Mr K Wood v Improve My House Ltd — 2022

Mr K Wood brought a claim for unlawful deduction from wages. The tribunal accepted his oral evidence, despite no documentary evidence being produced, and found that he had worked for Improve My House Ltd for two weeks from 1 to 12 November 2021 as a spray polisher at an agreed rate of £13.50 per hour.

The tribunal found that the proper respondent was Improve My House Ltd, not Mr Kay personally. It relied on the evidence that Darren Kay was the sole director and ran the limited company, the ACAS certificate naming Improve My House, and the absence of a contract, statement of particulars, or payslip for the claimant. The substitution was made under Rule 34 of the Employment Tribunals Rules of Procedure 2013.

On the merits, the tribunal held that the claimant had worked 108 hours and should have been paid £1,458 gross. It found that no payment was made when due on 5 December 2021, that £500 was later paid under pressure, and that the claimant did not enter any binding variation agreeing to accept £500 in full and final satisfaction of the wages due.

The tribunal therefore concluded that £958 remained outstanding and entered judgment for the claimant in that amount. It treated the case as a straightforward unlawful deduction from wages claim under Part II of the Employment Rights Act 1996, in particular sections 13 and 23.