IN THE EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNAL (SCOTLAND) AT EDINBURGH Judgment of the Employment Tribunal in Case No: 4106053/2022 Heard at Edinburgh on the th of January 2023. Employment Judge J G d’lnverno Miss S Robertson v Rujia Marketing Consultant Ltd — 2023

The claimant was employed by Rujia Marketing Consultant Ltd from 25 February 2022 to 29 August 2022. The respondent did not appear at the final hearing, and after noting an email saying the company was in the process of going into liquidation, the Employment Judge proceeded in the respondent's absence and accepted the claimant's unchallenged evidence. The tribunal found that the claimant had worked regular hours notwithstanding a zero-hours contract, and that she was due wages at £10 per hour for the relevant periods.

For the period 1 to 21 August 2022, the tribunal found that the claimant was entitled to net wages of £1,039.31 and that the respondent later paid only part of that sum, leaving £519.65 unpaid. That retention was an unauthorised deduction from wages contrary to section 13 ERA 1996, and the tribunal ordered payment of £519.65 net. For the notice period worked from 22 to 29 August 2022, the tribunal found that the claimant worked 72 hours and was owed £720 gross. The respondent had not paid those wages, so the tribunal again found an unauthorised deduction and ordered payment of £720 gross, subject to tax and National Insurance deductions.

The tribunal also found that, at termination, the claimant had accrued 2.86 weeks of paid annual leave, had taken 2 weeks, and therefore had 0.86 weeks outstanding. It awarded £344 gross for that untaken leave. A separate breach of contract claim for £150, said to be the loss of a holiday deposit after cancellation of a prebooked holiday, was dismissed because the tribunal was not satisfied that that loss was proved to have been reasonably foreseeable to the respondent when it failed to pay the wages due.