In person For the v Mr P Clarke, Advocate — 2023

The tribunal heard a single monetary claim by Mr Adam Ingram against Minster Software Limited trading as MinsterSoft. The parties were in agreement on the material facts: the claimant had been employed as a Senior Claims Engineer from 1 February 2017 and resigned with effect from 15 December 2021. The tribunal amended the respondent's name to the correct corporate name at the outset.

The claimant had been absent with Covid-19 in June and July 2021, and the parties agreed that the respondent would make him a loan of £990 because his normal pay was to be reduced to statutory sick pay. The tribunal found that the respondent also agreed to amortise and write off the loan in monthly instalments over 10 months if the claimant met minimum performance requirements, and that the claimant accepted that arrangement. By the time he resigned, about £550 had been written off and the remaining balance was £442.69.

The decisive point was that the contract of employment was silent on repayment of sums owed on voluntary termination, and there was no signed authority permitting the respondent to deduct the outstanding balance from final salary. The tribunal found that the respondent nevertheless deducted £442.69 from the claimant's final salary. It held that this was an unlawful deduction from wages contrary to section 13 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 and ordered repayment of the gross sum.

The tribunal declined any further award under section 24(2) of the Employment Rights Act 1996. It recorded that the claimant no longer pursued such an award and, in any event, found no financial loss attributable to the unlawful deduction because the claimant had agreed to the loan, resigned to take a different job closer to home, and accepted a lower salary of his own volition.