In person For the v Ms J Wojcik, employee — 2025

The claimant was employed by the respondent as an HGV driver from September 2021 until April 2024. At the end of the employment it was agreed that a final wage payment of £668, shown on a wage slip, had not been paid. The claimant brought a claim for that unpaid sum as an unlawful deduction from wages.

The respondent said it had withheld payment because it alleged that the claimant had stolen a sound bar worth £55.87 from a client, and it also said it was entitled to deduct £340.87 from wages. That figure was said to cover the value of the sound bar and the time costs of the client and the respondent in investigating the matter. The claimant denied the theft and said his bank details remained the same as previously used for payment.

The tribunal considered the contractual deduction clause relied on by the respondent and concluded that it did not cover the deductions in question. It found the clause was aimed at accidents or incidents involving the vehicle being driven by the claimant, and that if the respondent intended it to have wider effect this would have needed to be stated clearly and precisely, given the importance of wages.

The tribunal also said that, even if theft losses could somehow fall within the clause, the respondent had not proved the alleged theft on the evidence before it. It further found that the clause did not permit deductions for investigation time, and there was no evidence showing how those sums had been calculated. Judgment was therefore entered for the claimant for the full £668 unpaid wages.