Mr D Holden v Premier Support Services — 2024

Mr D Holden brought a single claim for unlawful deductions from wages against Premier Support Services Limited after working as a cleaner from 20 October 2022 to 5 September 2023. He did not attend the hearing, and the tribunal proceeded in his absence. The tribunal recorded that the respondent had made errors in calculating pay, including some hours being paid at £10.82 rather than £11.52 and errors in holiday pay, but the only claim before it was unpaid wages.

The tribunal considered the claimant’s ET1, text messages and the respondent’s payslips and found it difficult to identify the exact sum claimed. The messages referred to alleged underpayments in February to May 2023, including a figure of £167.36 in the claimant’s own calculations, but that did not match the £102.08 pleaded in the ET1. The tribunal also noted messages saying overtime could only be authorised if someone was off.

On the evidence, the tribunal found the claimant had been underpaid in April to September 2023 by £244.67 and underpaid holiday pay by £30.17, giving a total of £274.84. It found that the respondent had already paid that amount by way of back pay in September, November and December 2023. Applying section 13 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, the tribunal held the claimant had been paid in full and dismissed the claim as not well-founded.