Can my employer deduct my wages if I leave?

Icematikx

Hey all,

Just a quick question. My boss approached me and offered to pay for a Level 5 Diploma in ICT for roughly £1,000. In his own words, "If you leave within a year, I'll be docking the cost of the course from your last pay check".

It was never put in writing, and I never signed anything. Was simply a verbal dialogue between myself and my boss. I've been doing the course for roughly 2-3 months thus far.

As I'm now looking to move onto other ventures, is it actually legal for him to deduct my wages if there's no written agreement? I read on Gov.UK that he can't do it unless there's a written and signed agreement in place.

getmore4less

He can and probably will do it(legal or not).

You would have to takes steps to recover it or convince him to not deduct before you leave or hope he forgot.

Icematikx

getmore4less wrote: »

He can and probably will do it(legal or not).

You would have to takes steps to recover it or convince him to not deduct before you leave or hope he forgot.

From Direct.GOV:

Your employer isn’t allowed to make deductions unless:

• it’s required or allowed by law, eg National Insurance, income tax or student loan repayments
• you agree in writing
• your contract says they can
• there’s a statutory payment due to a public authority
• you haven’t worked due to taking part in a strike or industrial action
• there’s been an earlier overpayment of wages or expenses
• it’s a result of a court order

If he deducts my pay without me agreeing in writing, then he's acting illegally, right? There's nothing in my contract to state he can.

bap98189

Icematikx wrote: »

If he deducts my pay without me agreeing in writing, then he's acting illegally, right? There's nothing in my contract to state he can.

Yes. It is fairly common for employers to recover training costs from staff who leave shortly after completing a training course, but normally this is either in your employment contract or is agreed in writing by both parties before you start the course. If there is nothing in writing then he won't be able to do this.

Undervalued

Training costs can only legally be recovered is there is a SIGNED agreement in place.

This is different from other aspects of your contract of employment which is formed by you turning up and working and them paying. A clause in an unsigned contract is not sufficient for training costs to be repayable.

That said, you might still have a battle! Although you would almost certainly win a claim if you had to make one you do need to balance this against future references etc.

BillJones

Icematikx wrote: »

As I'm now looking to move onto other ventures, is it actually legal for him to deduct my wages if there's no written agreement? I read on Gov.UK that he can't do it unless there's a written and signed agreement in place.

He can, of course, if you agree to it, and as you know that this is what was agreed, then I am not sure why you'd not do so.

Are you intending to renege on your deal just because he can't prove it in writing?

Undervalued

BillJones wrote: »

He can, of course, if you agree to it, and as you know that this is what was agreed, then I am not sure why you'd not do so.

Are you intending to renege on your deal just because he can't prove it in writing?

Well that is one spin on it!

However, this is one of those rare instances where the law specifically requires a written agreement to be enforceable so it is not simply a case of "can't prove it". A tape recording or any number of witnesses wouldn't make this enforceable either!

You could argue that the employer is a fault for not doing things properly.

agrinnall

Even if he doesn't claw back the cost of the course you should expect any reference to point out that you chose to leave despite having agreed to stay, which may not look good to potential new employers.

JKSandy

I would imagine he would do it and you would have to take him to court to try and get it back.

BillJones

Undervalued wrote: »

Well that is one spin on it!

However, this is one of those rare instances where the law specifically requires a written agreement to be enforceable so it is not simply a case of "can't prove it". A tape recording or any number of witnesses wouldn't make this enforceable either!

You could argue that the employer is a fault for not doing things properly.

Well yes, but you only care about something being enforceable if you want to renege on it. The right action in this case would be for the OP to write to the boss giving permission for the money to be witheld.

Undervalued

BillJones wrote: »

The right action in this case would be for the OP to write to the boss giving permission for the money to be witheld.

Right ???

In the OP's other thread he complains about having been badly treated by the company in a number of ways.

I don't know the rights and wrongs of that and, with respect, neither do you. Obviously we have only heard one side.

So, in my view this has to be considered as part of the bigger picture. The one thing that is clear is that the employer is at fault by not dealing properly, in law, with the training costs issue. Had they done so they could lawfully have deducted the money from the final pay and there would be nothing the OP could do about it.
There is no doubt that failing to do so could cost them the fee if the OP chooses to make an issue of it.

Whether that is right or wrong, in the whole context of the OP's employment is another matter.