Miss K Rouse v Italian Catering Concept Ltd — 2021

The tribunal accepted the claimant's evidence, describing her as honest and credible, and relied on her diary entries and WhatsApp messages to find that she worked the relevant shifts. It found that she worked on 12, 13, 14 and 15 June 2019 for a total of 23 hours and 45 minutes, and that she worked week 41 but was not paid the tips due for that week.

On those findings, the tribunal held that the respondent had made unlawful deductions from wages. The claimant was entitled to £80 in tips for week 41 and to be paid at the National Minimum Wage rate of £6.15 per hour for the 23 hours and 45 minutes worked on 12-15 June 2019, which produced £144.22. The judgment also recorded that any purported agreement that the June 2019 "training days" money would only be repaid if she stayed employed for more than 12 months would be void under section 49 of the National Minimum Wage Act 1998, because training hours count as time work under regulation 33 of the National Minimum Wage Regulations 2015.

The tribunal found the tips claim was presented in time, because ACAS early conciliation began on 1 April 2020 within three months of the end of the relevant week. The June 2019 wages claim was outside three months, but it was accepted because it was not reasonably practicable for the claimant to bring it earlier: she only became aware by the end of March 2020 that she was entitled to be paid for those hours, after enquiring about her entitlement and in light of the contractual term she had been given. Judgment was therefore entered for the claimant in the total sum of £224.22, subject to deductions for tax or national insurance if required.