Mr A Lewis v BCA Logistics Limited — 2022

The tribunal only determined the first listed issue: the claimant’s section 11/12 Employment Rights Act 1996 reference about the accuracy of his statement of terms and the length of his normal contractual hours. It did not hear the unlawful deduction from wages issue, and the disability discrimination claims were stayed. The claimant, a driver for BCA Logistics Limited, said his contract entitled him to be paid for 8 hours a day and that he was effectively on standby or on call on some days; the respondent said his hours were variable and depended on the days he made himself available and the work allocated to him.

The tribunal found that the offer email, the statement of terms dated 29 June 2016, and the way the arrangement operated in practice were consistent with a variable-hours contract for 150 days per year, averaging three days per week. It accepted that work was generally notified the evening before and that the claimant sometimes worked more or fewer than three days a week. It treated the chorus form and the starter form as administrative documents and did not accept that either created a contractual entitlement to 8 hours’ pay or an 8-hour minimum working day.

On the evidence about “call ins”, the tribunal found that the claimant was not on standby or on call once he had called in and been told there was no further work for that day. It preferred the evidence of Mr Atkins that drivers were released from duty when told there was no work, and it held that the claimant had no contractual right to be paid for time after that point. The tribunal also found that the statement of terms complied with section 1(4)(c) of the Employment Rights Act 1996, both before and after the April 2020 amendment, and that the respondent was not required to issue a fresh statement merely because the law changed.

The tribunal therefore confirmed the particulars in the statement dated 29 June 2016 under section 12(2) of the Employment Rights Act 1996. It held that the claimant did not have normal working hours but variable hours. No monetary remedy was awarded in this decision.