Mr J Higgins v Jackson Electronics Ltd — 2023

The claimant, Mr J Higgins, worked for Jackson Electronics Ltd from 14 January 2019. The dispute arose after the respondent deducted £51.58 from his September 2022 wages, which the claimant said related to overtime connected with a July 2022 trip to Peterhead. The tribunal found that on 8 July 2022 Mr Ben Jackson had instructed the claimant not to proceed to Peterhead without first contacting the office and obtaining consent, and that the claimant nevertheless travelled there after completing work at Torness. On that evidence, the tribunal found the claimant had not been authorised to travel past Torness and that the July payment was an overpayment.

The unlawful deduction from wages claim therefore failed. The tribunal held the September deduction was an excepted deduction within section 14(1)(a) ERA 1996 because it was made to reimburse an overpayment of wages. It also recorded that the deduction was in respect of overtime and that there was no need to address the remaining sub-issues once the section 14 point was resolved against the claimant.

The unfair dismissal claim was advanced as a constructive dismissal case under section 95(1)(c) ERA 1996. The tribunal applied the constructive dismissal authorities it cited, including the requirement for a repudiatory breach and the implied term of trust and confidence. It rejected the contention that the lawful wage deduction amounted to a breach of contract, and it found that Mr David Jackson’s response to the grievance email did not amount to a refusal to deal with the grievance. The tribunal noted that the respondent proposed a meeting through Mr Ben Jackson, but the claimant resigned on 4 October 2022 before any meeting could be arranged.

The tribunal also rejected the argument that Mr David Jackson’s reference to performance concerns was a retaliatory breach. It found that the claimant had not given the respondent a reasonable opportunity to investigate the grievance and that the resignation was simply a resignation, not a constructive dismissal. Both claims were dismissed and no monetary award was made.