Unlawful Deduction Of Wages - Do I have a case?

[citroen999]

All

In March 2019 i Handed my notice in but my General Manager and Regional Director agreed to pay me £500 extra per month and also give a guarantee of 12% commission if i hit certain targets. The £500 was not reliant on hitting the targets. In February the new General Manager said he would no longer pay me the 2 bonuses as they were not in the coming years budget. He also removed me from my electric company car and put me into a less economic car which then became financially not worth driving the 80 mile round trip due to the fuel cost increase. I handed my notice in a few days later with the view to take it further once i had left and had been paid my final salary as i thought this manager would mess with my wages if i went above his head.

My final salary arrived but he instructed the accountant to withhold some commission and I have an email from the accountant stating this deduction being authorised by the manager.

So as it stands I am owed £1198 made up of £198 missing commission and 2 x £500 for February and March.

I have emails from previous managers saying I would be paid these bonuses with expiry dates, commission sheets showing the bonuses, wages slips showing the bonus within my wages, emails from accountant showing the managers authorisation to deduct my wages.*

I have initially contacted the HR department but I keep having to chase them and getting stalled. I have called twice today but yet again no return call.

My questions are*

1. Do I stand a chance if I take it further and go legal and if I do would it be for unlawful deduction of wages or constructive dismissal?*

2. Is it small claims court or ACAS that i should deal with?

3.Do I need a solicitor and what is an average cost?

4. Would I need to go to an Industrial Tribunal.?


Any other advice that i haven't thought about would be greatly appreciated.

[citroen999]

Sorry I did a typo ... first part should read*In March 2019 my *General Manager and Regional Director agreed to pay me etc.... ignore the handed notice in bit

[paulajayne]

Contract - anything on paper (emails)?

[ULA]

In the emails confirming payment of the £500 bonus you mentioned an expiry date on them what was that? What seniority of person sent these emails

If the missing commission is part of the 12% guarantee did you hit the required targets?

Is there anything in your employment contract or policy on bonuses/commission that state they are discretionary and can be changed? *

With the revision of your post you were given the bonus and commission guarantee in March 2019 and were paid this up to and including Jan 2020, In Feb 2020 you were told by the new general manager that these would be removed. You did not receive these payments in Feb and March so the issue is the non-payment of these sums?

When did you leave the company?

When you say you have contacted HR have you put anything in writing?

Sorry for the extra questions, I am just trying to establish whether you potentially have a valid claim and given what you say about when you left whether you are still in time to make and Employment Tribunal claim.*

[citroen999]

In the emails confirming payment of the £500 bonus you mentioned an expiry date on them what was that? What seniority of person sent these emails

Sorry i did not make myself clear, there was no expiry date eg the bonuses were not for 6 months. I work at a car dealership so the General Manager sent the confirmation after speaking to the regional director to get it agreed.

If the missing commission is part of the 12% guarantee did you hit the required targets?

The £500 is not part of hitting the targets, that was basically to bump my basic from £12k to £18k , further down the email it then talks about hitting 4 targets to get the 12% commission. It states if i miss the targets then i only get the £18k basic. On top of that i have printed proof of being paid the £500 when targets were not hit. We get a monthly appraisal showing what targets you hit and* i have commission sheets that show the £500 added to my basic and signed of by the General Manager as well as a wages slips showing the £500 actually being paid to me on the months were targets were missed.

Is there anything in your employment contract or policy on bonuses/commission that state they are discretionary and can be changed?

I'm not 100% sure on that but over the years pay plans change but usually for the whole group and they notify you of changes.. Nothing in the the company handbook about individual agreements set up between employees and managers.


With the revision of your post you were given the bonus and commission guarantee in March 2019 and were paid this up to and including Jan 2020, In Feb 2020 you were told by the new general manager that these would be removed. You did not receive these payments in Feb and March so the issue is the non-payment of these sums?

Thats correct. I did not get Feb and March, plus commission from 1 deal was taken back but they have agreed to pay me that. so £1000 is what i am owed in my eyes.

When did you leave the company?

31st March 2020

When you say you have contacted HR have you put anything in writing?

Yes first of all i put a letter to them outlining everything that happened regarding agreeing the bonus and the bonus being removed, plus i sent her copies of pay slips , commission sheets etc to prove that i was paid this bonus every month regardless of hitting the targets. That was on 4th May, i did not hear anything for 1 week so i sent another email asking what was happening, she replied that she was looking into it. Another week passed and no contact so i managed to get her direct number and called heron the 12th May she said that she had spoken to the manager and he had told her the £500 was based on hitting the targets. I told her to re-read the email and the bit about not hitting target would only pay me the £500 and not the 12% too and also to look at my commission sheets that the same manager had signed of the £500 each month even though i had not hit the targets. I tried calling the HR manager again yesterday twice but no answer and no return call. So yesterday I sent the original email, pay slips, commission sheets etc to the CEO of the company and told him that i was losing patience having to chase the matter up and 3 weeks was clearly enough time to sort it and move on, i put that i would give them*until Friday 29th May*to sort it and give me an answer or i would take further action. Still no answer.

