Mr E. Fejzo v Lillywhite Property Group Ltd — 2024

The claimant, Mr E. Fejzo, was employed by Lillywhite Property Group Limited as a Plumbing and Gas Engineer from 1 February 2023 to 31 August 2023. The tribunal found that his contract provided for enrolment in an automatic enrolment pension scheme and that he was enrolled in a SMART scheme. It also found that £183.45 was deducted from his wages each month as employee pension contributions, while the total payable to the scheme was £293.52 each month, except August 2023 when it was £275.95.

The tribunal found that the respondent made no employee or employer pension contributions for April, May, June, July and August 2023, despite deducting employee contributions from the claimant's pay. The sum not paid into the pension fund was £1,450.03, and the tribunal held that this failure was a breach of contract. It ordered the respondent to pay damages of £1,450.03. The tribunal also noted that other sums the claimant sought, including money he had borrowed from others, were too remote to be recoverable.

The respondent's employer's contract claim was dismissed. The tribunal found that when he was first employed the claimant did not say he was a carpenter in interview or on his CV, but only said he had been involved in a kitchen installation where there was a carpenter on the project and he was the plumber. The tribunal also noted that his contract described him as a Gas Engineer / Plumber Maintenance Operative, not a carpenter. It therefore found that he had not made a misrepresentation about his abilities and had not breached contract.

The judgment was determined under the Employment Tribunals Extension of Jurisdiction (England and Wales) Order 1994, including the provisions on employee contract claims and employer contract claims. The respondent did not attend the hearing and was not represented.