Mr K Glanville v Carmeleon ARC Ltd — 2023

The claimant brought a claim for unlawful deduction from wages, saying the respondent had not paid him for the first two weeks in October 2022 and had also not paid him for the final week of October after he was told not to return from sick leave. The respondent did not present a response or take part in the final hearing. The tribunal heard evidence from the claimant and accepted that he had worked as an administrator and marketing assistant on 38 hours per week at £12 per hour, starting on 29 September 2022 and resigning on 1 November 2022.

The tribunal found that the claimant had not been given a signed copy of his contract. It accepted that he became unwell on 17 October 2022, left work, provided a GP fit note, and was later told on 24 October not to return because an investigation into his conduct was being carried out. The claimant then made repeated attempts to find out why he could not return to work, but received no response. He later resigned on 1 November and was told that his resignation was irrelevant because he had been dismissed, although he had not previously been informed of any dismissal.

On the pay issue, the tribunal found that the claimant had worked 61.5 hours in the first two weeks of October and was therefore entitled to £738 gross for that period. It also found that he had been prevented from attending work in the final week of October and appeared to have been suspended. Because there was no contractual provision allowing suspension without pay, the tribunal found that he remained entitled to his contractual wages for that week, calculated at £456 gross.

The tribunal held that the claimant should have received £1,194 gross for October and had received nothing. It therefore found that the respondent had made unlawful deductions from his wages and ordered reimbursement of £1,194. The tribunal noted that the claimant did not receive statutory sick pay for the week he was absent through illness, but said it had no jurisdiction to make any award in relation to that issue.