Mr R Beckett v Designer Contracts Ltd — 2022

Mr Beckett began employment with Designer Contracts Ltd on 27 July 2020 and later took an Audi A6 upgrade under the respondent’s company car arrangements. The tribunal accepted that he knew he would contribute £160 per month during employment, and that this amount was deducted while he had the car. However, it did not accept that he had agreed to repay the full remaining upgrade cost if he left employment, finding no positive evidence that the letter of 15 January 2021 had been sent to him or that he was aware of its terms.

The respondent relied on the employment contract’s deductions clause and on an asserted vehicle policy, but the tribunal found the policy document shown to it was dated 14 March 2022 and could not be treated as establishing the position when the claimant took the car upgrade in January 2021. It also found there was no evidence of a loan or other debt being advanced to or incurred on behalf of the claimant that would justify the larger deductions the respondent made from his salary.

The claimant resigned on 11 April 2022. The respondent then deducted £2,315.69 from salary on 28 April 2022 and £1,719.83 on 27 May 2022, making a total deduction of £4,035.52. Applying section 13(1) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 and Fairfield Ltd v Skinner, the tribunal held that only the agreed monthly contribution of £160 could lawfully be deducted during employment, and that the additional deductions were not lawfully made.

The tribunal therefore upheld the unlawful deduction from wages claim and ordered repayment of the sums deducted in excess of £320, which came to £3,715.52. It rejected the claimant’s requests for compensation for stress and for interest on borrowed money because no award was available on the evidence for those heads of loss.