E.T. Z (WR) EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNALS (SCOTLAND) Case No: 4100118/2025 (V)5 Held on July 2025 Employment Judge N M Hosie Mr L Hunt v GS Plumbing, Heating & Gas Ltd st — 2025

Mr Lee Hunt worked for GS Plumbing, Heating & Gas Ltd from 19 August 2024 as a Plumber/Gas Engineer. On 4 December 2024 Mr Singh proposed reducing his salary from £50,000 to £42,500 or taking him on a subcontractor basis. When that proposal was rejected, the parties agreed that employment would end on 20 December 2024, but Mr Hunt left on the afternoon of 10 December 2024 without working the agreed notice period.

The tribunal found that, when the employment ended, Mr Hunt was owed 6.5 days' wages and 5 days' accrued annual leave. The respondent relied on a contractual deductions clause and said it was entitled to withhold payment because of alleged faulty workmanship, remedial work costs, customer refunds and the claimant's early departure. The tribunal accepted that the contract governed the parties' working relationship, but found there was no evidence about the nature of any remedial work, no details of the costs said to have been incurred, and no evidential basis for withholding payment.

The tribunal also noted that Mr Singh had previously sent an email saying the company had been 'really happy' with Mr Hunt's start, and later referred to an 'amicable agreement' to terminate employment. Those communications did not support the respondent's case that the claimant's work had been as poor as alleged. The tribunal was not persuaded that the respondent was entitled to make any deductions, and said whether the respondent had any civil court claim against the claimant was not an issue before it, particularly as no counterclaim had been pled.

The claim under s.23 Employment Rights Act 1996 was therefore well-founded. The tribunal ordered payment of £1,249.95 for unpaid wages, subject to tax and National Insurance deductions, and £961.50 for accrued annual leave, also subject to deductions. The judgment did not record any award for interest or any other remedy beyond those two sums.