Mr Tapiwa Tatenda Kelvin Chabuka v A-Mat Healthcare Ltd — 2025

Employment Judge S Moore, sitting alone via video, gave a reserved liability judgment against A-Mat Healthcare Ltd in respect of a live-in care worker recruited from Zimbabwe. The respondent had admitted breach of contract for failing to reimburse the £1,820 Certificate of Sponsorship fee that the claimant had been compelled to pay on his credit card (a fee that, under Home Office rules, the employer must pay).

The tribunal found that the respondent's contract did not comply with s.1 ERA 1996 (omitting pay intervals, pension, notice and disciplinary information), that the respondent had failed to pay the correct wages between May-September 2022, and that the unauthorised deductions claim for October 2023-November 2024 was well founded (relating to underpayment of an allowance unilaterally withdrawn and £173/month underpayment following promotion to team leader). The tribunal also found that holiday pay had not been paid at the correct rate on termination (rejecting any contention that periods when the claimant was forced to take unpaid breaks could be counted as annual leave), although the claim for accrued leave from May 2022 to 31 December 2023 was not upheld as the claimant had not requested leave or shown that any carry-over exception applied.

The unfair dismissal claim succeeded and the tribunal found there was a zero per cent chance the claimant would have been fairly dismissed in any event. A separate remedy hearing is to be listed; only the £1,820 CoS reimbursement was quantified in the liability judgment.