In person v Mr G Vials, solicitor — 2022

The tribunal held that the claimants' joint management contract dated 22 March 2019, together with clause 7.2 and the respondent's 'free flow' policy, did not authorise the July 2021 deductions as operated. It found that the respondent's approach of using total wet sales, making only limited allowances for cleaning and cellar-service call-outs, and then deducting the shortfall without enquiring into the cause was not supported by the contract or the policy.

The tribunal accepted that the July 2021 payslips first showed a deduction of 10% of gross salary and a further amount said to be owed by each claimant, and that the claimants resigned while on holiday after seeing the payslips. It held that the failure to investigate the shortfall, together with the scale of the deduction and the company's own policy requiring analysis of the underlying cause, amounted to a fundamental breach of the implied term of trust and confidence. The constructive dismissal claim therefore succeeded.

At the remedy hearing on 21 October 2022, each claimant was awarded £1,622.89 for unlawful deductions from wages. Unfair dismissal compensation was then awarded at £10,764.08 for Mr Groom and £7,027.56 for Mrs Groom. The remedy judge also treated the accommodation allowance as remuneration for week's pay purposes under the National Minimum Wage Regulations 2015, which affected the basic award calculation. The accrued holiday pay claims were dismissed, and no separate damages were awarded for breach of contract because the notice period had already been compensated within the unfair dismissal award.