Mr TK Chau v International Aid for The Protection and Welfare of Animals — 2023

Mr TK Chau was employed by International Aid for The Protection and Welfare of Animals as a Fundraising Officer from 4 April 2022 until 15 July 2022. He resigned on 11 July 2022 and worked out one week’s notice. His final pay was made on 25 July 2022, which the tribunal identified as the date on which any outstanding sums, including accrued holiday pay, should have been paid. The tribunal found that he had accrued 8 days of holiday pay and had not taken any leave during employment.

The respondent did not pay unused holiday entitlement in the final wages. Instead, it treated the notice period as a period of leave without giving notice under Regulation 15 of the Working Time Regulations 1998, and without contractual authority to do so. The judge also told the respondent at the hearing that it had no legal right to require the claimant to take annual leave while working out his notice in these circumstances, save for limited instances that did not apply.

The claim was presented after ACAS early conciliation, which began on 9 April 2023 and ended with a certificate on 11 April 2023; the claim form was then presented on 18 April 2023. The tribunal held that the complaint for unlawful deduction of wages had been brought out of time. Although the claimant said he was unfamiliar with UK employment law after coming from Hong Kong and only later learned that holiday pay could be due from the start of employment, the judge found that ignorance of the law did not make it not reasonably practicable to bring the claim in time.

The tribunal found there was no satisfactory explanation for the delay. It noted that the claimant had not made enquiries online, with advice organisations, or with ACAS, and that there was no physical or medical impediment preventing an earlier claim. The judge found that he was an intelligent and articulate individual who should have made some effort to ascertain his legal rights. The claim was therefore dismissed.