Mr. S Spencer v Royal Mail Group Limited — 2020

The claimant brought a claim concerning deductions from wages made by the respondent to recover overpayments of a driving allowance. He accepted that he had received an unintentional overpayment, did not dispute the amount, and stated that the claim was brought under common law estoppel rather than the Employment Rights Act 1996.

The Tribunal found that the claimant had stopped driving MGV vehicles in April 2014, was entitled to pay protection until April 2017, and was then mistakenly paid the driving allowance until August 2018. The respondent sought to recover £1,353 by weekly deductions of £35, and both parties agreed that the deductions were for reimbursement of that overpayment.

Applying sections 13 and 14 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, the Tribunal concluded that deductions made to recover an overpayment of wages were not unlawful. It also held that Parliament had not given the Tribunal jurisdiction to hear claims based on estoppel, and that estoppel could not in any event be used as the basis for bringing a claim. The unlawful deduction from wages claim therefore failed and was dismissed.