Rice Shack Ltd v Obi UKEAT/0240/17/DM

Appeal against a decision that the Respondent was obliged to pay the Claimant, who worked under a zero hours contract, her average pay during the full period of suspension even though she had found another job within that period. Appeal dismissed.

The Claimant, who worked under a zero hours contract, was suspended in March and was not offered any shifts until December when the period of suspension ended. The Claimant was not paid during this period. The ET found that she had suffered unlawful deductions from wages for the entire period despite the Claimant having found alternative employment in the August without informing the Respondent. The Respondent appealed, contending that once the Claimant obtained work with another employer, there were no sums "properly payable" to her for the purposes of s13(3) ERA 1996, alternatively her failure to disclose her other employment meant she should not have been entitled to wages from the Respondent after August.

The EAT dismissed the appeal. The Clamant was entitled to accept other employment and was under no obligation to notify the Respondent of this. The Respondent was unable to say whether the Claimant would or would not have accepted shifts offered prior to December because she had been offered none due to the disciplinary suspension. The Respondent could not point to any conduct on the part of the Claimant that would have entitled it to summarily dismiss her (had it been aware of that conduct at the relevant time); she had thus remained entitled to be paid during the period of disciplinary suspension.

Published: 03/07/2018 17:37

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