Unauthorised deductions from pay

New and updated

• Type:

  Employment law cases

  Case of the week: Unlawful deductions from wages

  This week's case of the week, provided by Addleshaw Goddard, covers unlawful deductions from wages.

• Date:

  26 January 2007

  Type:

  Employment law cases

  Coors Brewers Ltd v Adcock

  In Coors Brewers Ltd v Adcock [2007] EWCA Civ 19 CA, the Court of Appeal has held that employment tribunals do not have jurisdiction to hear claims for unlawful deductions from wages where a detailed investigation to identify the level of underpayment is required.

• Date:

  25 February 2005

  Type:

  Employment law cases

  Deductions from wages: Failure to pay declared bonus was unlawful deduction

  In Farrell Matthews & Weir v Hansen, the EAT holds that a non-contractual bonus that had been declared constituted wages under s.27(3) of the Employment Rights Act 1996. The employer's failure to pay it therefore amounted to an unlawful deduction from wages.

• Date:

  31 December 2004

  Type:

  Employment law cases

  Guthrie v Scottish Courage Ltd

  In Guthrie v Scottish Courage Ltd [2004] All ER (D) 15 (Jun) EAT, the Employment Appeal Tribunal upheld a tribunal chair's decision that the employer had made an unlawful deduction from wages when it withheld company sick pay because it had reached a perverse conclusion that the employee's illness was not genuine.

• Date:

  22 July 2002

  Type:

  Employment law cases

  Contractual sick pay: Contractual clause withholding sick pay for misconduct had no effect

  An employer was not entitled to withhold sick pay from an employee who took sick leave because of anxiety and depression immediately after being disciplined for misconduct, notwithstanding a contractual clause excluding such entitlement where sickness was "due, or attributable, to his own misconduct", the EAT holds in Manchester City Council v Thurston.

• Type:

  FAQs

  What happens if an employer makes an unlawful deduction of wages from an employee?

• Date:

  1 November 2000

  Type:

  Employment law cases

  Beveridge v KLM UK Ltd

  In Beveridge v KLM UK Ltd [2000] IRLR 765 EAT, the EAT held that when an employee is fit and willing to work, the employer is obliged to pay the employee his or her normal wages or salary unless there is an express term in the contract of employment authorising the employer to withhold pay in certain defined circumstances.

• Date:

  1 September 1998

  Type:

  Employment law cases

  Tribunal procedure: Settlement of unfair dismissal complaint did not bar unpaid wages claim

  A compromise to settle an employee's claim for compensation for unfair dismissal, reached during the employment tribunal proceedings and recorded by the tribunal in a document headed "Decision of the [employment] tribunal", did not prevent the employee from subsequently bringing proceedings in the county court for unpaid wages, holds the Court of Appeal in Dattani v Trio Supermarkets Ltd.

• Date:

  15 August 1998

  Type:

  Employment law cases

  Deductions from wages: Advance commission set off against unlawful deduction

  In Robertson v Blackstone Franks Investment Management Ltd, the Court of Appeal holds that an investment consultant suffered unlawful deductions from his wages when commission earned in respect of work done before his contract was terminated, but payable after termination, was not paid.

• Date:

  1 October 1996

  Type:

  Employment law cases

  Deductions from wages: Individual notification of term authorising deductions required

  The posting in a factory of a notice which stated that accrued holiday pay would not be given to employees dismissed for gross misconduct did not amount to the requisite written notification to the workers of a contractual term authorising a deduction from their wages, holds the EAT in (1) Kerr v The Sweater Shop (Scotland) Ltd (2) The Sweater Shop (Scotland) Ltd v Park.