In person For the v None — 2022

The claimant, Pavel Barani, pursued a claim for unauthorised deductions from wages after the respondent pub business closed during the first Covid-19 lockdown and did not pay him from 16 March 2020 onwards. The respondent did not attend the remote hearing and was described as being in voluntary liquidation. The claimant had originally included annual leave, but that aspect had been resolved through the ACAS process, leaving only unpaid wages in issue.

The tribunal found that the employment terms were evidenced by an email chain dated 7 August 2019 and by the parties' conduct. It found that the claimant was employed as a worker, that the contractual pay rate was £350 net per week, and that he had in fact been paid that amount in cash until 16 March 2020. The tribunal also found that the claimant had not been given pay slips and that no tax or national insurance had been paid in respect of him.

The tribunal accepted the claimant's evidence that he was not furloughed and received no wages after 16 March 2020, although he continued to receive accommodation and food until he left on 22 June 2020 to take up alternative employment. It rejected the respondent's position that the provision of food and accommodation could offset the unpaid wages, finding that those were separate terms of the contract. The claim was brought on 23 July 2020, which the tribunal found was in time under the three-month limit for deductions claims.

The tribunal held that the respondent had made unlawful deductions from wages by failing to pay the claimant his contractual net wages for the period 16 March 2020 to 22 June 2020. It calculated the sum due by multiplying the weekly rate of £350 by 14 weeks, producing an award of £4,900 net.