Mr E Bradshaw v Cube HVAC-R Services Limited — 2022

The claimant, Mr E Bradshaw, worked for the respondent as a heating engineer/plumber from 1 June 2020 on a salary of £31,500. He was required to supply his own hand tools. After the respondent's van was broken into on 16 July 2020, the tribunal found that the claimant's personal tools worth £1,200 were stolen, and that he had also incurred reimbursable materials costs. He resigned with immediate effect on 8 October 2020. A final payslip later showed unpaid wages, holiday pay and materials, together with a deduction of £1,808.81 stated to be made 'per separate correspondence', but the tribunal found that none of the payslip sums were actually paid.

On the statutory claims, the tribunal held that withholding the claimant's salary for 28 September to 8 October 2020 was an unauthorised deduction from wages under s.13 ERA 1996. It rejected the respondent's reliance on the 'Deductions from pay agreement' because there was no evidence that the claimant's work at BodyWorld Gym was unsatisfactory or that extra costs were incurred when he resigned without notice. For holiday pay, the tribunal accepted that payment in lieu was due under reg 14 of the Working Time Regulations 1998, but reduced the original ten-day figure to 8.5 days after accepting that the claimant had already taken and been paid for the late August public holiday and half a day's leave. It declined to reduce the entitlement further for lack of notice, finding no evidence that the respondent had suffered loss on that basis.

On the contractual claims, the tribunal found that Mr Shakespeare had verbally agreed to reimburse the claimant for the stolen tools and that the respondent was in breach of that agreement by withholding £1,200. It also held that the respondent was under an implied contractual duty to reimburse materials necessarily incurred on the BodyWorld Gym job, and awarded £71.60 for that item. The tribunal therefore declared the unlawful deduction claim well founded and awarded £2,211.74 gross for wages and holiday pay, and found the breach of contract claim well founded and awarded £1,271.60 net for tools and materials. It also refused a preparation time order, finding that the respondent's decision not to call witnesses and the earlier postponement on its application did not amount to vexatious or otherwise unreasonable conduct within rule 76.