Q: If an employee breaks a pane of glass worth £40, can I take that out of their wages?
Apr 20 2006
Answered by: Peter Done Ask a question
The answer to this question depends to a degree on what you have in your contracts of employment and also how the employee came to break it. If it was a deliberate act, or an act of negligence, you would be able to take action against him under your disciplinary procedures and, providing you have in your contracts the right to make someone repay for damages, you could require them to do so by taking out of their pay a sum each week until the sum owing is paid. If you do not have a contractual right to do so then you could still invite the individual to repay you for it, again perhaps by deductions over a period of time, but you would not be able to deduct it legally if he or she refuses to allow you to do so. You would, having requested and been refused, be entitled to pursue them through the County Court (Small Claims Division) but this is highly unlikely to be cost effective. If the pane of glass was broken by accident that is something that happens and you would not normally be entitled to reclaim the cost of damages arising out of a genuine accident.
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