J Collier v Rosen Haulage Ltd (in creditors voluntary liquidation) and The Secretary of State Business of Trade: 6002729/2024
JUDGMENT
[1]The claim was presented in the North East Employment Tribunal on 22 May 2024. The respondent has failed to present a valid response on time. The Employment Judge has decided that a determination can properly be made of the claim, or part of it, in accordance with rule 22 of the Rules of Procedure.[2]The respondent has made unauthorised deductions from the claimant’s wages.[3]The respondent dismissed the claimant in breach of contract in respect of notice.[4]The respondent has failed to provide itemized pay statements to the claimant.[5]The remedy to which the claimant is entitled will be determined at a Remedy Hearing listed on 3 February 2025. Employment Judge Bright 21 January 2025 Case No: 6002729/2024 EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNALS Claimant: Jason Collier First Respondent: Rosen Haulage Ltd Second Respondent The Secretary of State for Business and Trade Heard: via Cloud Video Platform On: 3 February 2025 Before: Employment Judge Ayre Representatives: Claimant: In person First Respondent: Did not attend and was not represented Second Respondent: Did not attend and was not represented[1]The name of the Second Respondent is amended to The Secretary of State for Business and Trade.[2]The First Respondent is ordered to pay the sum of £744 (less such deductions as may be required for tax and national insurance contributions) to the claimant in respect of his notice pay.[3]The First Respondent is ordered to pay the sum of £744 (less such deductions as may be required for tax and national insurance) to the claimant in respect of holiday pay.[4]The First Respondent failed to provide the claimant with itemised pay statements, contrary to section 8 of the Employment Rights Act 1996.[5]The First Respondent is ordered to pay the sum of £695.23 to the claimant in respect of unnotified deductions from the claimant’s wages. Case No: 6002729/2024REASONS
[1]The claimant was employed by the First Respondent from 20 November 2023 until 15 March 2024 as a driver. On 22 May 2024, the claimant issued a claim in the Employment Tribunal following a period of early conciliation that started on 25 March 2024 and ended on 6 May 2024.[2]On 15 August 2024, the claim form was sent to the First Respondent. The deadline for filing a response was 12 September 2024. No response was received.[3]A search of Companies House reveals that the First Respondent is in creditors’ voluntary liquidation, and on 31 May 2024 liquidators were appointed.[4]By letter dated 13 December 2024 the claim was re-served on the liquidators. The deadline for filing a response to the claim was 10 January 2025. The claim was also served on the Secretary of State for Business and Trade.[5]No response has been received from the liquidators of the First Respondent or from the Second Respondent.[6]On 21 January 2025 a Judgment was issued in favour of the claimant under Rule 22 of The Employment Tribunal Procedure Rules 2024. The Judgment was that:a. The respondent has made unauthorised deductions from the claimant’s wages;b. The respondent dismissed the claimant in breach of contract in respect of notice; andc. The respondent has failed to provide itemised pay statements to the claimant.[7]The case was listed for a Remedy hearing today.The Hearing
[8]Neither respondent attended the hearing. The claimant attended and gave evidence under oath.[9]The claimant applied to amend his claim to include a complaint of holiday pay. I allowed the amendment.[10]The claimant confirmed that he is not seeking any sums by way of unauthorised deduction from wages.[11]The claimant told the Tribunal that he is seeking the following sums:a. Notice pay of £744; and Case No: 6002729/2024b. Holiday pay of £744.[12]He also complains that the First Respondent failed to provide him with pay slips throughout the course of his employment.Findings of Fact
[13]The claimant was employed by the respondent as a Class 1 HGV driver from 20 November 2023 until 15 March 2024.[14]The claimant was provided with a contract of employment which stated that his normal hours of work were 48 hours a week, that his notice period was one week, and that he would be paid £13 an hour. The claimant was also paid a ‘night out’ fee of £30 per night, for each night that he was required to sleep in his truck. On average he slept in his truck four nights a week.[15]In March 2024 the claimant gave the First Respondent one week’s notice of his resignation, in line with his contractual obligation. When the First Respondent received the claimant’s resignation they dismissed him with immediate effect. He was not paid any notice pay.[16]During the course of his employment with the First Respondent, the claimant did not take any holidays. He was not paid any holiday pay on the termination of his employment.[17]Whilst he was employed by the First Respondent the claimant was paid weekly, each Friday. He was not provided with any pay slips, despite asking for them.[18]In February and March 2024, the claimant received the following net salary payments from the First Respondent:a. 2 February: £727.70;b. 9 February: £723.25;c. 23 February: £541.34;d. 1 March: £581.40;e. 8 March: £480.66;f. 15 March: £677.37.[19]The claimant has not received any salary payments from the First Respondent since 15 March 2024. Relevant Law Itemised pay statementsRelevant Law
