Case 4107369/2020 · Employment Tribunal
Ms Zahra Motahar-Talemi v Represented by:15 Mr Liam McKay, Solicitor The Park Hotel Ayr shire Limited — 2021
- Case reference
- 4107369/2020
- Decision date
- 21 June 2021
- Jurisdiction
- Scotland
- Judge
- Employment Judge A Strain
Parties
2 namedClaimant
Ms Zahra Motahar-Talemi
Key findings
Tribunal's reasoningMs Zahra Motahar-Talemi was employed by The Park Hotel Ayrshire Limited from 11 March 2020 as a waitress on a 35-hour week, initially at £8.21 gross per hour and then at £8.72 gross per hour. She signed a written contract of employment on 11 March 2020. The tribunal found that she was placed on furlough at the end of March 2020 and remained furloughed until her employment was terminated on 6 September 2020, and that she did not agree to any reduction in wages during the furlough period.
The tribunal accepted the claimant's evidence that she had been given a 35-hour contract. It found there was no agreement to accept only 80% of pay during furlough, and that no written contract or statutory provision authorised the respondent to make the deductions complained of. On that basis, the claim for unlawful deductions succeeded in respect of the furlough underpayment, and the tribunal also recorded a net loss of pension contributions.
The tribunal held that the claimant was entitled to one week's notice pay because her employment ended without notice, and that her holiday pay should be calculated on the basis of her contractual 35-hour week. The judgment records awards of £262.99 net for notice pay, £374 net for holiday pay, £3,419.50 net for the furlough underpayment, and £524.65 net for pension contribution loss. The opening judgment paragraph states a total of £4,518.14, but paragraph 23 of the reasons states a total award of £4,581.14, which matches the listed component figures.
Claims and outcomes
4 findings recorded| Claim type | Issue or finding | Outcome | Protected characteristic | Award |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breach of contract | Notice pay. The tribunal held the claimant's employment was terminated without notice and awarded one week's net pay. | Upheld | — | £263 |
| Holiday pay | Accrued untaken holiday pay on termination. The tribunal found the claimant was employed on a 35-hour contractual week and awarded the net sum due on that basis. | Upheld | — | £374 |
| Unlawful deduction from wages | Unpaid furlough wages. The tribunal found the claimant had not agreed to reduced furlough pay and that there was no contractual or statutory basis for the deduction. The opening judgment paragraph states £4,518.14, but paragraph 23 and the itemised figures total £4,581.14. | Upheld | — | £3,420 |
| Other | Loss of pension contributions recorded by the tribunal as a net sum. | Upheld | — | £525 |
Remedy
Monetary award- Total award
- £4,581
- across all upheld claims
Legal tests applied
3 references- section 86(1) Employment Rights Act 1996
- Regulations 13(3)(b)(ii) and 14 Working Time Regulations 1998
- section 13 Employment Rights Act 1996
Official outcome judgment PDF
Gov.uk primary recordThe official judgment PDF on gov.uk contains the tribunal's outcome, reasoning, and any remedy details. Where this page does not yet show extracted outcomes for every claim, use the PDF as the authoritative source.
Published on gov.uk under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
How we got this data
Case essentials (reference, date, judge, venue, country, claim categories) are extracted from the structured metadata gov.uk publishes alongside each decision. Parties and monetary figures are extracted from the judgment PDF text. Key findings and per-claim outcomes require a second extraction pass that is not yet complete for this case — until then, the primary source linked above is the authoritative record. See full methodology.
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