Jose Henrique Baptista De Macedo v City Recycling and Storage Ltd — 2025

The claimant, employed as Operations Manager from 28 March 2022 to 24 November 2023, brought a complaint of unauthorised deduction from wages in respect of his unpaid November 2023 net wages of £2,719.24. The respondent did not attend the hearing. The Employment Judge, having satisfied herself that notice of the hearing had been properly served under Rule 56 and having considered Rule 47 of the Employment Tribunal Procedure Rules 2024, proceeded in the respondent's absence after the clerk attempted to contact the respondent by telephone without success.

On the evidence, including the claimant's payslip and contemporaneous messages from the respondent's then-contact promising payment once cash flow improved, the Tribunal found that the November 2023 wages had not been paid. The Tribunal also found that clause 14.2 of the employment contract required the claimant to give one week's notice of termination and that, by his own admission, he did not do so.

The complaint of unauthorised deduction from wages was therefore well-founded. The Tribunal awarded the claimant three weeks' pay of £2,039.43 (calculated from the November pay of £2,719.24 at a weekly rate of £679.81), with the respondent responsible for any tax or National Insurance.