Ms Jenna De Swarte v Fife Housekeeping Ltd t/a Bright & Beautiful — 2023

Ms De Swarte worked for Fife Housekeeping Ltd t/a Bright & Beautiful as a housekeeper from 30 May 2022 until 23 December 2022. She gave notice on 25 November 2022 to expire on 23 December 2022. In the final days of that notice period she texted that she was unwell and would not be in work on 20 and 21 December 2022, and she did not return before the notice period ended. Her final payslip included a deduction of £190 described as PILON.

The tribunal held that the deduction was not authorised by the contractual clause on termination without notice. It found that the clause was directed to an employee who simply failed to work the notice period, and that it did not apply to genuine sickness absence. The tribunal also held that, even if the clause could apply, the respondent had not shown that the £190 represented an actual additional cost of covering the claimant's duties: the calculation in the respondent's document was treated as a shortfall in notice, and the evidence about overtime and a cancelled contract did not establish a net additional cost. The unlawful deduction from wages claim therefore succeeded and £190 was awarded.

On holiday pay, the tribunal applied regulation 14 of the Working Time Regulations 1998 and the contractual holiday provisions. It calculated the claimant's holiday entitlement by reference to her period of service and the holiday already paid, then accepted the respondent's final calculation that £3.99 remained due for accrued but untaken holiday at termination. The total award was £193.99, with no tax or national insurance due on the amounts awarded.