Mr Liam Fair Case No. 2207298/2021 v Hampstead Hill School — 2021

Mr Liam Fair was employed by Hampstead Hill School as a teaching assistant from 15 October 2018. He resigned by email on 14 June 2021 stating that he would be leaving at the end of term. The tribunal found that the school term ended on 9 July 2021 and that this was his last working day, so his employment terminated on 9 July 2021.

The claim was for unlawful deduction from wages under ss.13 and 23 ERA 1996, based on wages said to be due for July and August 2021. The tribunal accepted that clause 5.1 of the contract referred to salary accruing day to day and being paid monthly in arrears, and that salaries continue to be paid during periods of school closure. However, reading the contract as a whole and applying its ordinary meaning, the tribunal held that this did not create an entitlement to payment after employment had ended. It found that the claimant was entitled only to salary accrued up to termination, which he had been paid.

The claimant compared himself with two teachers who were paid during the summer holiday. The tribunal found that the respondent had exercised a discretion to retain those teachers in employment during the holiday period and that they were expected to carry out some duties then. By contrast, it found there was no expectation that the claimant would work during the holiday, that he did not do so, and that the discretionary practice had not been shown to extend to him. On that basis, there was no legal entitlement to wages for the period from 10 July 2021 to 31 August 2021, no unlawful deduction from wages, and the claim was dismissed. The respondent’s application for costs was also refused.