A High Wycombe business and Rentacar has been ordered to pay compensation to underpaid employee.

Phoenix Healthcare Ltd and Rentacar 24/7 Ltd, have been ordered to pay former employee Mr M Piekielniak the sum of £2,912.19 in unpaid wages and additional compensation, according to a Watford Employment Tribunal ruling.

The judgement was made by Employment Judge Forde on March 31, 2023. 

The case was brought to the tribunal by Mr Piekielniak who accused the two respondents of making unauthorised deductions from his wages, failing to pay him for the hours he'd worked, and failure to provide a written statement of employment terms.

The respondents are liable to pay the total sum on a joint and several bases.

In addition, Phoenix Healthcare Ltd is ordered to pay Mr Piekielniak an additional £810, pursuant to section 38 Employment Act 2002, for failure to issue a written statement of employment particulars.

Representatives for Mr Piekielniak and the respondents agreed that the claimant worked for both Phoenix Healthcare Ltd and Rentacar 24/7 Ltd.

Mr Piekielniak would, when not busy performing tasks for Phoenix Healthcare Ltd, where he was employed as a driver transporting carers between jobs, be directed to work for Rentacar 24/7 Ltd, supporting the maintenance of their vehicles.

In court, Mr Piekielniak claimed he was unable to use Phoenix Healthcare's system for logging hours, which was managed via a mobile phone app.

Employment Judge Forde said: "Although disputed by Mr Hussein, I find that the claimant was unable to use the app and that Mr Hussein was aware of this."

A written log of hours worked was maintained and, despite claims by the company director against its validity, the Judge upheld it as acceptable evidence.

The judgement notes that the claimant was not receiving payslips from June onwards, despite Mr Hussein showing him where to access them.

The tribunal concluded that Mr Piekielniak's employment was terminated in February 2022 by Phoenix Healthcare Ltd., from October he began receiving payslips from Rentacar 24/7 Ltd.

Judge Forde stated: "I find that the claimant did as much as he could to find out more about his payments."

In his final judgement, Judge Forde found the evidence presented by Mr Hussein and Mr Ahmed to be "unreliable" and preferred the account given by Mr Piekielniak "who appeared to me to be cogent and credible."

He ordered the companies to pay Mr Piekielniak for his unpaid wages and awarded an additional two weeks' wage for the failure to provide him with written particulars of his employment.