Mr T Xerri v ISS Mediclean Limited t/a ISS Facilities Services, Healthcare — 2019

Mr T Xerri brought claims for breach of contract and unlawful deductions from wages over bank holiday pay. The breach of contract claim was dismissed upon withdrawal. The tribunal heard evidence from Mr Xerri and two respondent witnesses, and considered the employee handbook, the 2009 collective agreement, the 2011 shift-change letter, holiday records, and the parties' competing interpretations of the bank-holiday provisions.

Applying section 13 ERA 1996 and contractual interpretation principles, including New Century Cleaning, Investors Compensation Scheme, Mannai, Antaios, and contra proferentem, the tribunal held that the handbook and terms and conditions entitled Mr Xerri to be paid for bank holidays when he was not required to work on those days. The 25 January 2011 letter changed his roster to Wednesday to Sunday nights but stated that all other terms and conditions remained unchanged. On that basis, the tribunal found that he was contractually and legally entitled to bank holiday pay for the three bank holidays claimed, including 9 May 2018, 30 May 2018 and 27 August 2018. Because the express terms resolved the point, it did not need to decide the alternative cases based on oral agreement or implied term by custom and practice.

The tribunal found that the respondent had made unlawful deductions from wages. It accepted that the claimant's basic daily rate was £60.55 and recorded the underlying deduction amount as £181.65. It then found that the respondent had unreasonably failed to comply with the ACAS Code by not holding a grievance meeting, and applied a 25% uplift under section 207A of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, producing the operative award of £227.06.