Mr J A Leon Lopez v Esto Es Espana Ltd — 2023

Mr J A Leon Lopez worked as the respondent's Head Chef from 1 April 2021 to 2 April 2023. The respondent did not file a response, so Employment Judge Ainscough determined the case under rule 21 on the claimant's evidence and documents at a hearing in Liverpool, with the claimant assisted by an interpreter.

The tribunal accepted that the claimant worked 40 hours in his final week at £12 per hour and had not been paid £480. It also accepted that, over the final 12 months, pension deductions were not remitted and the employer did not make its own 3% pension contributions, producing an award of £1,268.27, and that the claimant was owed two weeks' notice pay of £862.32 after his employment was ended without notice.

The respondent's business had ceased to trade, so the claimant qualified for a redundancy payment of £1,293.48. On holiday pay, the tribunal found that he had been prevented from taking 15 days' annual leave in 2022 because the kitchen was under-resourced and he was the only chef; that leave carried over, and with a further 7 days accrued by termination he was owed £1,897.06 under regulation 14 of the Working Time Regulations 1998 and King v Sash Window Workshop Ltd. The total award was £5,801.13.