Mr D Thurston v KPH Leicester Ltd t/a Ask Recruitment — 2021

Mr Thurston brought a claim under section 13 Employment Rights Act 1996 alleging that the respondent had made an unauthorized deduction from his wages between 17 April 2020 and the end of July 2020, when he resumed work under a temporary contract supplied to St Gobain. The tribunal heard from both sides and found the essential facts were largely not in dispute.

The tribunal accepted that the claimant had a global contract with the respondent, but that contract imposed no obligation on the respondent to offer work or on the claimant to accept it. When work was offered, it was under separate temporary contracts which set the period, hours and rate of pay. The tribunal found that the respondent was only obliged to pay the claimant while such a temporary contract was in force.

For the period in question, the tribunal found that no temporary contract was in force. It found that the last temporary contract expired on 30 April 2020 and was not replaced. The claimant said he had a conversation with someone at St Gobain about an extension, but the tribunal found there had been no such conversation with the respondent, and any discussion with the client could not create a contractual arrangement with the respondent.

The tribunal noted that the claimant was not clearly told that he was not entitled to furlough pay, and that the respondent had tried, unsuccessfully, to register under the job retention scheme. The tribunal also recorded that the respondent had only produced the documentary evidence relied on very late. However, it held that none of that changed the contractual position: outside a temporary contract, the respondent had no obligation to pay wages. The claim therefore failed and was dismissed.