Ms T Cramer v Tribu Hair Studio Ltd: 6032196/2025
JUDGMENT
[1]The respondent has made unauthorised deductions from the claimant’s wages and must pay the claimant £1201.41 net.[2]The respondent is in breach of contract in respect of the agreement to pay a bonus and the respondent must pay the claimant the sum of £1,900.00[3]The respondent must pay the claimant £3101.41 in total.REASONS
[1]By a claim presented on 31 August 2025 following a period of ACAS early conciliation between 23 June and 4 August 2025 the Claimant brought claims for unpaid wages, including accrued holiday, and failure to pay agreed bonus payments.[2]The Respondent responded to the claim but did not complete an ET3 Response form despite receiving the notice of claim from the Tribunal informing him how to do so. The “Respondent” has therefore not entered a valid response. I will refer to them as “Respondent” below for the sake of ease.[3]The Claimant sent a paginated bundle and witness statement to the Tribunal’. The Respondent’s owner/Director Mr Brophy, submitted detailed written representations, witness statement and documents in response to the claim, and to the Claimant’s documents and witness statement. The Claimant sent a further statement in response.[4]A final hearing was listed to take place at 2pm on 1 June 2026, by CVP. The Claimant attended from Spain where she is currently living. The Respondent did not attend. I asked the clerk to contact the Respondent. There was an exchange of emails in response to the tribunal clerk’s enquiries and attempts to assist the Respondent with joining the hearing. In his last email sent at 2.30pm the Respondent stated that he was not mentally fit to proceed with the hearing He also stated he wished to avoid prolonging proceedings and asked the Tribunal to rely on his written submission and either determine the matter on the papers or relist the hearing to a future date.[5]I had already explained to the Claimant that I would not be able to hear any evidence from her today as she is in Spain. The Claimant told me that she would be able to travel to the UK to attend a hearing either remotely or in person if necessary.[6]The Claimant expressed her concern that any further delay be avoided particularly as the Respondent has indicated his company will soon cease trading. She was also happy for me to reach a decision on the information already provided to the Tribunal, including her bundle of documents and her witness statements.[7]Having read the written documents provided by both sides before the hearing, I was satisfied that I had sufficient information to decide the claim on the papers. I concluded the hearing and proceeded to consider the claim on the papers.[8]I took into account the Claimant’s bundle of documents and her witness statements (albeit they were unsworn). Having considered rule 22 of the Employment Tribunal Rules of Procedure 2024 I considered the Respondent’s submissions sent on 28 April 2026 with the subject “Final Comprehensive Submission, witness statement and complete evidence bundle – Hearing 1 June 2025”, and supporting documents; the respondent’s statement also being unsworn.[9]I decided that a determination can properly be made of the claim. The claim is set out in the Claimant’s claim form and simply stated in her schedule of loss (bundle p 4). Firstly, she claims the balance of an unpaid bonus from 2024; she relies on a written agreement signed on 21 May 2025 to pay that bonus payment in installments. The bonus was agreed at £4000.00, the sum of £2100.00 has been paid and the claim is for the balance of £1900.00.[10]The Claimant also claims her unpaid wages relating to her last week of employment 9 -15 June 2026 during which she took some of her accrued annual leave, and the balance of her outstanding wages and accrued annual leave at the end of her employment, as set out in a pay slip dated 16-22 June 2026.[11]The Respondent does not dispute that he has not paid the Claimant the balance of the 2024 bonus payments. In his statement he accepted that a bonus had been agreed but described it as entirely discretionary. He confirmed that he had paid £2100.00 in respect of that bonus out of a total £4000.00 and stated that the £1900.00 balance was withheld for reasons relating to relation to the Claimant’s alleged conduct discovered subsequent to the agreement to pay.