Mr Michael Stewart v Denton Homes Limited — 2022

The Tribunal found that Mr Michael Stewart was at all material times a worker of Denton Homes Limited within section 230(3)(b) of the Employment Rights Act 1996, but that he was not employed under a contract of employment. On that basis, the Tribunal held that it had no jurisdiction to hear the unfair dismissal and breach of contract claims, and both were dismissed.

The claim for unpaid holiday under Regulations 13, 14 and 30 of the Working Time Regulations 1998 succeeded. The Tribunal found that the respondent had failed to pay the claimant in respect of holiday entitlement that had accrued on termination of the working relationship, and ordered payment of the agreed gross sum of £11,700.

The complaints of unlawful deduction from wages were dismissed. The Tribunal held that it had no jurisdiction because the claims were presented outside the prescribed time limit in section 23(2) and (3) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 and the claimant had not shown that it was not reasonably practicable to present them in time. It also recorded that, on its findings of fact, there were no deductions from wages as alleged.

The Tribunal declined to make an award under section 38 of the Employment Act 2002 because, when the claimant started work on 1 February 2016, the duty to provide written particulars under sections 1 to 4 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 applied only to employees and not to workers. It added that it would in any event have declined to make an award under section 38(5).