Mrs I -Zoita Simon v Portsonachan Wilderness Lodges Ltd — 2026

The Tribunal upheld Mrs Iona-Zoita Simon's claims for unauthorised deductions from wages. It accepted that she began work as a receptionist for Portsonachan Wilderness Lodges Ltd on 3 February 2025 and had not been paid for that first week. Her evidence was supported by messages concerning her arrival on 2 February, while the respondent provided no written particulars of employment or oral evidence. The judgment awarded £428.30 for the unpaid week. The agreed sum of £428.30 for five days of accrued annual leave was also unpaid and was awarded as an unauthorised deduction under section 13 of the Employment Rights Act 1996.

The Tribunal accepted that £95 in pension contributions had not been refunded after Mrs Simon opted out. It preferred her evidence to the respondent's written statements because those statements did not specify when the alleged cash repayment occurred and were unsupported by a receipt or similar record. The Tribunal also found that tips were not distributed after April 2025 and were used by the respondent to make payments. Applying the provisions introduced by the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023, it held that tips which ought to have been distributed were wages and that their non-payment was an unauthorised deduction. Because the precise tips could not be quantified, it awarded the minimum supported amount of £25 per month for April to November 2025, totalling £200.

The four awards were £428.30 for annual leave, £428.30 for the week commencing 3 February 2025, £95 for pension contributions and £200 for tips, producing a total award of £1,151.60 net of statutory deductions. The Tribunal considered but did not impose a penalty under section 12A of the Employment Tribunals Act 1996.