Mr D Williams v Mr A Lowther trading as Fire-Ex — 2022

The tribunal held that Mr A Lowther trading as Fire-Ex made unauthorised deductions from Mr D Williams’s wages by failing to pay the full amount due for the period 25 March 2020 to 11 September 2020. It recorded that the claimant was an employee within s.230(1) Employment Rights Act 1996 and therefore entitled to bring the claim, and that the statutory issue was whether any deduction was authorised by statute, contract, or prior written agreement.

The tribunal accepted that the claimant stopped working on 24 March 2020 when the national lockdown began, and that both parties understood he would be placed on the furlough scheme. The respondent said he had difficulty enrolling on the scheme and was unable to pay the claimant until receiving furlough funds; the tribunal found, however, that the respondent was contractually obliged to pay the wages and was not entitled to withhold payment pending receipt of scheme funds.

The tribunal also found that the respondent’s later suggestion of retrospective redundancy and a £375 redundancy payment was not accepted and did not amount to an agreement varying the contract or to prior written consent not to pay wages. It found that the claimant remained an employee until 11 September 2020 and had not agreed in writing to forego pay. Judgment was therefore entered for the claimant in the gross sum of £7,013.35. The reasons contain apparent date inconsistencies in places, but the operative judgment and award are for the unpaid wages claim described above.