Mr R Amin v Paystream My Max Limited — 2025

The Claimant, a Locum Chartered Legal Executive engaged via the Sellick Partnership and supplied to Trafford Council, was employed under an umbrella/payroll arrangement with the Respondent. He claimed unlawful deduction from wages on the basis that he had agreed a gross rate of £40 per hour with only a £17.50 employer's margin to be deducted, and that employer's National Insurance contributions and the apprenticeship levy should not have been further deducted. The Tribunal accepted the Respondent's documentary and oral evidence that on 18 May 2021 the Claimant accepted the terms and conditions through the Respondent's internal process, and found that the personal illustration document provided was clear as to how pay would be calculated.

On the contractual issue, the Tribunal found that £40 was the rate paid by the recruiter to the Respondent, from which the Respondent paid employer's National Insurance and the apprenticeship levy, and that the £17.50 administrative fee was expressly provided for and permitted by the contract. The Claimant had therefore been paid in accordance with the contract of employment.

In the alternative, the Tribunal found that the Claimant had affirmed the contract: he had continued in employment for nearly four years, received weekly payslips and invoices detailing payments, and his earlier queries in 2021, 2022 and 2023 were treated as requests for explanation rather than objections or working under protest. On that basis any claim issued in July 2024 would be significantly out of time. The claim of unlawful deduction from wages was not well founded and was dismissed.