Deductions from wages: Wage reduction on shift reorganisation not unlawful

An employment tribunal was wrong to hold that an employee suffered an unlawful deduction from wages when he was required to transfer from night-shift working to day shifts and received lower pay as a result, holds the EAT in Hussman Manufacturing Ltd v Weir [1998] IRLR 288. The employer had legitimately implemented a reorganisation of its business without breaching the employee's contract of employment, and the fact that there were adverse financial consequences for the employee did not in itself mean that an unlawful deduction from wages had been made.

Mr Weir was employed by Hussman Manufacturing Ltd, and had worked on the night shift since 1985.