Mr U Zilik, Trade Union Official For the v Respondent — 2019

Mr J Hetherington was employed by ETZ Technologies Limited from 2 January 2018 and became Managing Director on 28 November 2018 under a contract that provided a salary of £65,000, a one-month notice period and a clause requiring any variation to be in writing and signed. The dispute concerned whether a later change in role and salary was agreed at a meeting on 20 March 2019 with Paul Andersen, after which the Respondent said the Claimant became Trainee Finance Manager on reduced pay.

The tribunal found that the Claimant was told there would be a change in role and that he ceased to be Managing Director, and it accepted that a demotion took place. It found, however, that the 20 March 2019 contract was not presented to him at that meeting, that it was never signed, and that there was no written agreement or consent to reduce his salary from £65,000. The tribunal treated the evidence as showing that the Respondent intended to reduce pay first to £50,000 and then to £45,000, but that intention was not matched by an effective contractual variation.

The tribunal rejected the Respondent's case that the Claimant had affirmed the revised terms by continuing in employment. It held that the period between the 20 March 2019 meeting and the redundancy dismissal on 10 April 2019 was too short for affirmation to apply, particularly as part of that period the Claimant was absent through illness and the first reduced payslip would have fallen after the end of employment. It also relied on the absence of notice under the existing contract and the clause requiring signed variation as factors against any agreed change.

On that basis, the tribunal held that the wages properly payable remained those under the 28 November 2018 contract for the period from 1 April 2019 to 10 April 2019 and the notice period. It calculated an unauthorised deduction from wages of £2,306.80 and a pension contribution shortfall of £66.31, then deducted an overpayment of employer pension contributions of £285.99. The net sum ordered to be paid was £2,087.12.