Cove Restaurant Ltd

Case Summary

The claimant claimed unlawful deduction of wages regarding tips received at the end of his employment with the respondent restaurant. The tribunal dismissed the claim because the claimant failed to produce any evidence demonstrating that the amount of tips paid to him was less than properly payable under the respondent's stated allocation of tips policy.

The claimant failed to discharge the burden of proof required under s13 ERA 1996. He produced no evidence of how much in tips was paid in the relevant quarter, no evidence of the total tips available for distribution, and no evidence that the sum actually paid to him was less than he was entitled to receive under the respondent's allocation of tips policy.

• •Whether the claimant was unlawfully deducted wages in respect of gratuities/tips
• •Whether the respondent's allocation of tips policy complied with s13 ERA 1996
• •Burden of proof on claimant to demonstrate underpayment with evidence

EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNALS (SCOTLAND) Case No:8002507/2025 Held inAberdeen via Cloud Video Platform (CVP)on15 April 2026 Employment JudgeO’Donnell Mr K GordonClaimant In Person Cove Restaurant Limited Respondent Represented by: Mr C Douglas- Representative JUDGMENT OF THE EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNAL The judgment of the Employment Tribunal, given orally at the hearing, is that the claim for unlawful deduction of wages is not well-founded and is hereby dismissed. REASONS 1.The claimant has brought a claim of unlawful deduction of wages against the respondent in respect of gratuities (tips) paid to him at the end of his employment. He says he received less than he thinks he should have been paid. 2.The respondent resists the claim. They say that the claimant was paid in accordance with their allocation of tips policy which is that 10% of all tips paid in each quarter is divided between all casual staff such as the claimant. 3.The claimant confirmed that he had no evidence that the allocation of tips policy was anything other than as described by the respondent in their ET3. He stated that he had been told that tips should be paid monthly and not quarterly; this is correct buthas no bearing on the issues in this case. 4.The claimant has no evidence about how much was paid in tips in the relevant quarter and cannot produce any evidence that the sum paid to him was less than he was entitled to be paid. 8002507/2025Page2 5.Section 13 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA) provides that an employer shall not make a deduction from a worker’s wages unless this is authorised by statute, a provision in the worker’s contract or by the previous written consent of the worker. 6.In terms of s13(3) ERA, a deduction of wages arises in circumstances where the total amount of wages paid by an employer to a worker on any occasion is less than the total amount of wages properly payable on that occasion. 7.The…