Deductions from wages: Employer entitled to vary collectively-agreed bonus scheme

An employer was contractually entitled to make changes to an incentive bonus scheme without the consent of employees individually or their trade union representatives, holds the EAT in Airlie and others v City of Edinburgh District Council [1996] IRLR 516. The scheme was governed by a collective agreement which was incorporated into employees' contracts of employment, and it was implicit in that agreement that where the scheme was reviewed in accordance with the agreement and with full consultation, the employer was entitled to decide the terms of the scheme for the future, whether or not the employees agreed to those terms.