In Fairfield Ltd v Skinner [1993] IRLR 4 EAT, the EAT held that there must be justification for making a deduction from wages, even when authority has been given in the contract.
An agreement under which an employee was liable to repay a proportion of a training course fee to his employer if his employment terminated within a certain period did not specifically authorise repayment by way of a deduction from wages, holds the EAT in Potter v Hunt Contracts Ltd.
In Coales v John Wood & Co [1986] IRLR 129 EAT, the EAT held that the obligation on an employer to provide an employee with a written itemised pay statement at or before the time at which any payment of wages or salary is made is an absolute one and is not conditional upon the employee requesting such a statement.
In Milsom v Leicestershire County Council [1978] IRLR 433 IT, the Industrial Tribunal held that a pay statement must detail the amount of each variable deduction and the purpose for which it is made, and not merely label an item "miscellaneous deduction".