Claimant v Fraser Laing T/A General Eyewear
Outcome
Individual claims
The tribunal issued a default judgment under rule 22 because the respondent failed to file a response form. The claimant established that the respondent unlawfully deducted £13,233.93 from her wages in the first claim.
The tribunal issued a default judgment under rule 22 because the respondent failed to file a response form. The claimant established that the respondent unlawfully deducted £9,000 from her wages in the second claim.
The tribunal found that the respondent unlawfully deducted £5,541.52 from the claimant's wages in respect of accrued but untaken annual leave, awarding this as an unlawful deduction following the default judgment.
The tribunal found the claimant was unfairly dismissed in a default judgment. The respondent failed to defend the claim by not filing a response, and the tribunal awarded both basic and compensatory awards for the unfair dismissal.
The tribunal awarded £1,400 for the respondent's failure to provide a written statement of main terms and conditions of employment, which is a statutory requirement under employment law.
Facts
The claimant brought two claims against her former employer, a sole trader operating an eyewear business. The claims concerned substantial unlawful deductions from wages totalling over £22,000 across both claims, unpaid holiday pay of over £5,500, unfair dismissal, and failure to provide written terms and conditions. The respondent failed to file a response form in either claim.
Decision
The tribunal issued a default judgment under rule 22 in favour of the claimant for all claims. The tribunal awarded over £44,000 in total including unpaid wages, holiday pay, basic and compensatory awards for unfair dismissal with a 10% ACAS uplift, and an award for failure to provide written terms.
Practical note
Default judgments are automatically entered when respondents fail to file a response, and can result in substantial awards where claimants can establish their losses on uncontested evidence.
Award breakdown
Adjustments
An uplift of £1,202.99 was applied to the loss of earnings/pension element of the compensatory award, representing a 10% ACAS Code uplift for failure to follow proper procedures.
Legal authorities cited
Statutes
Case details
- Case number
- 2229591/2024
- Decision date
- 28 May 2025
- Hearing type
- default judgment
- Hearing days
- 1
- Classification
- default
Respondent
- Sector
- retail
- Represented
- Yes
- Rep type
- lay rep
Employment details
Claimant representation
- Represented
- No