Claimant v Mira Foods International (UK) Limited — 2025

The claimant, Mr C Poletti Ramirez, brought a complaint under section 23 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 alleging unlawful deductions from wages. The respondent did not enter a response, did not appear, and did not respond to the tribunal's communications. The tribunal heard evidence from the claimant and considered his employment contract, payslips, the respondent's closure letter, and other documents.

The tribunal found that Mr Ramirez worked for the respondent as a demi chef-de-partie at the Lusin restaurant in Mayfair from 1 November 2022 until the restaurant closed on 15 September 2024. It accepted that his September 2024 payslip showed net salary and accrued holiday pay of £2,146.58, but that this sum was never paid.

The tribunal also accepted that the claimant was owed his share of staff gratuities and service charges for the period from December 2023 to 15 September 2024. In the absence of calculations from the respondent, it used the claimant's last gratuities payment of £1,781.73 for a three-month period, which equated to £593.91 per month, and multiplied that by 9.5 months to reach £5,642.14 net.

The tribunal noted that the respondent's 2 September 2024 closure email promised payment of salary, accrued but untaken annual leave, and accrued gratuities, and that payment was still not made despite later promises in October 2024 that it would be paid in November 2024. It concluded that the claimant was entitled to payment of his unpaid salary, accrued annual leave, and gratuities, and ordered payment of £7,788.72 net in total.