Mr J Pritchard v Chetu Incorporated — 2020

Mr Pritchard was employed by Chetu Incorporated from 13 January 2020 to 21 February 2020 as a National Account Manager on £3,105.50 per month. The tribunal found that he was only informed of dismissal on 21 February 2020, after being locked out of the respondent's systems, so he was available for work that day and entitled to be paid for it. It found an unlawful deduction from wages of £143.33 for that day, and a further unlawful deduction of £167.22 arising from the February salary adjustment, making £310.55 in total under the wages claim.

The tribunal accepted the claimant's evidence that he had taken 1.5 days' leave and, applying regulation 15A of the Working Time Regulations 1998, held that his first-year entitlement accrued monthly and rounded up to five days. It rejected his argument that weekend travel gave him extra leave. On that basis, and taking account of what had already been paid in the payslips, it found that he had been underpaid holiday pay by £169.13. It also found a breach of contract in relation to expenses because the respondent could not explain the difference between the expenses report and the amount actually paid, and it awarded the outstanding £70.91.

The claimant's request for punitive damages and compensation was not entertained as a substantive remedy: the tribunal said it had no jurisdiction to award punitive damages or compensation on the claims brought. The judgment ordered the respondent to pay the awarded sums within 14 days.