Mrs K Francis v Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust: 2600396/2019
JUDGMENT
The claim for unlawful deduction from wages fails and is dismissed.REASONS
[1]By claim form presented on 29 January 2019, following a period of Early Conciliation lasting from 4 December 2018 to 18 January 2019 the claimant brought a claim for unlawful deduction from wages.[2]In summary, the claim is about deductions which the respondent has made and continues to make from the claimant’s wages in respect of an overpayment of salary to the claimant during her maternity leave.[3]The respondent defends the claim and its position is that, as the deductions relate to an overpayment of salary, they fall within Section 14(1) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 and are an ‘excepted deduction’. The respondent also submits that the claimant accepts that the deductions are in respect of an overpayment. 1 of 2 Case Number:2600396/2019[4]At the outset of the proceedings today, I asked the claimant whether she agreed that the deductions about which she complains are in respect of an overpayment of salary. The claimant told me twice that she does accept that the deductions are to recover an overpayment.[5]Section 14 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 provides that:- (1) Section 13 does not apply to a deduction from a worker’s wages made by his employer where the purpose of the deduction is the reimbursement of the employer in respect of – (a) an overpayment of wages, or (b) an overpayment in respect of expenses incurred by the worker in carrying out his employment, made (for any reason) by the employer to the worker.[6]In light of this provision and of the claimant’s admissions that the deductions are in respect of an overpayment of salary, this claim cannot succeed. Accordingly, I have no option but to dismiss it.[7]I have every sympathy for the claimant, who finds herself in a difficult situation through no fault of her own. I have urged the respondent, which still employs the claimant, to do what it can to repair the working relationship. Mr Carroll told me that the respondent has already apologised to the claimant and, to his credit, he apologised again on behalf of his client in open tribunal.[8]For the above reasons the claim for unlawful deduction from wages fails and is dismissed.