Ms Fenwick v Represented by Mr R Fenwick Sintilli Studios Limited — 2022

The claimant brought a complaint for unlawful deductions from wages under section 23 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. The tribunal found that her engagement with the respondent began on 23 April 2021, when she assisted with painting the premises while discussing the job, and held that she was entitled to be paid for the 6 hours worked that day. That produced an unlawful deduction of £39.25.

For June 2021, the tribunal preferred the claimant’s evidence that she worked 71 hours. It accepted that there had been no formal agreement about fixed hours, that she was told when to attend and when to leave, and that the respondent had not made matters clear about finishing times. The tribunal rejected the respondent’s assertion that a £70 cash payment had been made because there was no corroborating evidence, and it found an unlawful deduction of £166.56.

For the period from 2 to 13 August 2021, the tribunal preferred the claimant’s evidence over the respondent’s case that she had only been asked to work until 3 p.m. It relied in part on the text messages, including the respondent’s message of 2 August 2021 referring to 12 noon to 4 p.m., and found that 40 hours were agreed. It therefore held that £262.40 remained unpaid. The tribunal also accepted that £54 was due for design work on 27 T-shirts at £2 each.

The tribunal did not need to decide whether the claimant was an employee. It noted that the section 23 claim could be brought by a worker, and it ordered payment of the total sum of £521.96 less any appropriate tax and national insurance.