Mr C Kilgour v EPH Energy Limited — 2023

Mr C Kilgour presented his claim on 5 January 2022 arising from employment as a plumber from 1 March 2019 to 13 October 2021. EPH Energy Ltd did not attend the hearing and served no witness evidence, so the tribunal determined the case from the claimant's documents, email exchanges and oral evidence, while considering the points raised in the response.

On overtime, the tribunal accepted the claimant's records and found that he had worked the hours claimed. It found total entitlement of £5,665, of which £2,920 had already been paid, leaving £2,745 outstanding. The respondent's asserted requirement for pre-authorisation was not proved on the evidence and, in any event, the tribunal found that any such condition had been waived by the parties' course of dealing and the respondent's repeated promises and part-payments. The unpaid overtime was therefore awarded as an unlawful deduction from wages.

The tribunal also found that the claimant was contractually entitled to reimbursement of £189 for materials and tool hire and to £150 as half the replacement cost of an angle grinder and battery that had been stolen during the employment. It held that these items were not recoverable as unlawful deductions because expenses are excluded from 'wages' by s.27(2)(b) of the Employment Rights Act 1996, but awarded both sums as damages for breach of contract.

For the pay-adjustment claim, the tribunal accepted that the claimant had not been paid for two weeks when the respondent changed from fortnightly to monthly payments and assessed the shortfall at £509.12. It held that the limitation issue was answered because the claimant had agreed to defer payment and the relevant time ran from his leaving date of 13 October 2021 under s.23(2) of the Employment Rights Act 1996. The awards were £2,745, £509.12 and £339, and the judgment directed that the payments be made without deductions, with the tax and National Insurance treatment set out separately.