Ms Emily Wise v First Thought Care Services Limited — 2023

The claimant brought a complaint of unauthorised deductions from wages. The tribunal granted the respondent's application for an extension of time to file its ET3 and accepted that the claimant's employment ended on 27 February 2023, when she was told she had failed probation, was told not to return to work, and was paid four weeks' pay in lieu of notice. The tribunal found that the notice period was one week.

On holiday pay, the tribunal accepted the employer's records over the claimant's text-message record and found that she had taken 93 hours of leave during employment, against an entitlement of 78 hours. That left 15 hours over-taken leave, which the tribunal calculated as a lawful deduction of £288.46. It found that the respondent had deducted £1,081.73 in respect of holiday-related sums, leaving £793.27 due to the claimant.

On the £500 training fee, the tribunal found there was no signed contract of employment and therefore no contractual agreement authorising the deduction. It also found that the signed training document did not state the £500 figure, and that the email relied on by the respondent referred to repayment if the claimant chose to leave, whereas she had been dismissed. The tribunal therefore found the £500 deduction was unauthorised. The claim was upheld and the respondent was ordered to pay £1,293.27 gross in total.