JONATHAN PANK v Natterbox Ltd — 2024

The claimant, a former Revenue Operations Director, brought a claim for unpaid wages of £7,336.36 under s.13 Employment Rights Act 1996 in respect of an outstanding Q3 2024 bonus following the termination of his employment with the respondent. The respondent argued (a) that an Individual Compensation Plan (ICP) signed by the claimant on 6 March 2024 had varied his employment contract such that the bonus was referable solely to company performance, and (b) that as he was not employed on the date the Q3 bonus payment fell due (25 October 2024), he was ineligible.

The Employment Judge rejected both arguments. She found there was no mutual intention to vary the contract via the ICP: the claimant had pre-signed all ICPs in his administrative capacity, the CEO and HR were unaware of the purported variation until after the claimant had left, and the claimant continued to be paid under his original contract terms throughout employment. She cited Cowey v Liberian Operations Ltd [1966] 2 Lloyd's Reports 45 and noted s.4 ERA 1996 obligation on the employer to issue a written statement of any change. On eligibility, she found 'commission is payable' in clause 3.2 of the ICP referred to the date of calculation at quarter-end, not the date payroll was processed.

On calculation, the tribunal accepted the claimant's calculation of £2,836.36 for the company-revenue element (using YTD % attained at end of Q3) plus £4,500 for the OKR element (at 100% attainment, agreed with the VP Technology). Limited weight was placed on Mr Hartley's witness statement as he was not available for cross-examination. The total award was £7,336.36.