Deductions from salary of holiday already taken?

[Employmentquestion]

HR help please. I have an employee who is leaving next week. After looking at the amount of holiday she has taken so far, it works out that she will actually owe the company money. Can this be deducted from her final wages?. TIA

In theory yes. Does it say anything about deducting unaccrued and taken holiday from final pay in your contracts or policies?

I'll have to check that tomorrow, I don't know.

Yes, you can make deductions for holiday taken but not entitled to

Does the employee have to agree first?

I think most contracts would have this in so when you sign your contract you are agreeing to it

It is probably in the contract and would not require her agreement to a wage deduction, but in the letter confirming her leaving date it would say in there 'you have taken 20 days holiday but only accrued 15 days so the balance of 5 days (£x amount) will be deducted from your final salary payment' or something along those lines. I would certainly let the employee know in advance.

When I let my job at Christmas I was 3 days over the entitlement I'd accrued so far that year (holiday is April to March). So they took 3 days off my final salary. I think this is pretty standard and should be outlined in your contract.

It has to be explicitly written in the contract. There is no implied right to make the deduction.

Take it from final salary. I've just had a nightmare with ex employee who walked having been overpaid by nearly £500 which I overlooked.
She knew when she left she was overpaid and created such a fuss when I wrote to her about it after she had her P45, even accused me of theft of a tax rebate where none had taken place. I started a small claim and she tried to pay me about one third of it back. I got so fed up with the whole thing I cancelled the small claim and told her to keep any overpayment.
Not even a thank you or apology for actually putting in writing that I had stolen money from her!
The only saving grace is that I'm just glad she no longer works for me. She was a real bossy and bullying type yet always upset about something and NEVER WRONG even if presented with the evidence. I knew her husband and he used to joke and call her 'she who must be obeyed'. Fucking nightmare

Have a look here -
www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=4125

Yes but would usually be specifically stated in the employees contract.