Ms Lyn Cartmell v Steven Moore — 2019

Ms Lyn Cartmell was engaged by Steven Moore as an employee to do laundry work at his laundrette from 16 July 2018. The parties accepted the relevant hours worked and the weekly gross pay of £178. The tribunal found that she was a worker entitled to the national minimum wage, and that the dispute was limited to whether she had been paid that rate for each hour worked during the periods in issue.

For 16 July 2018 to 5 November 2018, the claimant worked 39 hours a week and was paid £178 gross a week, which the tribunal calculated as an hourly rate of £4.56. That was below the applicable minimum wage rate of £7.83. Applying the rate in force at the date of calculation, £8.21, the tribunal found that she should have received £320.19 per week, or £5,123.04 for the 16-week period, leaving an underpayment of £2,275.04.

For 6 November 2018 to 28 December 2018, the claimant worked 30 hours a week and was paid £178 gross a week, which the tribunal calculated as an hourly rate of £5.93. That was also below the applicable minimum wage rate. Using the then-current calculation rate of £8.21, the tribunal found that she should have received £985.20 for the four-week period, leaving an underpayment of £273.20. The judgment records that the claimant was not pursuing pay beyond 6 January 2019 because she did not work from 28 December 2018.

The respondent accepted the figures and hours relied on by the claimant, and the tribunal noted that he was not aware of the minimum wage rules. The judgment also noted that tax and other deductions would need to be dealt with appropriately. The final order required payment of £2,275.04 and £273.20, for a total award of £2,548.24.