Where an employer has mistakenly overpaid an employee, the money can be recovered if it was paid because of a mistake of fact. However in a warning to employers operating computerised payment systems, the Court of Appeal in The County Council of Avon v Howlett holds that the defence of estoppel may operate to prevent recovery of all the money even if the employee has spent only some of it.
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".