Restaurant Closed Without Paying Staff

Dining by Chris Franklin Ltd has been told to pay over £10,500 to two former members of staff who weren’t paid when its restaurant closed.

Callan Reed and Nicole Crawley both took the company to a tribunal for unlawful deductions from their pay and for failure to provide payslips.

The restaurant in Peel closed in May this year after a difficult trading period and neither Mr Reed nor Miss Crawley were paid their salary for their final month.

Additionally, Mr Reed was not paid for his period of notice and he also had holiday due to him while Miss Crawley had previously given her notice and had not claimed an award for that period.

The panel, chaired by Douglas Stewart also found that neither Mr Reed nor Miss Crawley received payslips on time and too often, not at all.

Mr Franklin acknowledge that had been served the complaints by the clerk of the tribunal, but despite an extension being granted, he neither responded to or attended the tribunal.

The tribunal ruled that Mr Reed wasn’t paid his wages for May 2023 and for one month’s notice and awarded him £4,166.66. He was awarded a further £961.50 for unpaid holiday pay, £480.76 and a further £961.52 for failure to provide pay slips.

Miss Crawley was awarded £2,500 for unpaid wages, as well as £540 for the unlawful deductions and a further £1,080 for failure to provide pay slips.

The total awarded amounts were £6,570.44 for Mr Reed and £4,120.00 for Miss Crawley.

In both cases, the panel said of the unlawful deductions: ‘Although the respondent was not entitled to take any part in these proceedings, from the evidence of the complainants, non-payment was because the business had run into financial difficulties and had ceased trading. Given the difficult circumstances, it would not be just and equitable to award four weeks compensation but an award of one week’s compensation is made.’