Mr D Puttock v Kego Limited — 2025

Mr Puttock worked for Kego Limited from 8 March 2024 to 25 July 2024 as a restaurant supervisor at The Freemason’s Arms in Wiswell. He said he worked full-time, five days a week, for around 40 to 45 hours per week and took no annual leave during employment, including over the Easter bank holiday weekend. The respondent filed an almost entirely blank ET3 and did not attend the hearing. The tribunal accepted the claimant’s sworn evidence and the payslip evidence he produced.

The tribunal found that the payslip dated 12 July 2024 showed some holiday pay due, but not the full amount accrued. It accepted the claimant’s evidence that Nick White was the de facto manager and that the hours information supplied to the accountants had likely under-reported the claimant’s working time. For the calculation, the tribunal assumed an average of 43 hours per week, rather than the 45 hours stated in the claim form, and found that the claimant had accrued 92.4 hours of untaken annual leave.

Applying Employment Rights Act 1996 s13 and Working Time Regulations 1998 regulations 13, 13A and 14, the tribunal held that the claimant was entitled to payment on termination for the accrued leave. It awarded £1,247.40 gross, calculated as 92.4 hours at £13.50 per hour. The tribunal also considered whether to make a costs order because of the respondent’s non-engagement and the text message sent by Nick White on 28 February 2025, but declined to do so because any recoverable amount would have been very small.