Ms P Reynolds v La Perla Beauty (UK) Limited — 2024

The claimant, Ms P Reynolds, succeeded on her complaint of unauthorised deductions from wages against La Perla Beauty (UK) Limited. The respondent did not attend the hearing. The tribunal proceeded in its absence after noting that the respondent had been aware of the hearing date but had not attended or sought a postponement.

The tribunal accepted the claimant's evidence that her pay had increasingly fallen behind during 2023, that staff were told there were cashflow difficulties, and that she had not been paid salary from 1 September 2023 to the date of claim on 11 January 2024. It accepted that her monthly salary before deductions was £11,375 and that her employer pension contributions were £568.75 per month. It also recorded that she remained employed and had described the effect of the non-payment on her health and wellbeing.

Applying s.13 and s.27 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, and referring to Somerset County Council v Chambers and Walters t/a Rosewood v Barik, the tribunal held that the wages claimed for the period within the claim were recoverable, but that expenses and employer pension contributions were not wages for the purpose of the unlawful deductions provisions. It also found that although wages were due after 11 January 2024 up to the hearing date, it had no jurisdiction to award sums arising after the date of claim.

The tribunal awarded £51,275 gross, made up of the unpaid wages for September 2023, October 2023, November 2023, December 2023, and 1 to 11 January 2024. It stated that the claimant is responsible for any tax or National Insurance due on that sum.