Miss E O’Dwyer v The Halo Tech Group Limited — 2022

Miss E O’Dwyer brought complaints of unauthorised deductions from pay under section 13 ERA 1996 and failure to provide itemised pay statements under section 8 ERA 1996. The tribunal heard the case on 6 July 2022 before Employment Judge Aspinall, accepted the claimant as a credible witness, and did not rely on the unsigned witness statements from absent respondent witnesses.

The tribunal found that the claimant had an oral contract for gross monthly pay of £3,750 and that the respondent could not show a signed written agreement authorising it to withhold March 2022 pay. It therefore held that the respondent had no contractual right to withhold the March 2022 salary. The judgment also recorded that in March 2022 the claimant had taken annual leave valued at £707.70 in excess of entitlement, which was deducted in calculating the award for that month.

On the itemised pay statement complaint, the tribunal rejected the respondent’s evidence that payslips had been sent through Xero or otherwise provided in January and February 2022. It relied on the absence of supporting proof in the bundle and the inconsistency in the respondent’s account. Judgment was entered for the claimant on both complaints, and the total award stated in the judgment was £4,986.82. The written reasons contain a small arithmetic inconsistency in the January and February figures, but the operative order records the overall total award.