Jason Elliott was called to the Bar of Northern Ireland in 2013 and is the Associate Head of School of Law at Ulster University. As a practising barrister, he has developed a largely civil practice representing individuals, companies and public bodies in litigation. This covers a wide range of areas including personal injuries, wills and employment law. In terms of employment law, he has represented both applicants and respondents in the Industrial Tribunal. At Ulster University, Jason lectures extensively on the civil areas of practise such as Equity and Trusts and delivers employment law lectures for both undergraduate and postgraduate students.
Background
The claimant is a hair stylist and started employment with the respondent in 2015 at the age of 16. She left her role in June 2022 after giving her notice. One of the issues was with the contract – with one contract (there was a dispute as to the correct contract) stating that if the employee leaves employment within 6 months of completing a training course funded by the employer then the employee is to repay the amount.
The claimant undertook a Wella Master Colour Programme in 2021. The claimant graduated from the course in June 2022. The respondent paid Wella £2,880 for the course fees. The final payslip for the claimant included the deduction which left the net pay as -£1,510.57.
A further issue was raised about the claimant attending work for 15 minutes on particular days which the Tribunal had to deal with and determine if pay was due for these periods of work.
Outcome:
The Tribunal found that the contract was clear in that it required the claimant to repay the fees for a course if they left their employment within the 6 months following the course. However, it was held that the amount should be net of VAT considering that the respondent could reclaim the VAT. Therefore, it was held that the respondent was entitled to deduct £2,400 from the claimant’s final pay. Whilst the final pay was incorrectly calculated it was immaterial to the decision considering that the differing amounts would still fully take the claimant’s final net pay.
The Tribunal did find that the claimant had worked 1.25 hours by working an extra 15 minutes per shift in given weeks. This led to an underpayment of £78.11.
Practical Guidance for Employers:
This case demonstrates the importance of having clear contractual terms which outline when fees can be recovered. An employer may want to protect themselves should they pay for an expensive training course only for the employee to leave following the course. Therefore, an examination of the contracts should be taken into account as to how that protection can be afforded. Whilst there was an issue about the contract which was in force the term outlining that the deduction could be made was allowed in this situation thus allowing the fee to be deducted from the claimant’s final pay.
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