Case 8000125/2024 · Employment Tribunal
Ms Jessica O’Toole v Arisaig Hotel Ltd — 2024
- Case reference
- 8000125/2024
- Decision date
- 22 May 2024
- Jurisdiction
- Scotland
- Judge
- Employment Judge A Kemp
Parties
2 namedClaimant
Ms Jessica O’Toole
Respondent
Key findings
Tribunal's reasoningMs Jessica O’Toole worked for Arisaig Hotel Ltd from 18 June 2023 as a receptionist, with bar and waiting duties, on an hourly rate initially stated as £11 and later found to be £11.75. The tribunal accepted her evidence and found the respondent’s evidence unreliable, noting among other matters that the respondent had not produced documents required by the case management orders and that it had not responded to the claimant’s request for documents in March 2024.
On wages, the tribunal found that holiday pay had accrued and was unpaid on termination, with £983.60 due for accrued annual leave. It also found that the respondent had underpaid the claimant for the period 26-30 October 2023 by £34.29, but that a proportionate accommodation charge of £28.57 had to be deducted, leaving £5.72 outstanding. Those figures produced total unlawful deductions of £989.32, which the tribunal awarded.
The tribunal also upheld the claim for failure to provide written particulars of employment under section 1 ERA 1996. It held that the 8 June 2023 email from Ms Joanne Foley, which confirmed the hourly rate and the accommodation deduction, did not amount to the statutory written particulars required. Because the respondent had failed to provide the particulars and the claimant had succeeded on a related right, the tribunal awarded two weeks’ pay under section 38 of the Employment Act 2002, calculated at £950.34.
A declaration was made that the respondent did not provide a payslip for the period 26-30 October 2023, but no compensation was awarded for that issue. The breach of contract claim was dismissed because the tribunal found that the claimant had not established a contractual entitlement to the matters relied on, and the Fixed Term Employees Regulations claim was dismissed because the claimant had not shown a detriment or loss. The substantive awards totalled £1,939.66, and the tribunal separately granted a preparation time order of £660 after finding the respondent had unreasonably defended the holiday pay and written particulars issues.
Claims and outcomes
5 findings recorded| Claim type | Issue or finding | Outcome | Protected characteristic | Award |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unlawful deduction from wages | The tribunal upheld the claim for unauthorised deductions from wages under section 13 ERA 1996. It found £983.60 was due for accrued holiday pay and a further £5.72 remained unpaid for 26-30 October 2023 after allowing £28.57 for the proportionate accommodation charge. | Upheld | — | £989 |
| Other | Failure to provide written particulars of employment under section 1 ERA 1996. The tribunal held the 8 June 2023 email did not satisfy the statutory requirement and awarded two weeks' pay under section 38 of the Employment Act 2002. | Upheld | — | £950 |
| Other | Failure to provide a payslip for the period 26-30 October 2023 under section 8 ERA 1996. The tribunal made a declaration only and awarded no compensation. | Upheld | — | — |
| Breach of contract | The tribunal held that the claimant had not made out a contractual claim. It found statutory rights are separate from contractual rights and that no contractual term covering holiday pay or written particulars had been established on the evidence. | Dismissed | — | — |
| Fixed-term employee regulations | Claim under the Fixed Term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002. The tribunal was not satisfied that the claimant established detriment or loss, despite evidence she had been told she could not take annual leave as a seasonal worker. | Dismissed | — | — |
Remedy
Monetary award- Total award
- £1,940
- across all upheld claims
- Compensatory award
- £1,940
- compensatory remedy recorded
Legal tests applied
9 references- section 13 ERA 1996
- section 27 ERA 1996
- Regulation 14 Working Time Regulations 1998
- section 1 ERA 1996
- section 38 Employment Act 2002
- section 8 ERA 1996
- Employment Tribunals (Extension of Jurisdiction) (Scotland) Order 1994
- Regulations 1, 2, 5 and 7(8) Fixed Term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002
- Rules 75-79
Official outcome judgment PDF
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Published on gov.uk under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
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