Peter Sutton v Cheshire Space Limited — 2025

The claimant, Peter Sutton, was employed by Cheshire Space Limited from 5 March 2024 until 20 December 2024, working a five-day week at eight hours a day at £16 per hour (a daily rate of £128). He brought a claim for unpaid holiday pay on termination of his employment. The respondent lodged a late response stating that the claimant had been paid in full but did not attend the hearing and provided no further details of its defence. Employment Judge Holmes, sitting alone, considered rule 47 and proceeded to hear the claim in the respondent's absence.

The Tribunal accepted evidence from the claimant, including a screenshot of an internal email indicating that as at week 45 (commencing 4 November 2024) he had just over 7 days of untaken leave outstanding. The claimant took no further holiday before his employment ended in week 51 and was not paid in lieu of accrued leave; he had been told initially that payment would follow Christmas and later that no payment would be made because of an alleged prior overpayment, a defence not advanced in the response.

The Tribunal found that the respondent had failed, in breach of reg. 14 and reg. 15 of the Working Time Regulations 1998, to pay the claimant for untaken holiday on termination. It calculated 7 days due to week 45 at £128 per day (£896) plus a further 3.5 days accrued under Reg. 15A(3) between weeks 45 and 51 at £128 per day (£448), giving a total of £1,344 gross, which the respondent was ordered to pay. The judgment notes that a separate claim (Case No. 6022970/2024) concerning pension contributions to NEST is proceeding separately and was not before this hearing.