Miss Florence Burchill v Delroy Philogene — 2022

This was an appearance-not-entered case, although Mr Philogene dialled in and said he had filed a response online. Tribunal staff found no response on file. The judge heard oral evidence from Ms Burchill and reviewed screenshots of messages exchanged between the parties. Those messages showed work at 10 hours per week at £10.25 an hour and repeated references to wages. The tribunal found that Ms Burchill was not a self-employed contractor and that the relationship was intended to be one of employment.

The tribunal found that Ms Burchill worked for Mr Philogene from 4 March 2020 to 19 March 2021 as a producer/station manager at Shoreditch Radio, that she was paid weekly, and that she was not given a written contract of employment or a statutory statement of principal terms and conditions. It held that she was entitled to one week’s notice because she was paid weekly, and that ending the employment on 19 March 2021 without notice meant she was owed £102.50 in lieu of notice.

On wages, the tribunal accepted that between 1 February 2021 and 29 March 2021 Ms Burchill worked 70 hours at £10.25 an hour, amounting to £717.50, and that she was also owed £19.96 for an Adobe subscription used for video editing. It found that five payments of £50 had been made when she asked for wages, totalling £250, which reduced the amount due for this head to £487.46. The tribunal also accepted that holiday had accrued but not been taken, and that £269.16 was due for holiday pay.

The tribunal ordered payment of £205 under s.38 of the Employment Act 2002 for the failure to provide the statutory statement, £487.46 for unlawful deductions from wages, £102.50 for notice pay, and £269.16 for holiday pay, making a total award of £1,064.12.