Miss Lauren Faircloth v DW Construction & Joinery Ltd — 2021

The claimants brought statutory complaints under section 13 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 for unpaid wages and holiday pay. The case was heard by CVP on 2 March 2021 before Employment Judge B. Beyzade. The tribunal accepted that the ET1s were statutory wage claims, so it did not investigate the respondent's proposed contractual counterclaim. In determining the holiday claims, it applied section 27(1) ERA 1996 and regulations 13 and 13A of the Working Time Regulations 1998.

Miss Lauren Faircloth was employed from 13 January 2020 to 30 October 2020 as an Admin/AutoCAD Operator at £10.50 per hour on an agreed 30-hour week. The tribunal found there was no written contract and no reliable annual leave record, and it rejected the respondent's reliance on CIJC holiday rules because no evidence showed they formed part of the employment terms. On the balance of probabilities, she had 21.6 hours of accrued leave unpaid, so £226.80 gross was due for holiday pay; her 6 November 2020 payslip also wrongly deducted £131.25 from wages that should have been paid in full for the last week worked.

Mr Jack Sutton was employed from 1 January 2020 to 30 October 2020 as a Bench Joiner at £14.00 per hour on a 42.5-hour week. The tribunal again found no written terms or leave records, and it preferred the respondent's evidence that he did not work on 1 and 2 January 2020. It nevertheless found that 14.7 hours of accrued leave remained unpaid, so £205.80 gross was due for holiday pay; his 6 November 2020 payslip also contained an unauthorised £336.00 deduction from wages that should have been £595.00.

The tribunal upheld all four complaints. It recorded total unlawful deductions of £358.05 for Miss Faircloth and £541.80 for Mr Sutton, making £899.85 gross overall, subject to statutory deductions including tax and national insurance.