Claimant v O&A International Ltd
Outcome
Individual claims
The claimant's complaint of unlawful deduction from wages in respect of unpaid basic wages, which did not include those wages constituting tips, was withdrawn by the claimant and dismissed upon withdrawal.
The tribunal found that the respondent made unauthorised deductions from the claimant's wages by failing to pay her tips earned during October and November 2024. The respondent also failed to ensure that qualifying tips were allocated fairly between workers and failed to pay allocated tips by the statutory deadline.
The tribunal found the respondent breached sections 27D and 27K(1)(a) ERA 1996 by failing to ensure that the total amount of qualifying tips were allocated fairly between workers, as it failed to allocate any tips to the claimant when it should have done so.
The tribunal found the respondent breached sections 27G(a), 27G(b) and 27K(1)(b) ERA 1996 by failing to ensure that tips were allocated to the claimant and paid to her by no later than the end of the month following the month in which the tip was paid by the customer.
Facts
Mrs Pasichnyk, a part-time hospitality worker, was not allocated or paid any tips during October and November 2024 despite tips being paid at the respondent's business. The respondent operated a policy allocating 70% of tips to full-time staff and 30% to part-time staff, irrespective of hours worked. The claimant was entitled to a share of tips totalling £150 over the two-month period.
Decision
The tribunal found in favour of the claimant, ruling that the respondent breached the Employment Rights Act 1996 provisions on tips by failing to allocate any tips to the claimant and failing to pay tips within the statutory deadline. The tribunal ordered payment of £150 in unpaid tips plus £200 compensation for financial loss, and recommended the respondent amend its tipping policy to distribute based on hours worked rather than full-time/part-time status.
Practical note
Employers must ensure qualifying tips are allocated fairly based on hours worked and paid within statutory deadlines, and cannot simply exclude workers from tip allocation or discriminate between full-time and part-time workers irrespective of hours.
Award breakdown
Legal authorities cited
Statutes
Case details
- Case number
- 6000647/2025
- Decision date
- 28 May 2025
- Hearing type
- full merits
- Hearing days
- 1
- Classification
- contested
Respondent
- Sector
- hospitality
- Represented
- Yes
- Rep type
- in house
Claimant representation
- Represented
- Yes
- Rep type
- lay rep