Mrs Margaret Burns v Represented by: Ms A Young Friend South Ayrshire Council — 2019

Mrs Margaret Burns brought a complaint alleging an unauthorised deduction from wages. She said that after her voluntary severance had been approved by letter dated 9 July 2018, a later Scottish Joint Council pay award backdated to 1 April 2018 should have increased the contractual weekly pay used to calculate her severance payment, and that this produced an additional £954 due to her.

The respondent denied any unauthorised deduction and argued that the claim was out of time. The tribunal treated the hearing as a preliminary issue on time bar under section 23 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. It noted that the claimant expected to be paid the £954 increase when backdated wages and holiday pay were paid on 13 March 2019, and that the £954 was not included in that payment.

The tribunal held that 13 March 2019 was the date of the alleged deduction and that the claim presented on 14 May 2019 was within three months of the date of payment from which the deduction was made. The complaint was therefore allowed to proceed to a hearing. The tribunal did not determine whether the severance payment should have been recalculated or whether any substantive deduction claim would ultimately succeed.