Mr Tyler Wood v Techonics Canterbury Ltd — 2023

Mr Tyler Wood brought a claim for unlawful deduction from wages against Techonics Canterbury Ltd. The respondent did not present a valid ET3 and did not attend the hearing, so the tribunal proceeded in its absence under rules 21 and 47. The claimant was employed as an apprentice from 23 August 2021, initially on £10,000 per year, and the tribunal accepted that he had completed one year of apprenticeship by 23 August 2022.

The tribunal found that, from 23 August 2022, the claimant was entitled to the standard national minimum wage rate for his age, which Ms Hatfield of the respondent also confirmed in email as £6.83 per hour. On the evidence of the payslips and correspondence, the tribunal calculated that the claimant should have been paid £973.97 for August 2022 but received £857.65, leaving a shortfall of £116.32, and should have been paid £866.28 for September 2022 but received £848.26, leaving a further shortfall of £18.02.

The tribunal therefore found an unlawful deduction from wages for the period 1 August 2022 to 21 September 2022 and ordered payment of £134.34 gross. It also found that the respondent had failed to engage with the claimant's grievance and had not complied with the ACAS Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures, so it increased the award by 20% rather than 25% because the claimant had already left employment when he raised the grievance. The final total ordered was £161.21.