Claimant v Brighton One Ltd (T/a The George Street Hotel) — 2021

The claimant, employed as a front of house assistant from 14 May 2018 until her resignation in May 2019, brought a series of money claims concerning overnight duties at the Bocardo Hotel, alleged unpaid hours, contractual pay, holiday pay, sick pay, pension deductions and damages for stress and suffering. The tribunal found that the overnight arrangement at the Bocardo Hotel was a sleeping-in arrangement: the claimant was not working while asleep, and only the time spent actually dealing with issues overnight was payable at the full rate. It rejected her claim for additional pay for hours worked and found the respondent had applied the correct pay principles for the night duties.

The tribunal also rejected the claim that she was entitled to be paid for a minimum of 40 hours each week. It held that the written contract, which said hours could vary and superseded prior discussions, did not preserve any oral assurance allegedly made at interview. The claim for accrued holiday pay at the end of employment also failed because the tribunal accepted that the claimant had taken holiday during her notice period and had been paid for it. The sick pay claim failed because the contract gave no contractual right to sick pay, only a discretionary company sick pay provision.

Only the underpayment of holiday pay claim succeeded. The tribunal held that the claimant had no normal working hours, so s.224 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 applied and her holiday pay should have been calculated by reference to average pay. On the respondent's evidence there was no challenge to the claimant's calculation, and the tribunal awarded £110, with no interest. It accepted the respondent's position on the pension deductions and said it had no jurisdiction to award damages for stress and suffering.