Your employer can’t deduct costs from your pay unless it’s actually in your contract.
“Tribunal ordered £15,766.29 for unlawful pay deductions, unpaid holiday payThe pay you receive for the paid annual leave you're entitled to under UK law, worth at least 5.6 weeks a year for most workers. It's usually calculated from your normal pay, though the exact method d..., and missing written particularsWritten particulars are the core terms of your employment that your employer has to give you in writing, usually including your pay, hours, holiday entitlement, and job title. They're one of your most....”
You're entitled to get back any deduction your employer had no legal right to make.
- Check your contract and any written terms for an actual clause permitting the specific deduction, not just a general reference to costs or expenses.
- If your employer can't produce written proof that a deduction was agreed, that missing evidence counts against them, not you.
- If you haven't been paid statutory holiday pay or given proper written terms of employment, get advice. Tribunals can award compensation for both, on top of any unpaid wages.
The situation
A van driver worked for a small removals company for over two years. His contract said he'd be paid 65% of the value of each completed job, but it didn't include any term allowing his employer to take money off the top before working that percentage out. In practice, the company deducted fuel and other running costs from each job before calculating his share, something he says was simply imposed on him. He was also never paid for holiday, and his payslips and final paperwork were consistently inaccurate.
What the tribunal found
The tribunal ruled the deductions were unlawful. Once deductions are shown to have been made, the employer carries the burden of proving they were properly authorised, and this employer couldn't. The company said the arrangement had been agreed, but produced no records from the time to back that up. The tribunal found that the absence of any such records, which were within the company's own control, counted against it.
He had also not been paid statutory holiday pay. On top of that, the tribunal found the company had failed to give him proper written terms of employment. In total he was awarded £15,766.29. £9,200.00 of that covered the unlawful deductions under section 13 of the Employment Rights Act 1996The primary piece of legislation setting out employees rights in the UK, including the right not to be unfairly dismissed, the right to a written statement of employment particulars, and rights relati.... Unpaid holiday pay under the Working Time Regulations 1998 added £4,964.61, and the tribunal added the statutory maximum of £1,601.68 for the failure to provide written particulars under section 38 of the Employment Act 2002.
Husiev v Prompt Men Services Ltd (formerly V K Removals Ltd). Case 6036608/2025. Employment Tribunal (East London Hearing Centre). 21 April 2026.