Miss L Skipworth v Greywolf Recruitment Limited — 2019

Miss L Skipworth worked for Greywolf Recruitment Limited as an Executive Recruitment Consultant from July 2018 until 31 May 2019. The dispute concerned commission of £600 gross paid to her in relation to the placement of GB at FPM. The claimant had been paid commission in March 2019, but the respondent later deducted £600 from her May 2019 wages, saying the payment should not have been made because the underlying fee to FPM had not been validly charged.

The tribunal found that the respondent was not entitled to recover the commission on the basis it relied on. GB’s placement had not been cancelled, so the commission recovery provision in the commission policy did not apply. Although the tribunal accepted that the £4,000 fee to FPM was not, objectively, due on the facts as matters stood in February and March 2019, that did not alter the position because Mr Nick Skipworth, a director of the respondent, had authorised payment of commission with full knowledge of the relevant facts and with awareness that recovery from FPM might be difficult.

The tribunal also found that the later view taken by other directors, and the respondent’s later credit note to FPM, did not justify recovering the commission from the claimant. There had been no misrepresentation by the claimant, no relevant change of circumstances after payment, and no contractual basis to treat the £600 as a sum due to the respondent under clause 4.2 of the employment contract or the commission policy. The respondent therefore had no right to deduct the amount from the claimant’s May 2019 salary.

Judgment was entered for the claimant for £600 gross, subject to any deductions for tax and National Insurance required by law.