Mr Christopher Heapy v Verisure Service UK Limited — 2022

Mr Christopher Heapy brought claims for unauthorised deductions from wages and damages for breach of contract arising out of the way Verisure Service UK Limited calculated his pay during his employment as a security consultant from 4 May 2021 to 1 October 2021. The dispute was whether he was entitled to basic salary on top of commission, or whether the commission scheme meant that commission only became payable once generated sums exceeded the guaranteed salary threshold. The tribunal considered the advert, the written contract dated 21 April 2021, the “Commission Scheme for Newbie”, payslips, commission calculation documents, and evidence from Mr Heapy and Mr Wayne Cosway.

The tribunal held that the contract, read in context, did not entitle Mr Heapy to aggregate basic salary and all commission. It found that paragraph 7.2, although describing commission as “non contractual”, meant the commission was not guaranteed and could be amended or withdrawn, but that an employee could enforce the scheme while it remained in operation. On the evidence, including the induction explanation given by Mr Lodge and the slide saying commission and bonuses were generated from sales and only began to be earned above the guaranteed salary, the tribunal found that the claimant was entitled only to commission in excess of his basic pay.

The tribunal accepted that the payslips were confusing, particularly the treatment of the “threshold target”, but it did not treat that as changing the contractual position. It concluded that the respondent had paid the claimant in accordance with the terms of the contract and the applicable commission scheme. It therefore dismissed both the breach of contract claim and the unlawful deduction from wages claim, and no monetary award was made.