This article applies to England and Wales.
Evidence in wages and working-time judgments
In brief: Wages, working-time and breach of contract judgments are argued on paper. In substantial judgments from England and Wales, 2023–25, the contract of employment is mentioned in 71–72%, payslips in 18–27% and bank statements in 5–8%, all above any other claim type. WhatsApp is mentioned in 25% of unlawful deduction judgments, the highest rate anywhere.
Last updated: September 2026
By Yerty | Analysis of published Employment Tribunal decisions, 2017 to 2025. Part of the evidence by claim type series.
The money claims have the most distinctive evidence profile after disability: the contract, the payslip, the timesheet and, increasingly, the WhatsApp thread in which the shifts were arranged.
This piece takes three columns of Yerty's evidence by claim type analysis together: unlawful deduction from wages (550 judgments in 2017–19, 561 in 2023–25), working time (272, 354) and breach of contract (637, 534). They overlap heavily, since a wages dispute is often pleaded under all three heads, and their evidence profiles are close to identical.
Summary
- The contract is the case. 71–72% of judgments in all three columns mention the contract of employment, against 50% of all judgments and 32% of disability judgments.
- Pay paperwork is concentrated here and rising. Payslips: 22% of unlawful deduction and 27% of working-time judgments, up from 16% and 19%. Bank statements 7–8%, up from 3–5%. Timesheets 7–8%.
- WhatsApp is highest in these claims. 25% of unlawful deduction and 23% of working-time judgments, up from 5% and 4%. In the population it is 16%.
- The disciplinary file is thin. Written warnings 7% in wages and working-time judgments (population 13%); investigation reports 6%.
Evidence in wages, working-time and breach of contract judgments
Share of judgments that mention each type of evidence at least once. The final column is every judgment in the population, for comparison. 550, 272 and 637 judgments in 2017–19 and 561, 354 and 534 in 2023–25.
Evidence mentioned in unlawful deduction judgments · share of judgments, ■ 2017–19 (n 550) → ■ 2023–25 (n 561) · ○ all cases 2023–25
Sorted by change. Rows under 5% in both periods are omitted; the full figures are in the table below. A mention is not reliance.
Evidence mentioned in working time judgments · share of judgments, ■ 2017–19 (n 272) → ■ 2023–25 (n 354) · ○ all cases 2023–25
Sorted by change. Rows under 5% in both periods are omitted; the full figures are in the table below. A mention is not reliance.
Evidence mentioned in breach of contract judgments · share of judgments, ■ 2017–19 (n 637) → ■ 2023–25 (n 534) · ○ all cases 2023–25
Sorted by change. Rows under 5% in both periods are omitted; the full figures are in the table below. A mention is not reliance.
| Evidence | Unlawful deduction 2017–19 | Working time 2017–19 | Breach of contract 2017–19 | Unlawful deduction 2023–25 | Working time 2023–25 | Breach of contract 2023–25 | All cases 2023–25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Witness evidence | |||||||
| Witness statement | 59% | 61% | 57% | 68% | 68% | 69% | 67% |
| Employer documents | |||||||
| Contract of employment | 66% | 68% | 69% | 71% | 71% | 72% | 50% |
| Written warning | 13% | 12% | 15% | 7% | 7% | 12% | 13% |
| Final written warning | 10% | 6% | 12% | 5% | 5% | 10% | 10% |
| Dismissal letter | 10% | 12% | 15% | 8% | 12% | 14% | 11% |
| Job description | 9% | 9% | 11% | 7% | 7% | 9% | 11% |
| Disciplinary policy | 7% | 7% | 12% | 7% | 8% | 13% | 11% |
| Investigation report | 5% | 5% | 10% | 6% | 6% | 10% | 10% |
| Resignation letter | 9% | 8% | 9% | 7% | 7% | 8% | 7% |
| Appeal letter | 4% | 4% | 6% | 2% | 3% | 4% | 6% |
| Employee handbook | 5% | 3% | 6% | 5% | 3% | 4% | 4% |
| Grievance letter | 4% | 5% | 4% | 4% | 3% | 3% | 4% |
| Personnel file | 3% | 2% | 3% | 1% | 0% | 1% | 2% |
| Pay and time paperwork | |||||||
| Payslips | 16% | 19% | 11% | 22% | 27% | 18% | 11% |
| Rota | 10% | 12% | 9% | 11% | 11% | 10% | 10% |
| P45 | 12% | 15% | 11% | 8% | 10% | 8% | 5% |
| Timesheets | 5% | 5% | 4% | 8% | 7% | 6% | 5% |
| Bank statements | 5% | 3% | 4% | 7% | 8% | 5% | 3% |
| Medical evidence | |||||||
| Occupational health | 11% | 8% | 11% | 12% | 10% | 11% | 17% |
| Fit note | 7% | 2% | 6% | 6% | 6% | 6% | 9% |
| Medical records | 2% | 1% | 2% | 2% | 3% | 4% | 4% |
| Impact statement | 1% | 1% | 1% | 3% | 3% | 2% | 4% |
| Medical report | 3% | 3% | 3% | 2% | 1% | 1% | 2% |
| Notes made at the time | |||||||
| Diary | 7% | 7% | 7% | 4% | 6% | 5% | 5% |
| Minutes of the meeting | 4% | 4% | 5% | 2% | 2% | 4% | 4% |
| Contemporaneous notes | 1% | 2% | 2% | 1% | 3% | 1% | 2% |
| Incident report | 1% | 0% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 2% | 2% |
| File note | 0% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 0% | 1% | 1% |
| Messages and images | |||||||
| 5% | 4% | 5% | 25% | 23% | 17% | 16% | |
| Text messages | 8% | 9% | 8% | 10% | 10% | 9% | 7% |
| Social media | 4% | 4% | 4% | 6% | 5% | 6% | 5% |
| Photographs | 8% | 8% | 7% | 5% | 7% | 5% | 5% |
| Screenshots | 1% | 0% | 0% | 4% | 4% | 3% | 3% |
| Microsoft Teams | 0% | 0% | 0% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 2% |
| Voicemail | 2% | 3% | 3% | 2% | 2% | 1% | 2% |
| Phone records | 0% | 1% | 1% | 2% | 1% | 2% | 1% |
n: Unlawful deduction 550 / 561; Working time 272 / 354; Breach of contract 637 / 534; all cases 2,029 / 1,738. A judgment is counted under every claim type among its claims.
