Not present or represented For the v Mr Steve Hobbs, director. — 2022

The claimant did not attend the 19 May 2022 hearing, but the tribunal proceeded in his absence under rule 47 of the Employment Tribunals Rules of Procedure 2013 after refusing an adjournment application. The respondent, represented by its director Mr Steve Hobbs, accepted that sums were due if the claimant was found to be a worker, although it maintained that he had been engaged on a self-employed basis and referred to alleged flood damage at the premises.

The tribunal found that the claimant was a worker within the meaning of section 13(1) ERA 1996 and within the meaning of the Working Time Regulations 1998. It found that he had worked from the first week of March 2021 until 1 June 2021 doing depot maintenance, that he supplied his own tools, and that he was paid £10 per hour, or £65 for a full day after an unpaid one-and-a-half-hour lunch break. The tribunal also recorded that the question of statutory sick pay was outside its jurisdiction.

On remedy, the tribunal held that the claimant had received no holiday pay and was entitled to 7 days' pay under the Working Time Regulations 1998, calculated as a quarter of the annual 28-day entitlement. That produced an award of £455. It also found that the claimant had not been paid for 31 May 2021 and 1 June 2021, amounting to 7.25 hours at £10 per hour, or £72.50. The total award was therefore £527.50 gross.