Did not attend and was not represented – No written representations received For the v Mears Group Legal Department — 2020

Mr E Roth did not attend the hearing and was not represented. The Tribunal therefore gave brief written reasons and decided the case on the balance of probabilities. The claim form, presented on 23 July 2019, alleged that the respondent had failed to pay holiday pay in respect of 20 days annual leave and had made an unlawful deduction from wages in relation to a deposit for his van.

The Tribunal recorded that Mr Roth had been employed by Mears Group Legal Department as a plasterer from 3 April 2018 to 22 March 2019, and that his salary was £680 gross per week. In relation to the van deposit complaint, the respondent said it had never taken a deposit from him and relied on contractual and policy documents that permitted a deduction of up to £250 in certain defined circumstances. The Tribunal found there was no evidence that such a deduction had in fact been made, and the unlawful deduction claim was dismissed.

On holiday pay, the respondent said the holiday year ran from January, the contractual entitlement was 20 days, a month’s leave request had been refused, and there was no right to carry leave forward. It also said that £474.60 had been paid to Mr Roth on 5 April 2019 in respect of holiday accrued in 2019 when his employment ended. The Tribunal found that Mr Roth had not identified in his claim form how he said he was entitled to 20 days’ holiday despite the holiday year arrangement, and it was not satisfied that he had established entitlement to the holiday pay claimed. That complaint was also dismissed.