Mr T Pearson v Africa Professional Services Group Limited (in voluntary liquidation) and 1 other — 2025

Employment Judge Ramsden, sitting alone at London South on 24 April 2025, determined the claim under Rule 22 of the Employment Tribunal Procedure Rules 2024 after neither respondent presented a Response. The First Respondent (Mr Pearson's former employer, in creditors' voluntary liquidation since 4 June 2024) was found to have made a continuous series of unauthorised deductions from the Claimant's wages between June 2022 and February 2024, to have failed to pay commission earned in 2021-2023, and to have failed to reimburse work-related expenses. The Claimant resigned on 12 February 2024 in response to these failures and commenced new, more remunerative employment on 19 February 2024.

The Tribunal upheld the complaint of constructive unfair dismissal under s.94 ERA 1996, awarding a basic award of £3,215 (capped at £643/week for five complete years of service at age 35) and a compensatory award limited to £500 for loss of statutory rights, since the Claimant's swift re-employment at a higher salary meant no loss of earnings was awarded. The unauthorised deductions complaints under s.13 ERA 1996 were upheld in the aggregate sum of £72,359.33, with the commission element reduced under the two-year lookback in s.23(4A) by reference to the Claimant's own evidence of consistent monthly revenue. The breach of contract complaint for unpaid expenses was upheld at £7,920.08 including debt-servicing costs.

Applying the Third Parties (Rights Against Insurers) Act 2010 and the Court of Appeal decision in Watson v Hemingway Design Ltd [2021] ICR 1034, the Tribunal found that the Second Respondent, as legal expenses insurer of the First Respondent under a policy with a £100,000 cap, is potentially liable to the Claimant as a third party for the First Respondent's liabilities established in this judgment. The First Respondent was ordered to pay the Claimant £83,994.41 in aggregate.