Brighton and Hove council unlawfully deducted wages from 12 low-paid staff, judge rules

Brighton and Hove City Council unlawfully deducted thousands of pounds from the wages of 12 low-paid staff, an employment tribunal judge has ruled.

The council blamed a clerical error and said that it had overpaid the 12 workers in the Royal Pavilion and Museums Information and Security Team.

The 12 – eleven men and a woman – should have realised that the council had made a mistake, the council told the tribunal.

The argument was rejected by employment judge Christopher Baron. He found that the employees had ended up in their predicament only because the council had reorganised their department in 2013 and cut their pay.

It did so, having promised a grace period or protected period of three years during talks with union bosses. The staff were not party to the talks.

Six months later the council mistakenly sent contracts to staff stating that their pay was protected from being cut for four years – from Monday 1 April 2013 to Friday 31 March 2017.

The lead claimant at the tribunal, Nicholas Kay, earned £16,830 a year. He had a letter showing that he would receive protected pay of £4,593.60 a year over the four years.

The 12 were represented by the GMB union which said: “The reality of this case is that these workers are already on a low wage and struggling to make ends meet and further cuts to terms and conditions can have devastating consequences.

“Following a reorganisation in 2013, the members lost a shift allowance or were given a lower-paid post or both.

“However, their pay was not to be reduced during a pay protection period, which was stated to be from 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2017.

“A year early, in May 2016, the council stated that the reference to 31 March 2017 was a clerical error, that pay protection was limited to three years and the enhanced pay was stopped without warning.”

The judge found that the council realised its mistake by mid-May 2013 but did nothing and said nothing to the claimants. Instead it waited almost three years and just cut their pay without warning.

Judge Baron said: “It was part of the case for the council that not only had there been a mistake but that the claimants knew, or ought to have known, that that was the case.

“Two matters were relied upon by the council to support the proposition that the claimants ought to have known of the mistake.

“The first was that it had always been the council’s policy that a protected pay period could not extend beyond three years and that was clearly set out in written policy documentation.

“As a fact, that is true. However, I do not accept that therefore individuals in the position of the claimants ought to have been aware of the policy and the fact that a four-year period was specified was an error.

“Such policies may be dealt with on a day-to-day basis by the Human Resources Department.

“On a day-to-day basis the claimants were responsible for that jewel in the Brighton crown, the Royal Pavilion.

“The second matter is the document … which referred to a three-year period. Again, my conclusion is that that does not mean that the claimants ought to have been aware some six months later that the council had made an error.

“The claimants, without any disrespect to them, are relatively low-paid employees of a large city council. They were entitled to assume that formal documentation issued by the council as their employer was correct.

“For those reasons I find that the claims succeed. I trust that the question of remedies for each of the claimants can be agreed without the necessity for the expense of a further hearing but such hearing will be arranged if necessary.”

Mr Kay, who acted as lead claimant on behalf of all 12 staff, said: “The other employees and I are all very pleased with the outcome of this case.

“I would like to thank GMB because none of this would have happened without their support.”

GMB southern region organiser Gary Palmer said: “The reality of this case is that these workers are already on a low wage and struggling to make ends meet and further cuts to terms and conditions can have devastating consequences.

“A court case involving 12 employees against a council is no little matter but GMB will always seek to protect members’ interests in the workplace and this case shows the importance of being a member of GMB.”

GMB southern region senior organiser Charles Harrity said: “This is a shocking example of the council’s austerity drive.

“Time and time again we are seeing that it is the low-paid workers who are being targeted.

“On the one hand the council says that it has no money to provide fair terms and conditions for employees.

“And yet, as this case shows, the council will not hesitate to spend thousands in legal fees in trying to justify its actions.”