Mr A Smith v ICPS Business Management Ltd (in voluntary liquidation) — 2026

The Claimant worked for ICPS Business Management Ltd from 1 October 2014 until 1 July 2025. He brought a claim alleging unauthorised deductions from wages between January and May 2025. The Respondent accepted that sums had been withheld, but said it was entitled to withhold them under the Claimant's contract because of very little work performed by the Claimant.

The Tribunal found that the Respondent had not shown a contractual or statutory basis for the deductions. Even if the disciplinary policy extract relied on by the Respondent was incorporated into the Claimant's contract, the disciplinary process had not concluded and any action on 1 July 2025 did not justify deductions made earlier between January and May 2025. The Tribunal also did not permit the Respondent to amend its Response at the Final Hearing to argue that wages were not properly payable because the Claimant had done little work.

The Tribunal considered the Respondent's further argument on repudiatory breach in the alternative. It found that, on the Respondent's account, any earlier breach raised in February 2025 had been followed by the Respondent affirming the contract by agreeing to give the Claimant until the end of June or 1 July 2025 to improve. The Tribunal was not satisfied that wages were not due to the Claimant, and found the deductions were not authorised by statute or contract when made.

On remedy, the Tribunal accepted the agreed net deduction figure of £11,201.39 rather than the Claimant's claimed £12,201.39. It found the £1,000 payment received on 31 January 2025 was inherently more likely to be January 2025 pay. The Tribunal stated it had no power to award interest for an unauthorised deduction from wages claim, and declined to award additional compensation under section 24(2) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 because the asserted borrowing loss was not supported by sufficient evidence. The Respondent was ordered to pay £11,201.39 net.