[20]Section 8 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 provides that: “(1) A worker has the right to be given by his employer, at or before the time at which any payment of wages or salary is made to him, a written itemised pay statement. (2) The statement shall contain particulars of – Case No: 6002729/2024(a) the gross amount of the wages or salary,(b) the amounts of any variable, and (subject to section 9) any fixed, deductions from that gross amount and the purposes for which they are made,(c) the net amount of wages or salary payable,(d) where different parts of the net amount are paid in different ways, the amount and method of payment of each partpayment; and(e) where the amount of wages or salary varies by reference to time worked, the total number of hours worked in respect of the variable amount of wages or salary either as – (i) a single aggregate figure, or (ii) separate figures for different types of work or different rates of pay.”[21]Section 11 gives workers the right to make complaints to Employment Tribunals if they are not provided with itemised pay statements or are provided with statements that do not comply with the legal requirements.[22]By virtue of section 12(3) of the Employment Rights Act 1996, where a Tribunal finds that an employer has failed to give a worker a pay statement in accordance with section 8, the Tribunal “shall make a declaration to that effect”. Section 12(4) provides that: “Where on a reference in the case of which subsection (3) applies the tribunal further finds that any unnotified deductions have been made (from the pay of the worker during the period of thirteen weeks immediately preceding the date of the application for the reference (whether or not the deductions were made in breach of the contract of employment), the tribunal may order the employer to pay the worker a sum not exceeding the aggregate of the unnotified deductions so made.” Conclusions Notice payConclusions
[23]The claimant’s normal weekly pay was £744 gross. This was made up of 48 hours work at an hourly rate of £13, giving a total of £624, plus payment of £120 per week for ‘nights out’ (4 a week at £30 a night).[24]The claimant gave the First Respondent one week’s notice of termination of his employment. He was not paid for that week. He was entitled to be paid one week’s notice, at his normal weekly pay of £744.[25]The First Respondent is ordered to pay the sum of £744 to the claimant in respect of notice pay, less such deductions as may be required for tax and national insurance contributions. Holiday pay Case No: 6002729/2024[26]The claimant’s claim for one week’s holiday pay succeeds. The claimant is entitled to be paid a week’s pay of £744 in respect of holiday pay.[27]The First Respondent is ordered to pay the sum of £744 to the claimant in respect of holiday pay, less such deductions as may be required for tax and national insurasnce contributions. Pay slips[28]The First Respondent failed to provide the claimant with itemised pay statements, contrary to section 8 of the Employment Rights Act 1996.[29]The claimant’s gross weekly pay was £744. It is apparent from the net sums received by the claimant in the 13 weeks prior to the date on which he issued this claim, that the respondent made deductions from the claimant’s gross pay. Those deductions are unnotified, and accordingly, the Tribunal may order the First Respondent to pay a sum not exceeding the total deductions to the claimant under section 12 (4) of the Employment Rights Act 1996.[30]The claimant presented his claim to the Tribunal on 22 May 2024. Thirteen weeks prior to 22 May 2024 is 21 February 2024.[31]Between 21 February and 22 May 2024 the First Respondent made the following unnotified deductions from the claimant’s wages:a. 23 February: (£744 - £541.34) = £202.66;b. 1 March: (£744 - £581.40) = £162.60;c. 8 March: (£744 - £480.66) = £263.34;d. 15 March: (£744 - £677.37) = £66.63 .[32]The total amount of unnotified deductions from the claimant’s wages in the 13 weeks prior to the presentation of the claim form is £695.23 (£202.66 + £162.60 + £263.34 + £66.63).[33]The First Respondent is therefore ordered to pay the sum of £695.23 to the claimant under section 12(4) of the Employment Rights Act 1996.