Sorry for the extra questions, I am just trying to establish whether you potentially have a valid claim and given what you say about when you left whether you are still in time to make and Employment Tribunal claim

*

[ULA]

Thanks for all the answers which has clearly dealt with the questions I had.

I am presuming that the financial year at the company was April - March. In which case they would potentially have an argument for saying they had provided reasonable notice i.e. 2 months of a change to a bonus arrangement commencing in the new financial year. However there was still two months of the then current financial year left.

I would suggest that if you do not hear from them on Friday you write one further letter saying that although they have now agreed to pay the outstanding commission and thank them for that, there is still the issue of the unpaid bonus for 2 months. You may want to use my paragraph above as part of your argument and that immediate withdrawal of a bonus, that has been confirmed in writing and approved each month by a manager, does not constitute reasonable notice. Confirm that if you have not heard from them by 5th June to resolve the issue you will be starting the process of making an Employment Tribunal claim for unlawful deduction of wages. You will still be in time as you have 3 months less a day from when the unlawful deduction was made i.e. you final salary to start your claim.

[citroen999]

Thanks for all the answers which has clearly dealt with the questions I had.

I am presuming that the financial year at the company was April - March. In which case they would potentially have an argument for saying they had provided reasonable notice i.e. 2 months of a change to a bonus arrangement commencing in the new financial year. However there was still two months of the then current financial year left.

I would suggest that if you do not hear from them on Friday you write one further letter saying that although they have now agreed to pay the outstanding commission and thank them for that, there is still the issue of the unpaid bonus for 2 months. You may want to use my paragraph above as part of your argument and that immediate withdrawal of a bonus, that has been confirmed in writing and approved each month by a manager, does not constitute reasonable notice. Confirm that if you have not heard from them by*5th June*to resolve the issue you will be starting the process of making an Employment Tribunal claim for unlawful deduction of wages. You will still be in time as you have 3 months less a day from when the unlawful deduction was made i.e. you final salary to start your claim.*

Thanks Ula for your time and help.

Just so I get things right in my head going forward regarding the timing of this. You said i have 3 months less 1 day from when the unlawful deduction was made. So the manager told me roughly around the 3rd of March that I would not get my bonus for February which would have been paid on the last day of March with my normal wage and commissions and i would not get it for March either which would have been paid at the end of April.*

Am I right in thinking that you are saying that the 3 months rule applies form the date a received my wages and not the day I was told. My actual final salary was 30th April, a month after leaving but this was commission only, the last day of March was the final time I would have received my basic. Commissions are paid a month in arrears. eg what I what i earned up to the last day of the month is paid on the next months wage.

Assuming they don't pay the missing bonus, what's my next step? is it ACAS or Small Claims Court. Reading the ACAS website it looks like its a mediation service where we try and come to a compromise and further down the line there is a possibility of a tribunal. I'm not really up for discussion and just want quickest solution to get what I feel I'm owed. I have taken this quite personal as under the current covid-19 climate the company has applied unwanted pressure on myself and family as the money was needed for food and bills etc. Will I need legal representation and if so what sort of costs am i looking at?

thanks again!!

*

[ULA]

I would use the March date to be on the safe side.

If you go via ACAS then what will happen first is that you have to submit for Early Conciliation which allows for an ACAS conciliator to try and get both parties to settle, if that does not happen after a month (sometimes this can be extended for 2 weeks if it looks like it might settle) then you would need to proceed with submitting an ET1 form to the Employment Tribunal. The process of making a Tribunal claim has no fee attached to it to initiate the claim.

To go via small claims this would be a Money Claim Online process which for £1,000 would cost £60.

Either way none of them will be a quick solution unless you can get a settlement via Early Conciliation. With both the ET and Small Claims Court you could be looking at a year and maybe even longer now given the fact that most courts and tribunals have stalled due to hearings not happening because of COVID-19, so there will be a further backlog to the one that existed before the pandemic.

[citroen999]

[QUOTE]I would use the March date to be on the safe side.

If you go via ACAS then what will happen first is that you have to submit for Early Conciliation which allows for an ACAS conciliator to try and get both parties to settle, if that does not happen after a month (sometimes this can be extended for 2 weeks if it looks like it might settle) then you would need to proceed with submitting an ET1 form to the Employment Tribunal. The process of making a Tribunal claim has no fee attached to it to initiate the claim.

To go via small claims this would be a Money Claim Online process which for £1,000 would cost £60.

Either way none of them will be a quick solution unless you can get a settlement via Early Conciliation. With both the ET and Small Claims Court you could be looking at a year and maybe even longer now given the fact that most courts and tribunals have stalled due to hearings not happening because of COVID-19, so there will be a further backlog to the one that existed before the pandemic.[/QUOlTE]

hi Ula

we are making progress after send them an email like you advised I got a reply to confirm I would be paid the full amount £1198.

I received a payment of £778 into my account . I assumed I would pay tax etc but it’s seems I’m paying £420 tax and NI on £1198 which seems excessive. I looked at my final wage from them and I only paid just over £200 on £1300. So I’m paying double the tax for less top line.

I suppose I would need to thrash this bit out?

[ULA]

Great at least there is some progress

I suggest as you say you go back and query the deductions for tax and NI.