Mr P Breden v Persimmon Homes Ltd v — 2020

The claimant, Mr P Breden, was employed by Persimmon Homes Ltd under a letter dated 29 April 2019 as a maintenance operative on a gross salary of £30,000 per year. The tribunal found that he attended work on 13 May 2019 and was entitled to a day’s pay for that date, with the gross amount identified as £115.40. The respondent later sent a cheque for £86 as a net estimate after tax and national insurance, and the tribunal accepted that this broadly represented the net daily rate in the absence of the claimant’s tax details.

The principal dispute concerned 14 May 2019 and whether the claimant was entitled to pay for that day and for the notice period. The tribunal found that the claimant briefly attended on 14 May but left after failing to get into the building, did not call to explain, and did not return later. It found that he and Mr Seddon then discussed ending the employment on one week’s notice, that the respondent terminated the contract on notice, and that the claimant was told he would be expected to work the notice period. The tribunal preferred the respondent’s evidence and the immediate email exchanges, which confirmed that the claimant was being given notice rather than being summarily dismissed.

On that basis, the tribunal concluded that the respondent had not made unauthorised deductions from wages. It held that no wages were due for 14 May because the claimant did no work and was not ready and available to work. It also held that the respondent was contractually entitled to require the claimant to work his notice and was not obliged to pay him notice wages while he refused to attend. Finally, applying regulation 15A of the Working Time Regulations 1998, the tribunal found that the claimant, having worked only one day in mid-May, had accrued no annual leave. The judgment therefore dismissed the unlawful deduction claim in full.