In person v Mr T Goldrup, solicitor — 2022

The claimant worked for the respondent from 20 September 2021 until her dismissal on 12 July 2022. Her claim concerned commission said to be owed on sales she generated. The tribunal accepted the contract clause providing for 5% commission on completed sales generated by the claimant, and also accepted the notes of the 20 December 2021 performance review, which recorded that commission was based on newly generated sales leading to an increase in profitability, excluded long-standing customers, and required commission claims to be submitted weekly. The claimant denied that that meeting had taken place, but the judge found that it did and that the notes were not fabricated, although the claimant had not been sent a copy.

The tribunal preferred the respondent's evidence that the initials on invoices identified the staff member who generated the sale. It found that the claimant's Schedule of Sales included invoices relating to repeat commercial customers, walk-in sales, and voided sales, and that some entries were attributable to other staff members who were also generating sales in the store. After removing those items, the tribunal found that the claimant had generated total sales of £12,486.76 during the relevant period.

Applying the commission arrangement, the tribunal found that 5% commission on those qualifying sales came to £624.34 gross. The respondent paid that amount on 25 November 2022, so although there had been an initial failure to pay it, the position had been remedied before judgment. The claimant was not entitled to any additional commission on the excluded sales, including the £7,272.42 she claimed, because those sales were not newly generated by her for the purposes of the commission scheme.

The tribunal therefore held that there had been no continuing unlawful deduction from wages in respect of the amount claimed at the hearing, and the claim was dismissed. The judgment refers to sections 13 and 23 of the Employment Rights Act 1996.