Cherif Layadi v Shoe Embassy London Limited (In voluntary liquidation) — 2018

The tribunal first decided the claimant's status. Cherif Layadi had started on 14 September 2016 as "Cluster manager" on £30,000 a year, moved to "Head of Retail" on £37,000 in February 2017, and then his remuneration was changed in September 2017 to £45,000 a year, partly through PAYE and partly through invoicing via C&M Consultancy Ltd. The tribunal rejected the respondent's case that he was a genuine consultant and, applying the authorities it had been prompted to consider, found that there was a contract of employment at £45,000 a year, imposed by the respondent.

On wages, the tribunal found that no salary had been paid for September to December 2018 and held that this was an unlawful deduction from wages contrary to section 13 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. The gross unpaid salary for the four-month period was £15,000. The tribunal then deducted £3,828, which it found had been paid to the claimant in respect of car-insurance excess but should not have been paid as an expense of employment, leaving an award of £11,172.

The holiday pay aspect failed. The claimant said he had taken no holiday in calendar year 2018, later amending that to 10 days in September 2018, but the tribunal said he had not proved holiday pay. It noted that the holiday year was the calendar year and that the entitlement was 28 days a year, but it did not make any separate holiday pay award.