Glasgow business Black Pearl Pub has been ordered to pay a former employee more than £1,700 after an employment tribunal ruled she had been unfairly dismissed.
The employee, known as B Storrie, had worked at the bar The Montford for more than a year but never received a contract outlining her hours of work, shift pattern, sick pay or holiday entitlement. She did not gain online access to her pay slips until early 2022, nearly a year into her employment, when she discovered that despite not earning enough to meet the tax threshold, deductions had been made from her pay.
When Storrie contacted HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) about a potential tax rebate, she was informed that there was no record of her being employed by Black Pearl Pub. In February 2022, she asked the owner to contact HMRC about her deductions and her employment record, raising the issue again in mid-March.
She was then dismissed by the bar owner, so raised an unfair dismissal and unauthorised deduction of wages claims. However, the business argued that Storrie had given them an incorrect national insurance number and address, which she denied.
The employer argued that Storrie lost her job due to “insulting and abusive” social media posts that included “foul language” and “wrong information about her employer”. Copies of her posts revealed that she had used Facebook to raise the issue of how to resolve tax matters but did not reveal her employer’s identity.
Storrie's P60 and pay slip put her gross earnings at below the personal allowance for the tax year. While she did not receive a copy of her P45, one submitted by her former employer featured the incorrect leaving date. Her national insurance number was also correct on all three documents, despite claims that Storrie had provided an incorrect number.
Black Pearl Pub was ordered to pay £86.64 for unfair dismissal, £1,075.80 in unauthorised deduction from wages, £272.14 for holidays accrued but not taken before she was sacked, and £346.58 for not providing written employment details.
Employment judge J Young said: “The reason being given by the respondent for dismissal does relate to the tax position. The reason for dismissal concerns the claimant raising that issue. I accept that the reason or principal reason for dismissal was that the claimant was asserting a statutory right, namely the unauthorised deductions from her wages. That means that she succeeds in her claim of unfair dismissal as a dismissal under s104 of ERA is automatically unfair.”
Black Pearl Pub has been contacted for comment.
