Mr Jonathan Davies v Harold Davies and Partners Ltd — 2023

The claimant had worked for the respondent's family dairy business since 2000 and had been paid a flat £300 per week for a number of years. The tribunal found there was no written contract or written particulars of employment, and it preferred the claimant's evidence and that of Leslie Davies on the question of hours worked over Ronald Davies' account. It found the claimant usually worked about 12 hours per weekday and about 6 hours on Saturdays, making 66 hours per week during the relevant two-year period.

Applying the Agricultural Wages (England and Wales) Order 2012, the tribunal found the claimant was Craft grade 4 because he had worked in agriculture for at least two years and held and had disclosed a City & Guilds NVQ Level 3 in Livestock Production. It held that the first 39 hours per week had to be paid at least at the National Living Wage of £9.50 and overtime at the AWO minimum rate of £12.32. The tribunal rejected the respondent's attempted offsets for benefits such as car insurance and life insurance, and found there was no agreement or legal basis for an accommodation deduction. On that basis it calculated unpaid wages at £41,926.56 before subtracting £1,134.44 of additional payments, leaving £40,792.12.

On holiday pay, the tribunal found the AWO holiday year ran from 1 October to 30 September and that the claimant was entitled to 35 days' leave per year as a worker who worked more than five but not more than six days per week. It found there was no agreement to carry over untaken leave for 1 October 2020 to 30 September 2021, but that the claimant could claim pay in lieu for 7 days in the 2021-2022 holiday year. It awarded £1,380.89 for that claim. The tribunal also made an additional award under section 38 of the Employment Act 2002 for failure to provide written particulars, awarding 4 weeks' pay capped at £643 per week, which came to £2,572.00. The total award was £44,745.01, and the written notice stated that interest would run at 8% per annum from 25 April 2023 if unpaid after 14 days.