Mr Paul Foy (1) Mrs Elizabeth Kemp (2) v Disclosure & Barring Service HELD AT: Liverpool (hybrid hearing) — 2025

The claimants, employees of the Disclosure & Barring Service, alleged that the respondent had paid them on the basis of a 42 hour working week, resulting in hourly pay below the national minimum wage during periods in 2023 and 2024. The respondent contended that the claimants were contracted to work 37 hours per week, with an additional 5 hours per week comprising unpaid meal breaks, and that pay therefore met or exceeded the applicable national minimum wage at all material times.

The Tribunal found that the claimants were contracted to work 37 hours per week and that meal breaks were unpaid, with no express provision to the contrary. On that basis, it was accepted that the claimants' pay was above the National Living Wage at the material times, and the complaints of unauthorised deduction from wages under section 23 Employment Rights Act 1996 were not well founded.

The Tribunal additionally considered jurisdictional time limits and concluded that the 2023 deductions formed a separate series ending in September 2023, distinct from the 2024 deductions beginning in April 2024, and were therefore out of time. It was held to have been reasonably practicable to present the 2023 claim within the normal time limit. The Tribunal noted that this jurisdictional finding did not affect the substantive determination.