Miss C Hagan v S&N Collective Ltd — 2023

The tribunal reconsidered its earlier oral judgment after the respondent said its representative had undergone emergency surgery and could not attend. It proceeded in the respondent’s absence on the reconsideration hearing, taking account of the respondent’s written representations and the claimant’s attendance. The tribunal treated the matter as a rule 21 hearing and varied the judgment of 9 February 2023.

On the substance, the respondent’s representations accepted that some outstanding wages were owed and suggested the amount due was in the region of £850 after deducting an overpayment for excess holidays and other sums said to be owed to the respondent. The tribunal said it did not have jurisdiction to hear a counterclaim in what was not a breach of contract claim, but it could take account of previous overpayments for excess holidays when recalculating the wage liability.

The tribunal recalculated the claim using the claimant’s annual gross salary of £30,000. It found that the claimant had not been paid from 30 May 2022 to 23 June 2022, a period treated as 17 working days plus 2 bank holidays, making 19 unpaid days at a daily rate of £115.385. That produced a gross unpaid wages figure of £2,192.32. The tribunal then calculated holiday entitlement for the relevant part of the year and deducted 3.4 additional holiday days taken, valued at £392.31.

After that deduction, the tribunal found the amount owed by the respondent to the claimant was £1,800.01 gross. The written notice also explained the tribunal interest regime and stated that interest would be payable if the sum remained unpaid after the relevant decision day, but no separate interest figure was included in the judgment itself.