Mr P Stevenson v Mr J Hunt T/a Granelli’s — 2020

The tribunal found that the claimant, Mr P Stevenson, had been employed by Mr J Hunt T/a Granelli’s from 3 October 2002 as a delivery driver and general warehouse worker, and rejected the respondent’s case that there had been breaks in continuity. It found that the respondent was a small employer with poor record-keeping, no contract or written particulars, and that the claimant’s working week remained 30 hours for the relevant period.

On the evidence, the tribunal found a persistent failure to pay wages in full and on time, worsening in 2019. It relied on the absence of proper payroll records and payslips after April 2019, the contemporaneous note from Mrs Hunt apologising that only £50 was available on one occasion, and evidence that payments were often made irregularly, including arranged meetings to hand over cash. It held that the payment of wages was an obligation at the heart of the employment relationship and that this persistent failure amounted to a fundamental breach.

The tribunal found that the claimant resigned on 19 September 2019 in response to that repudiatory breach, so he was constructively dismissed. His later return to work on 24 September 2019, after Mrs Hunt promised that wages would be paid properly, did not retrospectively affirm the earlier breach. The tribunal also found that the dismissal was unfair because the claimant had the necessary qualifying service and the respondent did not advance a fair reason. The dismissal was wrongful as well, because no notice or payment in lieu was given, and damages were assessed at the statutory minimum notice period of 12 weeks.

The tribunal upheld the unlawful deduction from wages complaint for £615 of wage arrears and £225 for holiday taken in August 2019. The separate holiday pay complaint failed insofar as it related to a claimed future November week off after employment had ended. It also made a higher award of £900 under Employment Act 2002 section 38 because no written statement of particulars had been provided. The total payable was £9,327.50, and the recoupment regulations did not apply.