Geoffrey Gershon Williams v Aspire Communications Limited Record of an Attended Hearing at the Employment Tribunal Audio Recorded by CVP — 2025

The Claimant, a Field Sales Account Manager employed by the Respondent (a BT Local Business franchise) from October 2018 until his resignation on 3 November 2023, brought a claim under s.13 Employment Rights Act 1996 for unpaid Standard Commission on sales he had made during employment which closed/installed between December 2023 and August 2024. The Respondent's BT Local Business licence was revoked at the end of 2023 and the Claimant did not transfer under TUPE. The contract reserved the employer's right to vary commission terms and stated the Claimant would cease to be eligible to earn commission on termination of employment.

The Tribunal found that the parties had reached a legally binding agreement in early October 2023 under which the Respondent would continue to pay Standard Commission on sales the Claimant had made during employment as and when those sales closed. The Tribunal concluded that subsequent communications, including the 30 October 2023 and 4 December 2023 emails purporting to introduce clawback of previously paid Accelerator Commission, did not validly vary that agreement: any such variation would require clear and unambiguous wording and the Claimant had not accepted it. The contractual commission clause did not extend to permitting clawback of payments already made under an express understanding that they would not be clawed back.

The complaint of unlawful deduction from wages therefore succeeded. The agreed gross sum due was £4,638.57, less an agreed £601.08 annual leave overpayment which the Claimant accepted, producing a net award of £4,037.49 gross. Judge Broughton sat alone; the judgment was signed on 26 January 2025 and sent to the parties on 28 January 2025.