021 reduction from a 38 to 37 hour week. The Tribunal found no contractual entitlement to an additional pro-rata sum for hours worked over the full-time week, and was not satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the Claimants worked in excess of 37 hours per week in the relevant period. The Tribunal also noted that matters before October 2022 would have been out of time. | Dismissed | — | — |
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.
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