EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNALS (SCOTLAND) Case Nos: 8000171/2024 & 8000172/2024 (V) Held at Aberdeen on May 2024 Employment Judge N M Hosie v Dr Anil Verma st — 2024

Dr Anil Verma worked as a locum consultant in emergency medicine at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. Locum People Ltd supplied him for assignment, and he entered into a contract of employment with Edward Thomas Payroll Ltd on 11 January 2023. Payment was made through a chain in which Locum paid ET on receipt of signed timesheets, and ET then paid Dr Verma's limited company, PMCL. After payment problems with ET, Dr Verma began using PayExcel, which charged a 1% service fee.

For the week ending 12 November 2023, Locum received a signed timesheet and paid ET, but ET did not pay Dr Verma's company. The tribunal found that Dr Verma was ET's employee in his personal capacity, that PMCL was only a vehicle for payment, and that liability for the wages rested with ET. It held that ET had made an unlawful deduction from wages and ordered ET to pay £8,093.95.

The claim against Locum for reimbursement of the PayExcel fee was dismissed. The tribunal accepted that John Green had said he would try to get Locum People to cover outstanding expenses, but held that this did not amount to a legally binding contract to reimburse the fee. The separate claim for expenses was also dismissed because Locum required an authorised expense form signed by a qualified person at ARI, and that form had not been provided, so no legal obligation to make payment had arisen.