Miss D Mckenna v Aidars — 2023

The claimant brought a claim for unpaid wages against AIDARS. The respondent did not lodge an ET3 or attend the hearing. On the evidence of the claimant and the text messages she produced, the tribunal found that she had undertaken personally performed care work arranged through the respondent's social worker, Mr Wood, and that she was to be paid at the standard rate of £17.50 per hour.

The tribunal accepted that the claimant originally believed she had worked 66 hours, but at the hearing she accepted that two invoices had been double-counted and that the correct total was 62 hours. It found that the arrangement was not reduced to writing, but that the claimant was at least a worker, so the tribunal had jurisdiction to determine the unlawful deduction of wages complaint.

The tribunal found that Mr Wood's messages showed the amount due had been identified and that payment was to be made, including a text on 29 November 2022 saying the payment had been authorised and should be transferred in the next couple of days. No payment was received. The tribunal therefore held that wages had been unlawfully withheld and calculated the sum due as £1,085, being 62 hours at £17.50 per hour. It made a declaration and ordered the respondent to pay that sum to the claimant.