Wage Deductions

stephyh80

I really do hope someone can shed some light on this for me. My husband signed a work contract in May 2010, in one of the sections, it states that the first 12 months of his employment is a probationary period, after this time a review of his performance will be carried out and provided everything is satisfactory employment will be confirmed. To date my husband has had nothing in writing to confirm his employment is satisfactory. An incident has occurred where a minor accident has taken place where his truck hit a garage forecourt roof, this was not correctly marked up and was subsequently ripped off by another vehicle due to uneven road surface etc, now the company wants to deduct money from his wages, I would like to add, an investigation has not taken place. Is this legal & is his contract a valid one?

LittleVoice

stephyh80 wrote: »

I really do hope someone can shed some light on this for me. My husband signed a work contract in May 2010, in one of the sections, it states that the first 12 months of his employment is a probationary period, after this time a review of his performance will be carried out and provided everything is satisfactory employment will be confirmed.

To date my husband has had nothing in writing to confirm his employment is satisfactory.

An incident has occurred where a minor accident has taken place where his truck hit a garage forecourt roof, this was not correctly marked up and was subsequently ripped off by another vehicle due to uneven road surface etc, now the company wants to deduct money from his wages, I would like to add, an investigation has not taken place. Is this legal & is his contract a valid one?

Regarding the one-year probationary period - he's been there more than a year, they haven't said he hasn't passed but they've continued to employ him. That amounts to "passing". But really probationary periods don't mean much unless passing means you get some better terms - like more holiday, enhanced sick pay scheme.

They can't legally deduct money from his wages unless he agrees. Is there anything in his written particulars which implies he has given consent for them to make deductions in such circumstances?

stephyh80

LittleVoice wrote: »

Regarding the one-year probationary period - he's been there more than a year, they haven't said he hasn't passed but they've continued to employ him. That amounts to "passing". But really probationary periods don't mean much unless passing means you get some better terms - like more holiday, enhanced sick pay scheme.

They can't legally deduct money from his wages unless he agrees. Is there anything in his written particulars which implies he has given consent for them to make deductions in such circumstances?

Thank you for getting back to me. In his contract it states:
The company reserves the right to make deductions from wages and/or your finaly salary for the following items:-
1_ Failure to give required notice period
2- Damage to company property and/or equipment due to negligent or careless actions by you provided that following an internal investigation it is found that the employee has caused damage through his negligence to any company property or property of any third party to whom the company is liable.

An investigation hasn't taken place - really not sure where we stand with this.

SueC_2

If no investigation has taken place, what makes them think it was his truck that hit the forecourt roof and that it was him driving it at the time?

stephyh80

SueC wrote: »

If no investigation has taken place, what makes them think it was his truck that hit the forecourt roof and that it was him driving it at the time?

His tachograph confirms the location/time he was there.

SueC_2

stephyh80 wrote: »

His tachograph confirms the location/time he was there.

Then what more of an investigation are you expecting?

ktothema

SueC wrote: »

Then what more of an investigation are you expecting?

I think the OP may be expecting an investigation that the accident was due to the employees negligence, not just proving they were there at the time.

Mrs_Arcanum

Has the person who actually ripped off the garage forecourt roof had money deducted? If not there are clear grounds to depute this deduction for this reason alone. They cannot pick & choose who pays what based on previous actions which subsequently turn out to be caused by a third parties negligence.

SueC_2

ktothema wrote: »

I think the OP may be expecting an investigation that the accident was due to the employees negligence, not just proving they were there at the time.

But looking at the original post, there doesn't really seem to be any doubt that the employee was responsible for driving into the roof.

There may, possibly, be mitigating circumstances re. lack of signage, uneven road surfacing etc, but at the end of the day it is the driver's responsibility to make sure he/she doesn't hit anything.

He may be able to appeal to the company's better judgement, claim impeccable track record, etc etc. But if they are insistent on deducting, I can't see that there's much he can do about it.

SueC_2

Mrs_Arcanum wrote: »

Has the person who actually ripped off the garage forecourt roof had money deducted? If not there are clear grounds to depute this deduction for this reason alone. They cannot pick & choose who pays what based on previous actions which subsequently turn out to be caused by a third parties negligence.

Is the person who actually ripped off the roof an employee of the same company as the OP's husband?

Mrs_Arcanum

SueC wrote: »

Is the person who actually ripped off the roof an employee of the same company as the OP's husband?

Good point. What I was trying to get at is why should he be charged for work that following subsequent damage would be far greater than the "minor" damage he actually did.

I would want a full breakdown of costs and for what proportion & on what basis he is being charged.