Ms S Webster v Intesa (Leicester) Limited Heard: via Cloud Video Platform — 2021

Ms S Webster worked for Intesa (Leicester) Limited as a sales advisor from 3 August 2020 to 24 August 2020, working entirely from home. The tribunal found that she had to buy a headset to do the job and that it was agreed she would be reimbursed £30, but the respondent never repaid that sum. It also found that she was not paid for the three weeks she worked and had accrued holiday pay that was not paid on termination.

The tribunal dealt first with time limits. It found that the original claim presented on 22 October 2020 was in time for both unlawful deduction from wages and breach of contract, although it named the wrong respondent. The claimant had issued the first claim herself without legal advice and had genuinely mistaken Richard Logan for the correct respondent. When the Employment Tribunal later pointed out the error, she started a further period of Early Conciliation and filed the second claim within four days.

For the wages complaint, the tribunal found that the claimant was entitled to £878.31 net pay for the three weeks she worked, plus £74.98 holiday pay, making £953.29 in total. It found that the respondent’s failure to pay that amount on 6 October 2020 amounted to an unlawful deduction from wages. For the contract claim, the tribunal found that the failure to reimburse the headset cost was a breach of contract. The tribunal therefore upheld both complaints and ordered the respondent to pay £983.29 in total.