Drivers compensated after wages deduction
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• Two Southampton drivers, partly-paid in Sainsbury's vouchers to attend hazardous goods' courses, have won compensation after their employer, Derby-based S B Atkins & Sons, deducted the money from wages when they decided to leave the firm.
The unnamed drivers were paid £35 in vouchers to cover the Saturday of the course, But when the pair said they were leaving less than a year after the training, Atkins stated that clauses in drivers' contracts allowed it to reclaim wages paid for time on courses. The pair claimed unlawful deduction of wages, and were set to go to industrial tribunal. Then, Atkins agreed full payment of the reclaimed wages. The company says it accepts no liability and made payments of £75 to each driver "to save unnecessary legal costs".
Transport & General Workers Union road haulage officer, Jennie Sandie, is pleased with the result but wondered: "how much longer before employers try to pay drivers with a sack of rice and a chicken."