[12]Mr Brophy stated that he did not personally calculate or administer the Claimant’s pay he stated that he engaged Neil Callaway of Fourtwo Accountants to manage all payment matters and his role as Director of the Respondent was to approve the payroll as directed by his accountant. The Respondent and also relies on the Fresha salon payments system which he says is reliable and does not make mistakes. However the Claimant’s claim for outstanding pay is for the hours worked in her last week of employment, her holiday pay for leave taken in that week and her outstanding unpaid pay including her holiday accrued up to her last day of employment. Documentary evidence Bonus[13]The Claimant relies on the bonus repayment contract which was at pages 39 to 41 of the bundle. I am satisfied that contract was signed by both parties on the 21st of May 2025; both parties signatures appear above the date 21 May 2025 at page 42. Page 43 also confirms the involvement of a third party in concluding that agreement. Nothing in that bonus repayment contract is expressed as being conditional on either party’s conduct. The agreement relates to back pay of an employee bonus for 2024 which was to be paid in 40 weekly instalments of £100. Clause 4 of the agreement is headed “Guarantee of payment” and states: The full bonus amount of GBP £4,000 will be paid in full no later than December 31st, 2025 regardless of:• The Employee’s continued employment status• The Employee’s visa or residency standing At clause 5 under the heading “Acknowledgment”, the agreement states: “Both parties acknowledge this Agreement as the complete and binding bonus arrangement, superseding any previous verbal or written agreements relating to this matter.”[14]The Respondent seeks to suggest that the Claimant’s conduct, which he says was in breach of the employment contract, is relevant to whether he should continue to honour the bonus payment agreement, however as can be seen from the clear wording of the agreement here is no such conditionality included within or even envisaged within the bonus payment contract.[15]I am satisfied the Respondent is in breach of that agreement. The agreement terms are clear and no conditions are attached to the payments. The bonus agreement does not seek to import any clauses from the employment contract into that agreement or any conditions as to conduct. The reasons relied on by the Respondent for ceasing his payments are not valid reasons under the bonus agreement contract and do not defeat the Claimant’s claim.[16]The Claimant is entitled to judgment in respect of the breach of the bonus payment contract which is outstanding on termination of her employment. The amount still outstanding by the date of this judgment is £1,900.00. Unpaid wages[17]The Respondent, through Mr Brophy, disputes the wages claim and points to the Fresha system to suggest all outstanding money has been paid. However, the Respondent states that he relies on his accountant for calculating all wages payments. The Claimant also relies on the Respondent’s accountant’s calculation of her outstanding pay. The documents contained a copy of an e-mail from the accountant on the 28th of May 2025 [page 45] acknowledging the Claimant’s resignation with effect from the 16 June and assuring the Claimant that her outstanding back pay of £785.86 would be processed and sent to her together with her outstanding annual leave entitlement. The Claimant relied on the calculations set out in the e-mail from the accountant on the 25th of July 2025 [page 49] and on the 31st of July 2025 [page 59] clarifying the amount. The accountant told the Claimant that he was marrying up [Mr Brophy’s] records and would be producing her payslips in an e-mail dated 30th of July 2025 [page 51]. The accountant produced the pay slips and sent them to the Claimant on the 1 August 2025 [page 61 and 63] but no payment has been received by the Claimant. Page 63 is a copy of an email attaching of the pay slip in relation to the 9th to 15th of June 2025 and page 64 is a copy of the email attaching the payslip in relation to 16th to 22nd of June 2025. The corresponding pay slips are at pages 85 and 86 respectively. The payslips show the Claimant is due the net pay of £ 473.27 and £728.14 respectively. These are the amounts the Claimant is claiming. The Claimant produced documents in her bundle that show the payments received via Fresha and other payments from the Respondent into her bank which do not include payments for both the outstanding amounts set out in those two pay slips. [Fresha payments at page 87 and the bank transactions were shown at pages 88 to 90].[18]I am satisfied that the amount has been calculated by Respondent’s accountant who has produced the pay slips but that no payment has been made and those amounts are still outstanding. I am satisfied that this is an unlawful deduction from the Claimant's wages in the sum of £1201.41.Conclusion
[19]I find that the Claimant is entitled to judgement in respect of the £1,900.00 in respect of the unpaid outstanding bonus payment and the sum of £1201.41 in respect of unlawful deductions from her wages. The total amount owed by the Respondent to the Claimant is £3101.41. Approved by: