The Bull pub in Colchester has tribunal reconsideration refused

Jack Litchfield and Charlotte Wrigley took Jane Phillips, director of The Bull in Colchester city centre, to court last year after “unauthorised deductions” were made from their wages.

Mr Litchfield and Ms Wrigley received a total of £5,232 in unpaid wages, holiday, compensation, and damages.

The pub applied for the judgment to be reconsidered after a hearing at the East London Hearing Centre, but the judge refused the application, HM Courts and Tribunals Service records published on Thursday reveal.

Two ex-employees took The Bull to court last year (Image: Google)

The judge said no because the boss of the pub in Crouch Street “has not identified what aspect” of the judgment she wants to be reconsidered.

“I nevertheless can identify no reason to depart from my original judgment,” they wrote.

The judge concluded: “The respondent’s application for reconsideration of the judgment is therefore refused.”

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A corrected judgment was issued because the judge had incorrectly listed some of the amounts awarded to each ex-worker against the other claimant’s name.

Why was The Bull taken to court?

After a hearing in October, Phillips agreed to repay a total of £804 which had been deducted from the pay of her two former employees in the last week of their employment.

She also agreed to pay Ms Wrigley damages of £370 for dismissing her without notice.

The pub’s boss was also ordered to pay a total of £4,058 in unpaid annual leave and compensation to Mr Litchfield and Ms Wrigley.

Samantha Randall, an employment solicitor at the Colchester-based law firm Birkett Long, said employees are entitled to be paid at their normal rate for any accrued but untaken statutory holiday entitlement when they leave a job unless an employer asks them to use their leftover days off.

Employment lawyer Samantha Randall from Birkett Long (Image: Birkett Long)

She added employees who aren’t paid correctly can take steps including contacting their employer, reviewing their contract and holiday policies, raising a formal grievance, or contacting Acas before pursuing an employment tribunal.

Pub bosses previously claimed the issue of unpaid wages arose after a dispute regarding one of the claimant’s second jobs, which resulted in the other walking out in solidarity with their colleague.

The Bull declined to comment further.