A CLOSED Herefordshire business has been ordered to pay thousands to a former employee.

A Mrs A Stoj, who was employed by The Den Hereford Limited, took the business to an employment tribunal over claims of unauthorised deductions from pay, breach of contract in relation to notice pay, and a complaint about holiday pay.

The restaurant, which was set in Hereford's Bridge Street, announced in January 2023 that it had "no other choice" but to close due to the cost of living crisis.

"The hospitality industry has suffered huge challenges over the last few years mainly due to Covid and now the cost of living," the owners said at the time.

ALSO READ:

"We have been constantly finding ways to save money and stay competitive while maintaining the quality of the food and service but this has become consistently more difficult. This was not an easy decision to make yet we are grateful for the 10 years we have had. It’s been a blast!"

Now a recently published judgement from the hearing, which was held before Employment Judge Flood in March 2024, has said the complaint of unauthorised deductions from pay contrary to Part II of the Employment Rights Act 1996 was well-founded.

The Den Hereford Limited was ordered to pay her the sum of £1,877.85 deducted from pay between June 2022 and December 2022.

The judgement also found there was a breach of contract in relation to notice pay, with the judge writing that Mrs Stoj had been employed for four full years, from June 2018 to January 2023 and was entitled to damages of £960 in respect of four weeks' notice pay.

What are your thoughts?

You can send a letter to the editor to have your say by clicking here.

Letters should not exceed 250 words and local issues take precedence.

The judge further found the complaint in respect of holiday pay was well founded, with Mrs Stoj having taken no paid holidays in the two years preceding the termination of her employment and being entitled to 5.6 weeks of holiday pay for the years 2021 and 2022.

The judgement said the respondent was in breach of contract for failing to pay her for holidays accrued but not taken when her employment was terminated, ordering the business to pay £2,688.

The Den Hereford Limited, which was not present at the hearing, must now pay Mrs Stoj a total of £5,525.85.