Mr Anthony Broadway v Represented by:- Mrs S Broadway DPD Group UK Limited — 2017

The claimant, a collection and delivery driver based at the Glasgow depot, brought a claim under section 13 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 alleging unlawful deductions from wages. He said he should have been paid the additional £100 per week introduced for 18 tonne drivers even when he was not actually driving the 18 tonne vehicle. The parties agreed that if he succeeded the sum due would be £6,699.80.

The tribunal found that the claimant was employed by the respondent as a C & D driver, not as an 18 tonne/HGV driver, during the relevant period from December 2014 onwards. It accepted that he was not issued with the Memorandum of Agreement referred to in the offer letters, but held that he had been put on notice of it and that it formed part of the terms and conditions of employment. The tribunal also found that the claimant was aware he was not contractually employed to drive an HGV, and that his work on the 18 tonne route was a cover arrangement rather than his contractual post.

On the central issue, the tribunal held that the claimant had no legal entitlement to the additional £100 per week merely because he remained available to drive the 18 tonne vehicle or maintained the licence and training required to do so. It found that the additional £100 pay increase was not payable as wages in those circumstances, and that the claimant was only entitled to payment on a pro rata basis for days when he was actually allocated to drive the 18 tonne vehicle. The tribunal also recorded that he received a daily additional payment under the Memorandum of Agreement and a further £20 per week to reflect administrative time spent maintaining his availability.

The claim was therefore dismissed. The respondent also sought expenses, relying on a costs warning letter, but the tribunal declined to make an award of costs. It accepted that the claim was misconceived, but decided that it was not appropriate in the circumstances to exercise its discretion to award expenses against the claimant.