Wages Act 1986
Wages Act 1986
1986 CHAPTER 48
An Act to make fresh provision with respect to the protection of workers in relation to the payment of wages; to make further provision with respect to wages councils; to restrict redundancy rebates to employers with less than ten employees and to abolish certain similar payments; and for connected purposes.
[25th July 1986]
Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
Part I
Protection of Workers in Relation to the Payment ofWages
1 General restrictions on deductions made, or payments received, by employers.
(1) An employer shall not make any deduction from any wages of any worker employed by him unless the deduction satisfies one of the following conditions, namely—
(a ) it is required or authorised to be made by virtue of any statutory provision or any relevant provision of the worker's contract; or
(b ) the worker has previously signified in writing his agreement or consent to the making of it.
(2) An employer shall not receive any payment from any worker employed by him unless the payment satisfies one of the conditions set out in paragraphs (a ) and (b ) of subsection (1).
(3) In this section ‘relevant provision’, in relation to a worker's contract, means any provision of the contract comprised—
(a ) in one or more written terms of the contract of which the employer has given the worker a copy on any occasion prior to the employer making the deduction in question, or (where subsection (1)(a ) applies for the purposes of subsection (2)) prior to his receiving the payment in question, or
(b ) in one or more terms of the contract (whether; express or implied and, if express, whether oral or in writing) whose existence and effect, or (as the case may be) combined effect, in relation to the worker the employer has notified to the worker in writing on any such occasion.
(4) For the purposes of this section—
(a ) any relevant provision of a worker's contract having effect by virtue of any variation of the contract, or
(b ) any agreement or consent signified by a worker as mentioned in subsection (1)(b ),
shall not operate to authorise the making of any deduction, or the receipt of any payment, on account of any conduct of the worker, or any other event occurring, before the variation took effect or (as the case may be) the agreement or consent was signified.
(5) Nothing in this section applies—
(a ) to any deduction from a worker's wages made by his employer, or any payment received from a worker by his employer, where the purpose of the deduction or payment is the reimbursement of the employer in respect of—
(i) any overpayment of wages, or
(ii) any overpayment in respect of expenses incurred by the worker in carrying out his employment,
made (for any reason) by the employer to the worker;
(b ) to any deduction from a worker's wages ade by his employer, or any payment received from a worker by his employer, in consequence of any disciplinary proceedings if those proceedings were held by virtue of any statutory provision;
(c ) to any deduction from a worker's wages made by his employer in pursuance of any requirement imposed on the employer by any statutory provision to deduct and pay over to a public authority amounts determined by that authority as being due to it from the worker, if the deduction is made in accordance with the relevant determination of that authority;
(d ) to any deduction from a worker's wages made by his employer in pursuance of any arrangements which have been established—
(i) in accordance with any relevant provision of his contract to whose inclusion in the contract the worker has signified his agreement or consent in writing, or
(ii) otherwise with the prior agreement or consent of the worker signified in writing,
and under which the employer is to deduct and pay over to a third person amounts notified to the employer by that person as being due to him from the worker, if the deduction is made in accordance with the relevant notification by that person;
(e ) to any deduction from a worker's wages made by his employer, or any payment received from a worker by his employer, where the worker has taken part in a strike or other industrial action and the deduction is made, or the payment has been required, by the employer on account of the worker's having taken part in that strike or other action; or
(f ) to any deduction from a worker's wages made by his employer with his prior agreement or consent signified in writing, or any payment received from a worker by his employer, where the purpose of the deduction or payment is the satisfaction (whether wholly or in part) of an order of a court or tribunal requiring the payment of any amount by the worker to the employer.
(6) This section is without prejudice to any other statutory provision by virtue of which any sum payable to a worker by his employer but not falling within the definition of ‘wages’ in section 7 is not to be subject to any deduction at the instance of the employer.
2 Deductions from wages of workers in retail employment on account of cash shortages etc.
(1) Where (in accordance with section 1(1)) the employer of a worker in retail employment makes, on account of one or more cash shortages or stock deficiencies, any deduction or deductions from any wages payable to the worker on a pay day, the amount or aggregate amount of the deduction or deductions on shall not exceed one-tenth of the gross amount of the wages payable to the worker on that day.
(2) In this Part—
‘cash shortage’ means a deficit arising in relation to amounts received in connection with retail transactions;
‘pay day’, in relation to a worker, means a day on which wages are payable to the worker;
‘retail employment’, in relation to a worker, means employment involving (whether on a regular basis or not)—
(a ) the carrying out by the worker of retail transactions directly with members of the public or with fellow workers or other individuals in their personal capacities, or
(b ) the collection by the worker of amounts payable in connection with retail transactions carried out by other persons directly with members of the public or with fellow workers or other individuals in their personal capacities;.
‘retail transaction’ means the sale or supply of goods, or the supply of services (including financial services); and
‘stock deficiency’ means a stock deficiency arising in the course of retail transactions.
(3) Where the employer of a worker in retail employment makes a deduction from the worker's wages on account of a cash shortage or stock deficiency, the employer shall not be treated as making the deduction in accordance with section 1(1) unless (in addition to the requirements of that provision being satisfied with respect to the deduction)—
(a ) the deduction is made, or
(b ) in the case of a deduction which is one of a series of deductions relating to the shortage or deficiency, the first deduction in the series was made,
not later than the end of the period of 12 months beginning with the date when the employer established the existence of the shortage or deficiency or (if earlier) the date when he ought reasonably to have done so.
(4) This subsection applies where—
(a ) by virtue of any agreement between a worker in retail employment and his employer, the amount of the worker's wages or any part of them is or may be determined by reference to the incidence of cash shortages or stock deficiencies, and
(b ) the gross amount of the wages payable to the worker on any pay day is, on account of any such shortages or deficiencies, less than the gross amount of the wages that would have been payable to him on that day if there had been no such shortages or deficiencies.
(5) In a case where subsection (4) applies—
(a ) the amount representing the difference between the two amounts referred to in paragraph (b ) of that subsection (‘the relevant amount’) shall be treated for the purposes of this Part as a deduction from the wages payable to the worker on that day made by the employer on account of the cash shortages or stock deficiencies in question, and
(b ) the second of the amounts so referred to shall be treated for the purposes of this Part (except subsection (4)) as the gross amount of the wages payable to him on that day;
and section 1(1) and (if the requirements of that provision and subsection (3) above are satisfied) subsection (1) above shall have effect in relation to the relevant amount accordingly.
3 Payments by workers in retail employment on account of cash shortages etc.
(1) Where the employer of a worker in retail employment receives from the worker any payment on account of a cash shortage or stock deficiency the employer shall not be treated as receiving the payment in accordance with section 1(2) unless (in addition to the requirements of that provision being satisfied with respect to the payment) he has previously—
(a ) notified the worker in writing of the worker's total liability to him in respect of that shortage or...
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