Louise Overton v Hearcentres Limited — 2021

Louise Overton brought claims for unauthorised deductions from wages and breach of contract arising from non-payment of a £3,000 annual bonus said to be due for the 2018/19 financial year. The tribunal recorded that the written bonus arrangements had varied over time, but found that the Respondent had a practice of rolling over bonus schemes without producing a new written document each year.

The central issues were whether the 2016/17 bonus arrangement continued orally for later years, and whether the £2,000 paid in April 2018 was a payment for Banbury and Dorchester or instead an early Barnes bonus. The tribunal preferred the Claimant's account. It relied on Mr Ormerod's pre-meeting notes, the Claimant's contemporaneous email of 9 April 2018, and witness evidence that her involvement in Banbury and Dorchester had reduced. It found the April 2018 payment was an early Barnes bonus based on projected performance, not a late payment for 2016/17 Banbury and Dorchester performance.

The tribunal further found that at a June 2019 meeting Mr Ormerod confirmed that any bonus due would be paid at the end of the financial year, and that this confirmed the rollover of the 2016/17 terms. Barnes exceeded the relevant turnover threshold in 2018/19, so the correct bonus was £3,000. The Respondent's failure to pay that sum on 31 October 2019 was therefore an unauthorised deduction from wages and a breach of contract. The tribunal ordered payment of £3,000 as the gross sum deducted, or alternatively damages for breach of contract.