Mr R Acanfora v Med Fish Distribution Ltd (in liquidation) — 2019

Mr R Acanfora worked for Med Fish Distribution Limited from 6 September 2018 until he resigned with effect from 6 July 2020. He was employed as a fishmonger and driver, with agreed pay of £2,300 per month. The respondent did not present a response and did not appear at the preliminary hearing. The tribunal continued with the case under Rule 21 after the respondent had entered creditors' voluntary liquidation.

The tribunal held that the claimant's leave year ran from 6 September to 5 September because there was no relevant agreement setting a different holiday year and no provision for carrying forward additional leave. On that basis, and because the claimant took no holiday in the relevant leave year, he had accrued 23.4 days' holiday by the end of employment. Using a daily rate of £106.15, the tribunal awarded £2,483.91 under regulation 14 of the Working Time Regulations 1998 for untaken holiday pay, due with the final salary in early August 2020.

On wages, the tribunal found that the respondent paid the claimant £700 less than his agreed monthly pay in February, March, April and June 2020, producing total underpayments of £2,800. The claimant also received no pay for July 2020, although he had worked six days in that month and should have been paid £445.16. The tribunal treated the July non-payment as the last deduction in a series for limitation purposes and found the wages claim in time, because the relevant payment should have been made in early August 2020.

The total award was £5,729.07, made up of £2,483.91 for untaken holiday entitlement and £3,245.16 for unlawful deductions from wages.