Ms C M Cuoconu v Beauty Century Ltd. — 2021

The claimant, Ms C M Cuoconu, brought claims for unauthorised deduction from wages under s.13 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 and for unpaid holiday pay against Beauty Century Ltd. The respondent did not attend the hearing and was not represented. On 10 September 2021, Employment Judge H Allen entered judgment under Rule 21 of the Employment Tribunals Rules of Procedure 2013.

The tribunal found that the respondent had made an unauthorised deduction from the claimant's wages and ordered payment of £3,075.39 gross. It also found a separate unauthorised deduction in respect of holiday pay and ordered payment of £1,353.00 gross. The judgment recorded that holiday entitlement had accrued but the claimant had been prevented from taking it due to lockdown, with 12 days holiday outstanding. The sums awarded on the substantive claims were subject to the usual deductions for tax and national insurance.

The tribunal also made a preparation time order of £410, representing 10 hours at £41 per hour. It said this was made under Rule 79 on the basis that the respondent had acted vexatiously, abusively, disruptively or otherwise unreasonably in the conduct of the proceedings, referring to the failure to file a response, the postponement application made shortly before the hearing, and the circumstances surrounding the respondent's attendance at work and the claimant's request for leave to attend the hearing. The preparation time order was stated to be outside the usual deductions.