Miss M Hazi v Aspire-Igen Group Ltd Heard remotely by CVP — 2023

Miss Hazi claimed £12,072.82 for more than 1,000 hours of TOIL worked between August 2021 and December 2022 and said she had been unable to take the time off before her employment ended by redundancy on 24 March 2023. The respondent did not attend, but the tribunal proceeded to determine the claim on its merits. It accepted that outstanding untaken TOIL was still owed when the claimant was made redundant, and that she had worked additional hours in the course of her role as an enrolment officer.

The tribunal found that the respondent's TOIL policy allowed additional hours only where they were agreed and authorised in advance, and that the only occasion on which extra hours had been paid was a single authorised instance involving 16 hours of overtime. It accepted that the claimant had asked for monetary payment instead of time off, that this request was refused by a director, and that on 17 January 2023 it was agreed the TOIL would instead be taken from that date onwards. The tribunal found that had employment continued, the claimant would have taken the time off.

The claim nevertheless failed because the tribunal concluded the sum claimed was not 'properly payable' under the contract of employment or in connection with employment within section 13(3) of the Employment Rights Act 1996, applying the meaning of wages in section 27. It held that the claimant had never had an entitlement to payment for the extra hours absent prior authorisation, and that her hope of retrospective payment was not enough. The complaint pleaded as 'other payment of TOIL' and/or 'unpaid wages' was therefore dismissed.