Case 2407928/2021 · Employment Tribunal
In person v Mellors Catering Services Ltd — 2022
- Case reference
- 2407928/2021
- Decision date
- 25 February 2022
- Jurisdiction
- England & Wales
- Judge
- Employment Judge Cox Representation
- Venue
- Leeds
Parties
2 namedClaimant
In person
Respondent
Key findings
Tribunal's reasoningThe claimant alleged that the respondent had failed to pay the correct holiday pay during a period of furlough leave from July to around 6 September 2020. The Tribunal considered the claim both as a Working Time Regulations holiday pay claim and as an unauthorised deduction from wages claim under the Employment Rights Act 1996.
For limitation purposes, the Tribunal assumed in the claimant's favour that there had been a series of deductions and that the final underpayment was made on 18 September 2020. Because the claimant did not contact ACAS until 15 June 2021, early conciliation did not extend the limitation period, and the claim should have been presented by 17 December 2020. It was presented on 22 June 2021.
The Tribunal found that the claimant believed as early as August 2020 that she might have been underpaid, was a union member, and could have taken advice about enforcing her rights. It did not accept that it had not been reasonably practicable to present the claims in time, so the Working Time Regulations and unauthorised deduction claims were dismissed. The Tribunal separately noted that a possible breach of contract claim for unpaid holiday might be in time if the claimant had already left employment, and said that issue would need further exploration.
Claims and outcomes
3 findings recorded| Claim type | Issue or finding | Outcome | Protected characteristic | Award |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Working time regulations | The holiday pay claim under Regulation 30 of the Working Time Regulations 1998 was dismissed because it was presented out of time and the Tribunal did not accept that it had not been reasonably practicable to present it in time. | Dismissed | — | — |
| Unlawful deduction from wages | The holiday pay claim under Section 23 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, treated as a possible series of unauthorised deductions from wages, was dismissed because it was presented out of time and the Tribunal did not accept that it had not been reasonably practicable to present it in time. | Dismissed | — | — |
| Breach of contract | The Tribunal noted that unpaid holiday for a former employee could also be viewed as a breach of contract claim and that, if the claimant had left employment before presenting the claim, that issue would need to be explored further. No final determination of that issue was made in this judgment. | Other | — | — |
Legal tests applied
7 references- Regulation 30 of the Working Time Regulations 1998
- Section 23 of the Employment Rights Act 1996
- Regulation 30B of the Working Time Regulations 1998
- Section 207B of the Employment Rights Act 1996
- reasonably practicable
- Regulation 7 of the Employment Tribunals Extension of Jurisdiction (England and Wales) Order 1994
- Regulation 8B of the Employment Tribunals Extension of Jurisdiction (England and Wales) Order 1994
Official outcome judgment PDF
Gov.uk primary recordThe official judgment PDF on gov.uk contains the tribunal's outcome, reasoning, and any remedy details. Where this page does not yet show extracted outcomes for every claim, use the PDF as the authoritative source.
Published on gov.uk under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
How we got this data
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