Ms N Hardy v Peter Alan Ltd — 2023

Ms Hardy worked for Peter Alan Ltd from 6 August 2018 until 23 September 2022 and resigned on 26 August 2022. She brought claims for breach of contract and, in the alternative, unlawful deduction from wages arising from non-payment of her August 2022 monthly commission and her Q3 2022 quarterly commission/bonus. The tribunal proceeded on liability only and accepted that the August commission was due on 23 September 2022 and the Q3 payment was due on 25 October 2022.

The tribunal found that the relevant terms were the contract of employment and the March 2022 Lettings Remuneration Scheme. Those terms stated that participation in the bonus scheme was discretionary and that no bonus was payable if the employee was not employed by the company on the date of payment or had tendered resignation or was under notice. The tribunal found that Ms Hardy was familiar with the scheme and knew that she would not be paid commission if she was not in employment on the last working day of the month in which the payment was made.

Applying those terms, the tribunal held that Ms Hardy was not employed on 30 September 2022 or 31 October 2022, so she was not entitled to the August commission or the Q3 commission/bonus. It rejected the submission that the respondent’s position was irrational or perverse, and held that there was no breach of contract. In the alternative, it held that there had been no unauthorised deduction from wages because the non-payment was authorised by the written contract and the remuneration scheme.

The tribunal noted that Ms Hardy received £250 in her final pay under a separate incentivisation scheme relating to RightMove call quality, and found that this payment was payable despite resignation and fell outside the lettings remuneration scheme. That separate payment did not affect the dismissal of the pleaded claims.