Mrs S Bradley v Ms S Williams — 2024

The claimant brought claims for alleged arrears of pay and unpaid holiday pay, and the parties agreed at the start of the final hearing that the claim was calculated at £2,719.16. The tribunal identified the central issues as whether the contract signed on 27 May 2022 was still in force when the claimant started work in November 2022, whether any sums were properly payable, whether there had been any unauthorised deduction from wages, and whether holiday pay remained due.

The tribunal found that at a meeting on 11 October 2022 the parties agreed to set aside the May 2022 contract. It relied on the respondent's account of that meeting and on the parties' later conduct, including the fact that the claimant did not start work until 1 November 2022, the claimant's message on 26 January 2023 referring to being paid for hours booked rather than hours worked, and the absence of any earlier complaint that she was not being paid under the May 2022 terms. The tribunal held that the arrangement in practice became a zero-hours arrangement under which the claimant was paid for hours worked.

On that basis, the tribunal concluded that there were no sums properly payable under the May 2022 contract when the claimant worked for the respondent, and that no unauthorised deductions had been made. It also held, in the alternative, that clause 1.3 of the May 2022 contract referred only to an estimate of 12 shifts per month and did not create a contractual right to a minimum of 12 shifts.

As to holiday pay, the tribunal found that the claimant had been paid holiday pay based on the WhatsApp messages in evidence and noted that she said in a later message that she was happy with the hours worked out for holiday pay. It also recorded that she did not provide evidence at the hearing of any alleged shortfall. The claims were therefore dismissed in their entirety, and no sum was awarded.