Mr J Liu v The Sushi Co Limited — 2024

At Central London on 23 July 2024, Employment Judge Norris sat alone via CVP. No response had been entered by the respondent within the time limit under Rule 16, and the tribunal therefore held that the claimant’s claims for unlawful deduction from wages and holiday pay succeeded under Rule 21. The tribunal ordered payment of £1,560 for wages between 17 April and 15 May 2023 and £1,812 for accrued but untaken annual leave at the date of termination.

The tribunal found that by 15 August 2023, when the proceedings commenced, the respondent had not provided the claimant with a statement of initial employment particulars or particulars of change under sections 1 and 4 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. It held that it was just and equitable to award the higher amount under section 38(3) and 38(4)(b) of the Employment Act 2002, equivalent to four weeks’ pay, and ordered payment of £2,160.

The respondent was also ordered to pay £880 for 20 hours’ preparation time because it had behaved unreasonably in the conduct of the claim. The judgment states that the total payable was £6,412 gross. It also records that the wages and holiday pay elements could be satisfied by payment of the net amount due with tax and National Insurance accounted for, while the award for written particulars and the preparation time costs were not liable to deduction.