com be Miss M Arbuckle v VG Homes 2019 Limited — 2021

The tribunal recorded that the sole remaining issue was whether the respondent had made an unlawful deduction from the claimant's wages, namely the alleged non-payment of her final month's salary. The claimant said she was paid monthly in arrears and had received only the bank transfers shown on her statements. The respondent said she had been paid in advance, including an initial cash payment on 10 October 2019 said to cover an advance salary payment, a joining bonus and clothing costs.

The tribunal applied section 13(3) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 and the balance of probabilities. It preferred the claimant's evidence that no cash salary payment was made in October 2019 and that the first payment was the bank transfer on 6 November 2019. In reaching that view, it relied on the payslips, which suggested payments in arrears, the P60, which under-recorded the respondent's claimed payments and did not fit the asserted cash payment, and the absence of any convincing explanation or receipt for the alleged £1,400 cash payment.

The tribunal also found the respondent's explanation for paying cash unconvincing, including its suggestion that the claimant wanted to avoid any adverse effect on benefits. It concluded that the documentary record, including the payslips and P60 prepared on the respondent's instructions, supported the claimant's account. The result was a finding that the respondent had not paid the claimant her final month's salary and had made an unlawful deduction from wages of £591.12.