Mr F Acheampong v Exterius Facilities Management Ltd — 2023

The claimant worked for the respondent as a security officer from 15 September 2021. The issue before the tribunal was the respondent's deductions from his final pay of 31 August 2022, totalling £665.20, made up of £37.50 for uniform and £627.70 for vehicle damage. The claimant had also included holiday pay in the ET1, but he confirmed at the start of the hearing that he was not pursuing that claim, so it was withdrawn and dismissed on withdrawal.

On the uniform deduction, the tribunal found that the Security Officer Uniform Agreement formed part of the employment contract and had been signed by the claimant on 14 September 2021. By the time the claimant's employment ended, the amount due under that agreement was £37.50. The tribunal held that this deduction was authorised and justified, so the claim for unlawful deduction from wages in respect of uniform failed.

On the vehicle damage deduction, the tribunal accepted that the incident occurred on 28 February 2022 and that the claimant reversed the vehicle into a trailer, but it was not satisfied that the respondent had enough information to conclude that the claimant had been careless. It noted that the claimant was not interviewed about the incident, no witness was taken, no CCTV was sought, and no disciplinary or capability process was started. The tribunal also took into account the difficult driving conditions, the state of the vehicle, and the fact that Archers' invoice was for its assessment of the damage rather than clear evidence of the actual repair cost. The deduction of £627.70 was therefore found to be unjustified and an unauthorised deduction of wages.

The respondent asked the tribunal to offset £396 said to relate to holiday payments. The tribunal rejected that submission, holding that there was no basis for equitable set off within the protection of wages provisions, that no overpayment issue had been raised in the response or in correspondence with the claimant at the time, and that the deduction had been made for a different purpose in any event. The only monetary award was the gross sum of £627.70 on the upheld deduction claim.