Mrs Louise Kitson v Chadwell St Mary Day Nursery — 2021

Mrs Louise Kitson began work for Chadwell St Mary Day Nursery Ltd on 24 February 2020 on a gross annual salary of £18,250. The tribunal found that her Statement of Main Terms expressly said that it, together with the Employee Handbook, formed part of her contract of employment, and that the Handbook was accessible to her in the staff room. Although she did not read it at the time, the tribunal held that the lay-off clause in the Handbook was incorporated by reference and was apt to be contractual.

The tribunal found that a temporary shortage of work arose in March 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic and the national lockdown. It held that this allowed the Respondent to place the Claimant on short-time working or lay-off under the contractual clause, so that pay could be reduced to statutory guarantee pay while laid off and to pay for time actually worked. On that basis, the deductions from wages made after the end of the Claimant's sick pay period were authorised.

The tribunal also found that the April 2020 furlough payment was made in error, because the Respondent mistakenly believed it was entitled to claim under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme on the Claimant's behalf. It held that the separate deductions clause in the contract entitled the Respondent to recoup previous errors or overpayments, and that the amount said to have been overpaid exceeded the sums paid to the Claimant in May and June 2020. The unauthorised deduction from wages claim and the breach of contract claim were therefore both dismissed, and no award was made.