Joanna Niemczuk v 3 Dimensions Ltd — 2024

The claimant, Joanna Niemczuk, worked for 3 Dimensions Ltd from 3 July 2017 until her resignation in February 2023. The dispute concerned a deduction of £1,799 from her final wages, said to relate to two training courses funded by the respondent: £1,200 for an NVQ Level 6 Diploma in Construction Contracting Operations Management and £599 for an SMSTS qualification. The tribunal accepted that the claimant had signed a training agreement on 27 July 2021, but held that the agreement applied only to the NVQ and not to the SMSTS course.

On the facts, the tribunal found the claimant’s evidence credible that she had discussed her progress with Mr Burtenshaw and that the pressures of work affected her ability to start the NVQ. It also noted that the claimant completed the SMSTS qualification in November 2022 and that there was no oral or written agreement extending the NVQ repayment terms to that course. The contract allowed deductions only for sums owing to the respondent, but the tribunal found that no sum was owing in respect of the SMSTS course and no agreement had been made to permit that deduction.

The tribunal further found that the claimant did not voluntarily withdraw from or terminate the NVQ early without prior written consent, and was not dismissed or compulsorily discharged from the course. Instead, she did not complete the NVQ before leaving employment because she did not have sufficient time to do it alongside her work, and the agreement did not cover that situation. The tribunal therefore concluded there was no lawful basis to deduct either the NVQ or SMSTS costs from her wages.

The complaint of unlawful deduction from wages under section 13 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 was found well-founded under sections 23 and 24. The tribunal ordered the respondent to pay the claimant the net sum of £1,799, and the claimant did not identify any financial loss beyond repayment of the deducted amount.