(sitting alone)10 Mr J Arbuckle v Purves Haulage Limited — 2019

The claimant worked for the respondent haulage company from 10 July 2017 as an Operations/Contracts Manager, paid weekly at a gross rate of £568.82 and net pay of £450. He did not receive a contract of employment or written statement of terms. The tribunal found that the holiday year was not written down and that there was no written relevant agreement fixing a different leave year. It also found that the claimant resigned on 18 July 2018, saying his last day would be 27 July 2018, after having been offered alternative employment starting on 1 August 2018.

On 24 July 2018, the respondent's director discovered that the claimant had done work for APC and had used the company van to travel there. There was a heated telephone discussion and the director told the claimant to return the vehicle and finish up. The tribunal preferred the claimant's evidence that he had been summarily dismissed. It also found that the respondent had no written rules about outside work or about using the van outwith working hours, and that the claimant had previously used the van for personal journeys with the respondent's knowledge.

The tribunal held that the claimant had been paid up to Friday 20 July 2018 but had not been paid for 23 and 24 July 2018, so £227.58 was unlawfully deducted from his wages. It further held that he was entitled to notice pay for 25 to 27 July 2018 because his use of the vehicle to travel to APC was not gross misconduct in the circumstances found, and it awarded £270 as damages for breach of contract. The holiday pay claim failed because, applying Regulation 13(3) of the Working Time Regulations 1998, no further holiday pay was due. The respondent's counterclaim for damages also failed because the tribunal found no breach by the claimant and no evidence of loss. The final award was £497.58.