Strike pay

Q: Following a one-day strike, our employer has deducted a full day’s pay from a member who only works half a day. Can we recover this as an unlawful deduction of wages?

A: Deductions in relation to strikes or other industrial action are specifically excluded from the unlawful deduction provisions by section 14 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, so you cannot pursue a claim in that way. A tribunal can decide whether or not there was industrial action, but it cannot deal with deductions resulting from any action; the remedy has to be through the civil courts.

However, you can challenge the size of the deduction through the county court. In the recent case of Cooper and others v Isle of Wight College [2007] EWHC 2831 (QB), the High Court concluded that an employer can only deduct for a strike the same amount that the employee would be able to recover in damages if s/he had not been paid for that period. If your member was only contractually entitled/obliged to work for half a day, this would be all that s/he could recover if s/he had not been paid — so that should be the maximum amount that the employer deducts.