Mrs G McGregor v TRJ Contract Builder Ltd — 2021

Mrs G McGregor worked for TRJ Contract Builder Ltd as Chef Manager for Rolls at Roys from 15 February 2021 until she resigned by email on 26 April 2021. The respondent's 12 February 2021 email recorded a salary of £25,000 and a 30-day holiday package, and the tribunal found the claimant worked 40 hours a week over a seven-day week for a gross salary of £25,000, with net pay of £397 per week.

On holiday pay, the tribunal accepted that the claimant's leave year started when employment commenced and not after any three-month trial period. It was not persuaded that a trial period had been discussed, and it did not attach weight to the respondent's evidence that holiday pay was not due because of the work involved after resignation. Applying the Working Time Regulations 1998, the tribunal found the claimant had accrued 5.7 days' holiday over 10 weeks of employment and awarded £323.24, using a daily net rate of £56.71.

The tribunal also found that the claimant had not been paid one week's lie-in time at the start of employment. It held that this unpaid sum was not authorised by statute, contract, or the claimant's consent, and therefore amounted to an unlawful deduction from wages. The tribunal rejected any claim for overtime pay because there was no evidence that overtime had been agreed.

The notice pay claim was dismissed. The tribunal found there was no breach of contract on the facts, and it said it could not consider constructive dismissal because no such claim had been presented and the claimant did not have the two years' qualifying service needed to pursue it. The total award was £720.24, made up of £323.24 holiday pay and £397 for the unpaid week's wages.