Mrs Stefania La Croce v Il Vecchio Ltd — 2021

The tribunal found that the claimant was employed by Il Vecchio Ltd from September or October 2017 until 7 July 2020, when she told Mr Brahimi she had decided to leave. The tribunal rejected the respondent’s case that her employment ended on 3 June 2020. It relied on the absence of any contemporaneous dismissal communication, the respondent’s request on 4 July 2020 that she work that night, the respondent’s conduct on 7 July and 14 July 2020, and the fact that the claimant only first learned of a 3 June leaving date from a P45 sent on 17 July 2020.

On furlough, the tribunal found that the claimant orally agreed after 22 March 2020 to be placed on furlough, but did not agree any reduced percentage. It found that she was not actually put on furlough until around the beginning of April 2020 and that from 10 April 2020 she was paid 85% of her pre-furlough wage. The tribunal accepted the Government Gateway records showing gross taxable income of £3,213.24 to 3 July 2020, and then added four further days to 7 July 2020, giving gross pay properly payable of £3,332.82 for the relevant period.

The tribunal rejected the respondent’s suggestion that the claimant had been paid by a takeaway while on furlough. It found there was no evidence that she was paid by the takeaway, and that she was contractually entitled to take additional third-party work in any event. It also found that the respondent did not authorise any deductions from wages, and that the sums actually received by the claimant were £1,720 net.

Applying section 13 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, and calculating the gross equivalent of the net sums actually paid, the tribunal held that the respondent had made unlawful deductions from wages in the gross sum of £1,559.62. It ordered the respondent to pay that amount to the claimant. The judgment also included the standard notice on interest under the Employment Tribunals (Interest) Order 1990, but no separate interest sum was quantified in the judgment.