Case 8001382/2024 · Employment Tribunal

Mr I Duncan v Press Glass Ltd — 2024

Case reference: 8001382/2024
Decision date: 27 November 2024
Jurisdiction: Scotland
Judge: Employment Judge A Kemp

Indexed: 22 May 2026

Parties

2 named

Claimant

Mr I Duncan

Respondent

Press Glass Ltd

Key findings

Tribunal's reasoning

The claim was for unlawful deductions from wages under section 13 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, arising from the respondent's treatment of the claimant's shift allowance. The tribunal accepted the claimant's evidence that when he was interviewed in 2017, Mr Davie told him he would receive the same shift allowance as former Pilkington employees, and found that the allowance at 25% of gross pay became a contractual term. The written contract did not mention the allowance, but the tribunal held that this was not determinative because the parties could supplement the written terms orally and the subsequent payments supported the claimant's account.

The tribunal rejected the respondent's case that the allowance was a non-contractual payment that it could cap, and it rejected the suggestion that the position was a mistake. It found no lawful basis for the unilateral cap to £95.06 applied from 2021, and noted that no written notice of any change was given to the claimant. The tribunal also rejected acquiescence: the claimant said he only became aware of the issue in April 2024, raised it promptly, and was then treated as having pursued the matter without undue delay. The 13 April 2022 email to supervisors was treated as supporting the view that the respondent had deliberately treated the affected workers in a particular way, rather than showing a mistake that had been communicated to the claimant.

As to remedy, the tribunal applied the two-year limit in section 23(4A) of the 1996 Act, so it did not award sums for deductions before November 2022. It accepted the claimant's calculation and awarded the amounts for the remaining period: £716.80 for 6 April 2024 to the anticipated payment date, £760.76 for the previous tax year, and £116.11 for 6 December 2022 to 5 April 2023, making a total gross award of £1,593.67 subject to statutory deductions. The tribunal noted that no separate order was sought on contract terms and no pension award was made because that was not claimed directly.

Claims and outcomes

1 finding recorded

Claim type	Issue or finding	Outcome	Protected characteristic	Award
Unlawful deduction from wages	The tribunal held that the claimant's shift allowance was payable at 25% of gross pay, either as an oral term of the contract or as a sum otherwise payable under section 27 ERA 1996. The respondent's later cap at £95.06 per week was held to be without lawful effect. Recovery was limited by section 23(4A) ERA 1996 to deductions within the two years before the claim.	Upheld	—	£1,594

Remedy

Monetary award

Total award: £1,594; across all upheld claims

Legal tests applied

7 references

Official outcome judgment PDF

Gov.uk primary record

The official judgment PDF on gov.uk contains the tribunal's outcome, reasoning, and any remedy details. Where this page does not yet show extracted outcomes for every claim, use the PDF as the authoritative source.

Open official judgment PDF on gov.uk

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