Mr Stephen Hughes Mr Kai Hawkes v Essential Group — 2021

Mr Stephen Hughes and Mr Kai Hawkes, father and son, brought claims for unauthorised deductions from wages against Essential Group Limited. The tribunal found on the balance of probabilities that both men had received their contracts of employment and the Employee Handbook, and it treated the handbook provisions as contractual when deciding whether deductions were authorised.

In Mr Hughes's case, the tribunal held that the £130 parking PCN deduction and the £288.75 vehicle recovery charge were authorised by his contract and handbook. It found that the £145 vehicle cleaning charge was not authorised because the state of the van was caused by the hurried removal of his own property after dismissal, not by a contractual failure to keep the vehicle clean.

The tribunal also found that Mr Hughes had retained only part of the uniform listed by the respondent. It accepted that four T-shirts, one jumper and two pairs of trousers remained with him, valuing those items at £127.02, so £307.61 of the £434.63 uniform deduction was unauthorised. Mr Hughes was awarded £452.61 in respect of unauthorised deductions.

In Mr Hawkes's case, the tribunal found that his normal working hours were 8am to 4pm with an unpaid lunch break, and that he was not contractually required to work until 5pm. It therefore rejected the claim for an additional hour's pay. It also rejected the driving-lesson contribution claim because the document produced was not a sufficient receipt or invoice, and because any contribution would in any event have been repayable under clause 29.2 if he left within two years.

On the uniform issue, the tribunal accepted that the respondent was entitled to withhold payment for retained uniform under the contract, but found that the respondent had not provided an itemised list for Mr Hawkes. On the evidence accepted by the tribunal, only £95.40 of uniform remained with him, so £85.78 of the deduction was unauthorised. Mr Hawkes was awarded £85.78.