Case 4100180/2020 · Employment Tribunal
Ms C Sikowski v Represented by: Mr A McKenzie - Friend Liquid Friday Ltd — 2020
- Case reference
- 4100180/2020
- Decision date
- 23 July 2020
- Jurisdiction
- Scotland
- Judge
- Employment Judge L Doherty
Parties
2 namedClaimant
Ms C Sikowski
Key findings
Tribunal's reasoningMs C Sikowski brought a claim under section 13 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 challenging deductions from her wages while working in Guernsey for Liquid Friday Ltd. The evidence recorded that she had been offered a contract at £38.50 per hour, had received a take-home pay illustration based on £908.68 for a 35-hour week, and had later queried deductions shown on payslips, including UK tax, national insurance, and accommodation costs of £188 per week.
The tribunal accepted that UK tax and national insurance had been deducted from the claimant's wages and paid over to HMRC. It held that those deductions were caught by section 14(3) ERA 1996, which excludes from section 13 deductions made in pursuance of a statutory requirement to deduct and pay over sums determined by a public authority. The tribunal also said it could not look behind HMRC's calculation or determine the rights and wrongs of the claimant's tax treatment.
The tribunal further found that tax paid directly by the claimant to the States of Guernsey Revenue Service was not a deduction from wages within section 13 at all. As to the £188 accommodation charge, it found that the claimant had been told by the States of Guernsey Human Resources Department that she was responsible for the cost and that the agency would be invoiced, and it concluded that this was also a deduction in respect of an amount determined by a public authority, so section 13 did not apply.
On that basis, the tribunal concluded that it did not have jurisdiction to consider the section 13 claim. No monetary award was made.
Claims and outcomes
1 finding recorded| Claim type | Issue or finding | Outcome | Protected characteristic | Award |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unlawful deduction from wages | Preliminary hearing only. The tribunal held it had no jurisdiction to consider the section 13 claim because UK tax and national insurance deductions fell within section 14(3) ERA 1996, and the £188 weekly accommodation deduction was also treated as a sum determined by a public authority. The tribunal also said it could not consider tax paid directly to the Guernsey Revenue Service. | Dismissed | — | — |
Legal tests applied
2 references- s.13 Employment Rights Act 1996
- s.14(3) Employment Rights Act 1996
Official outcome judgment PDF
Gov.uk primary recordThe official judgment PDF on gov.uk contains the tribunal's outcome, reasoning, and any remedy details. Where this page does not yet show extracted outcomes for every claim, use the PDF as the authoritative source.
Published on gov.uk under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
How we got this data
Case essentials (reference, date, judge, venue, country, claim categories) are extracted from the structured metadata gov.uk publishes alongside each decision. Parties and monetary figures are extracted from the judgment PDF text. Key findings and per-claim outcomes require a second extraction pass that is not yet complete for this case — until then, the primary source linked above is the authoritative record. See full methodology.
Named in this case and want it removed? Submit a takedown request. The page will be withdrawn on receipt and the editor will follow up within five working days.