Miss H Orme v CGMD Limited t/a Community Care Services — 2022

Miss H Orme worked for CGMD Limited t/a Community Care Services between 12 and 18 July 2021 and said she was entitled to £367.50 for hours worked, house calls and training. She received £191.75 and brought an unlawful deduction from wages claim for the unpaid balance of £175.75. The respondent accepted the earnings figures but said nothing remained outstanding because it had incurred training costs of £354.38 and other costs after her resignation, and it relied on a repayment term in its policies and procedures.

The tribunal heard evidence from Miss Orme and Mr Durbin and found that the policies and procedures sent on 18 May 2021 were separate from the contract of employment, which was not signed until 12 July 2021. It accepted Miss Orme's evidence that on 9 July 2021 Laura Durbin told her the repayment provision did not apply to the training she had already completed because her contract had not yet been signed. The tribunal found there was no evidence that a breakdown of training costs had been provided or that consent to repayment had been sought or obtained in advance.

The tribunal also found that the claimant's shift on 17 July 2021 was sufficiently distressing that she resigned as a result, and it found no evidence of formal complaints about her work. It accepted that she had a reasonable expectation of payment for work undertaken and held that the respondent's deduction was not authorised within s.13 ERA. It therefore ordered the respondent to pay £175.75 gross, with the claimant to account for NI and tax. It noted the respondent's position on agency-worker costs, but there was no evidence before the tribunal to establish that figure and those matters were said to be the subject of civil proceedings.