DH salary deductions for "family hotel stay"

[kellykettle]

My DH has just left his last employer. His final payslip has arrived with a deduction for a hotel stay where they say there was not a business need.

DH worked away a lot with this company and wa given an account with Premier Inn. He was expected to book his own hotel stays as he saw fit to work around his jobs (field engineer).

A former colleague has told DH that his boss believes this stay was DH booking "a jolly" with his family on company expenses. This isn't cited in the letter DH has had so is hard to argue with. We didn't go with him, we never have and I am furious they've done this.

I can prove, sadly, through Facebook posts that I was at home but how would even raise it.

Any ideas what he can do to fight these deductions? He's a SAHD now and we just can't afford this.

Write formally querying the deductions and see what the company says when challenged?

Does someone not sign off his expenses? Up to them to query this directly before sign off!

You only have the suggestion they think this was a family jolly third hand, so personally I would start by asking them to provide a full explanation for what appears to be an unlawful deduction from wages. He can then respond appropriately, possibly pointing out the business reasons for his stay.

If they refuse to refund this deduction your husband can take them to employment tribunal but he only has 3 months less one day from the date on which the deduction was made to submit a claim so don't let the process drag on.

Brilliant thanks everyone.

I am not sure of his expenses sign off. He just submitted them monthly to his finance department. He worked remotely.

Thanks for your help, he's going to write.

If he does miss the ET deadline, he could make a claim in the small claims court (assuming the deduction from wages is under 5k). The deadline there is 6 years iirc.

Can he get on to the Premier Inn and ask for a copy of all their documentation relating to the stay?

If he ate there, the receipt would show it was a meal for one, also if only 1 key was issued for the room this is an indicator that only one person stayed.

It sounds like that the boss thinks that as your DH has left it's going to be too much hassle for him (DH) to challenge this, so he's slipped it into the last paycheque (IMO a very cowardly way to address this).

Can you get all the above into a solicitor's letter - show them you mean business? It might be worth the initial outlay if it results in the company backing down and paying up pronto.

Oh, and PMSL at the idea of staying in a Holiday Inn being a family jolly! They are fairly basic and I've stayed in them for work - the less time spent in them the better!