A Jones Mr S Cosgrove v Eco Refrigeration Limited — 2018

The claimant, Mr S Cosgrove, worked for Eco Refrigeration Limited as a refrigeration engineer. After an incident around 29 April 2016 in which he damaged the company van, he was dismissed, then re-employed after a meeting on 11 May 2016. The tribunal found that at that meeting he was told he could return if he paid £600 towards the repair costs, and that an agreement was reached for £200 to be deducted from each of his June, July and August wages.

A further incident on 22 September 2016 led to a summary dismissal. The respondent then deducted £600 from the claimant's final wages. The issue for the tribunal was whether the claimant had previously signified in writing his agreement or consent to the deduction within section 13(1) of the Employment Rights Act 1996.

The tribunal accepted the claimant as a credible witness and accepted his evidence about his re-employment. It noted that a document entitled "deductions from pay" appeared to be signed by the claimant, but that document related to an earlier contract of employment and could not be relied on for the later period of employment. A second undated document stated that Mr Cosgrove had agreed to pay back damage to the van and that a monthly amount had been arranged, but it did not specify that repayment would be made by deduction from wages.

Applying section 13(1) ERA 1996 and referring to Potter v Hunt Contracts [1992] ICR 337, the tribunal held that there was no written agreement authorising deduction of £600 from wages. It therefore found that the respondent had made an unauthorised deduction and ordered repayment of £600. The tribunal did not need to decide whether the claimant had in fact signed either document.