The contract and the pay paperwork
A deduction claim under section 13 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 turns on what was properly payable and whether any deduction was authorised, and a holiday-pay claim under the Working Time Regulations 1998 on what leave accrued and what was paid for it. Both are questions the contract and the pay paperwork answer, and the table shows them concentrated here. The contract of employment is mentioned in 71–72% of judgments in all three columns, twenty points above the population.
Payslips are the fastest-growing document in these columns: 16% to 22% of unlawful deduction judgments and 19% to 27% of working-time judgments. Bank statements rose from 5% to 7% and 3% to 8%, timesheets from 5% to 8% and 5% to 7%. The P45 went the other way, 12% to 8% and 15% to 10%, which fits a claim type that increasingly concerns an ongoing rather than an ended employment. These are the only columns in the analysis where the pay paperwork moved by more than a few points.
WhatsApp is mentioned in 25% of unlawful deduction judgments and 23% of working-time judgments, the two highest rates for any claim type, up from 5% and 4% in 2017–19. Breach of contract sits at 17%. The industry analysis shows WhatsApp rising fastest in sectors where shifts and pay are arranged by message, and the wages claims are where that arrangement becomes evidence: what hours were agreed, what was promised, when the message went unanswered. Text messages (10%) and screenshots (4%) are slightly above the population; photographs and voicemail are not.
What is absent
Medical evidence is at or below the population rate in all three columns (occupational health 10–12%, fit notes 6%). The disciplinary file is thin: written warnings fell from 12–13% to 7% in the wages and working-time columns, investigation reports are at 6%, and the dismissal letter is at 8–12%. Breach of contract is the partial exception, because a wrongful dismissal claim is a breach of contract claim, and its column carries disciplinary policy (13%) and investigation report (10%) at population rates.
Method and limits
Population and matching are those of the hub analysis: single-claimant merits decisions with written reasons, England and Wales, one judgment per case, 20,000 to 60,000 characters. Each figure is the share of judgments containing the exact phrase at least once. A judgment is counted under a claim type if that claim type is among its claims, so a judgment can appear in several claim-type columns and the columns do not sum to the population. A mention is not reliance: a judgment that rejected a document or noted its absence counts the same as one that accepted it. No category totals are given.
Frequently asked questions
What evidence appears most often in unpaid wages judgments?
In substantial unlawful deduction judgments from 2023–25: the contract of employment (71%), witness statements (68%), WhatsApp (25%), payslips (22%), text messages (10%), P45s (8%), timesheets (8%) and bank statements (7%). Figures are England and Wales, single-claimant, one judgment per case, and count judgments that mention the evidence at least once.
Are payslips used more as evidence than they were?
Yes. Payslips are mentioned in 22% of substantial unlawful deduction judgments and 27% of working-time judgments in 2023–25, up from 16% and 19% in 2017–19. Bank statements and timesheets also rose. These are the only claim types where pay paperwork moved by more than a few points.
Why is WhatsApp so common in wages claims?
Because the working arrangement is often made by message. WhatsApp is mentioned in 25% of unlawful deduction and 23% of working-time judgments in 2023–25, up from 5% and 4%, against 16% of all judgments. Yerty's industry analysis finds the same pattern in sectors where shifts are arranged by group chat.
How often is the contract of employment mentioned?
In 71% of unlawful deduction judgments, 71% of working-time judgments and 72% of breach of contract judgments in 2023–25, against 50% of all judgments. It is the most-cited employer document in every claim type, but these are the claims where the contractual terms are the dispute itself.
Is disciplinary evidence relevant to wages claims?
Rarely. Written warnings are mentioned in 7% of wages and working-time judgments in 2023–25, investigation reports in 6% and disciplinary policies in 7–8%, all roughly half the population rate. Breach of contract judgments are closer to the population, because a wrongful dismissal claim is pleaded as breach of contract.
Does a document being mentioned mean the tribunal relied on it?
No. The counts include judgments that rejected a document, gave it little weight or noted that it was missing. A judgment that records that no payslips were produced counts the same as one that works through them. The figures describe what judgments discuss, not what decided the case.
Analyse the data
Query pay paperwork and messaging evidence in wages judgments by industry and year.
Intelligence Hub →Manage your evidence
Wages claims are arithmetic: what was due, what was paid, period by period. Build the schedule and keep the payslips against it.
Case Hub →Sources
Analysis of published Employment Tribunal decisions, 2017 to 2025, drawn from the public register on GOV.UK under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Population as stated in the hub analysis; 550, 272 and 637 judgments with a wages, working-time and breach of contract claim in 2017–19 and 561, 354 and 534 in 2023–25.
Related reading: what evidence do I need for an unpaid wages or holiday pay claim, what evidence tribunal judgments describe, 2017 to 2025, and tribunal evidence is moving from paper to screen.
Other pieces in this series: unfair dismissal, disability discrimination, race, sex and age discrimination, whistleblowing, redundancy.