Employer billing an apprentice after leaving

Lancer3673

My son has been dismissed as an apprentice gas engineer with no prior warning, the reasons that he gave were, downturn in business and the rise in minimum wage, (which he became entitled to 3 weeks ago). His final payslip was incorrect, he queried being payed incorrectly and as a result was told that he would now receive an invoice for a bath that he accidentally damaged 3 months ago. At no point was billing him mentioned prior to him querying his final salary, can he seriously get away with this?

Neil_Jones

What do you mean, "minimum wage which he became entitled to 3 weeks ago"?

You're always entitled to a minimum wage of some sort.

Or do you mean the apprenticeship was going to last over a year, he's over 19 and it would have increased anyway as per the law?

Comms69

The dismissal is likely lawful - unfortunately.
As for the deduction in pay, can you provide the figures?
As for the bath - unless your son was negligent (or deliberately damaged it), which is a fairly high threshold, he's not liable.

Lancer3673

Neil_Jones said:

What do you mean, "minimum wage which he became entitled to 3 weeks ago"?

You're always entitled to a minimum wage of some sort.

Or do you mean the apprenticeship was going to last over a year, he's over 19 and it would have increased anyway as per the law?

The apprenticeship was due to last for 3 years, he is over 19 and became entitled to minimum wage according to his age on 18 March, coincidentally he turned 21 today which would've made a massive difference to his pay.

Lancer3673

Comms69 said:

The dismissal is likely lawful - unfortunately.
As for the deduction in pay, can you provide the figures?
As for the bath - unless your son was negligent (or deliberately damaged it), which is a fairly high threshold, he's not liable.

He is owed approximately £250, which for an apprentice is a significant amount of money.

Comms69

Lancer3673 said:

Comms69 said:

The dismissal is likely lawful - unfortunately.
As for the deduction in pay, can you provide the figures?
As for the bath - unless your son was negligent (or deliberately damaged it), which is a fairly high threshold, he's not liable.

He is owed approximately £250, which for an apprentice is a significant amount of money.

Are you certain about the amount? I suggested providing figures so we could work out the discrepancy - eg wrong tax code.

To claim the money, you can just do an MCOL claim, but send letter before action first.