This month’s news in brief
Deductions on termination for excess leave
On termination, employers must make a payment in lieu of any untaken but
accrued holiday entitlement under the Working Time Regulations. If the worker
has taken leave in excess of their accrued entitlement, the employer can only
recover this from the worker if a contract of employment, workforce agreement
or collective agreement allows him to. In this case, the employer argued
unsuccessfully that the payment was an overpayment of wages, so recovering it
was not an unlawful deduction. (Miss R S Hill v Howard Chapell, EAT)
Award of costs for tribunal absence
The EAT reduced an award of costs against an applicant who did not attend a
tribunal hearing. The tribunal considered her claim ‘vexatious’ and awarded the
whole of the respondent’s costs against her. However, the EAT pointed out that
only the non-attendance had been found ‘vexatious’. They limited the award to
£500, being the costs incurred by the respondent in attending the hearing.
(Newton v Alcohol East, EAT)
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Tribunals must take account of minimum wage
When awarding compensation for unfair dismissal, employment tribunals must
take account of the national minimum wage. If an employee has been receiving
less than the statutory minimum wage, the tribunal must use that statutory
minimum as the basis for its assessment, even if the applicant has not
complained of failure to pay it. (Paggetti v Cobb)
