Miss J Donald v Bryncae Legal Ltd — 2024

The respondent failed to present a valid response on time, so the Employment Judge determined the claim under Rule 21. The tribunal then made findings on the claimant’s monetary claims on the papers and entered judgment for the claimant on each head of claim addressed in the decision.

On unlawful deductions from wages, the tribunal accepted that the claimant had not been paid wages for August 2023 to February 2024 in the gross sum of £14,583.03. It deducted payments received totalling £5,141.21 and awarded £9,441.82 gross. The tribunal did not accept the separate claim for employee pension contributions, saying that would amount to double recovery because those sums were already deducted from the gross amounts being awarded.

The tribunal also found the claimant had been dismissed in breach of contract in respect of one month’s contractual notice. It awarded £706.74 gross, calculated as one month’s gross pay of £2,083.29 less £1,376.55 received during the notice period, made up of earnings and universal credit. The judgment states the award was calculated on a gross basis because of the likelihood of tax liability as Post Employment Notice Pay.

In addition, the tribunal found that accrued but untaken holiday entitlement had not been paid and awarded £384.60 for four days at a gross daily rate of £96.15. It further found that the claimant was dismissed by reason of redundancy and was entitled to a redundancy payment of £2,884.56, calculated on the basis stated in the judgment. The total gross sum payable was £13,417.72, and the tribunal noted that the claimant is responsible for any tax liabilities arising from the gross awards. The notice also states that interest is payable under the Employment Tribunals (Interest) Order 1990 if the sums are not paid within 14 days, with a relevant decision day of 12 July 2024 and a stipulated rate of 8% per annum.