Mr H Din v TGK Logistics Scotland Ltd — 2024

Mr H Din brought an unlawful deduction from wages claim arising from his work as a delivery driver for TGK Logistics Scotland Ltd. The respondent did not defend the claim. After hearing evidence from the claimant, whom the tribunal found credible, open and reliable, the tribunal held that he was a worker within section 230(3)(b) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 rather than an independent contractor as described in the written terms.

The tribunal found that the reality of the arrangement differed from the written agreement. The claimant worked under a steady pattern of four nine-hour shifts per week, reported to the respondent's base at Eurocentral, was allocated routes and start times, used a company van, followed route instructions on a company device, had no right of substitution, and was discouraged from declining shifts because that would lead to fewer future offers. Applying the approach in Autoclenz Ltd v Belcher and Uber BV and others v Aslam, the tribunal concluded that the written terms did not reflect the true nature of the relationship and that the respondent was not the claimant's client or customer.

On the wages issue, the tribunal accepted that the claimant worked nine-hour shifts on 21, 22, 23 and 24 April 2024, and that he was normally paid weekly in arrears on Wednesdays. He would ordinarily have been paid for those shifts on 8 May 2024, but he was not paid then or later. The tribunal therefore found an unlawful deduction from wages on 8 May 2024 and held that the claim was brought within time. It assessed the amount due by reference to the claimant's evidence of the daily rate, VAT treatment and administration fee, and ordered payment of £543.60.