Miss C Ibbotson of Counsel For the v Ms C Earnshaw (T/a Charity Earnshaw Home Care Agency) — 2024

Mr Adedayo Ogunde worked for Ms Charity Earnshaw, trading as Charity Earnshaw Home Care Agency, from 21 April 2022 until his resignation took effect on 5 September 2023. The dispute concerned deductions from his final wages and an invoice the respondent raised after he gave notice. The tribunal accepted that the claimant had agreed the respondent could recover £600 of solicitors' fees connected with his visa application, but found no documentary evidence that he had agreed to the remaining office administration and training charges, and it rejected the respondent's attempt to justify those deductions as claimant-specific costs.

On the wages claim, the tribunal found unlawful deductions of £1,984.42. It reached that figure by taking the unpaid August 2023 wages of £1,795.54 and the unpaid September wages of £788.88, then deducting the conceded £600 solicitors' fee. The tribunal also found that the respondent had not dealt with the claimant's formal grievance, and it therefore applied a 20% uplift of £396.88 under section 207A TULR(C)A 1992 and the ACAS Code.

The tribunal further found that the respondent breached section 1 ERA 1996 because the initial written particulars did not include the scale or rate of remuneration required by section 1(4)(a). Although the claimant asked for four weeks' pay, the tribunal said there had been near compliance and a written contract was in place, so it limited the section 38 Employment Act 2002 award to two weeks' pay of £1,117.96. Separately, it found a failure to provide accurate payslips and awarded £250 under section 12(4), less than the £750 sought. The total award was £3,749.26.