Mr Craig Chadwick v Fine & Country Inns Ltd and 1 other — 2024

Mr Craig Chadwick brought a wages claim against Fine & Country Inns Ltd and FCI Group Ltd. The tribunal recorded that his employment as a licensed premises general manager began on 18 August 2023 with the second respondent, that he signed the contract on 11 September 2023, and that his agreed rate was £10.42 per hour. On the figures accepted by both sides, his net pay for the period of employment was £2,417.88, of which £350.45 had been paid, leaving £2,067.43 theoretically due before any deductions.

The central factual issue was what happened on 13 September 2023. The claimant attended a relative's funeral and then had a telephone conversation with Mr Hunt. The tribunal preferred Mr Hunt's evidence over the claimant's where there was conflict, and found on the balance of probabilities that the claimant resigned during that call and did not in fact get dismissed. It also found that he left without giving the notice required by the contract.

The tribunal relied on section 6 of the contract, which allowed the company at its discretion to make deductions from earnings to recover identified losses. It accepted the respondent's evidence that, because the claimant did not work after 13 September 2023, the respondent incurred £3,260.26 in cover costs during the period in which the claimant should have worked. Applying sections 13 and 14 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, the tribunal held that there was a valid contractual basis for the deduction and that the cover costs exceeded the amount otherwise due to the claimant.

The claim for unlawfully withheld or unpaid wages was therefore dismissed. No monetary award was made.