An Employment Tribunal (ET) has confirmed that a construction company which made deductions from an employee’s wages in accordance with a court order did not do so unlawfully (Rainford v Stepnell Ltd).

The employee was the subject of an attachment of earnings order – a court order by which amounts are taken directly from an employee’s wages to pay a debt. He brought ET proceedings alleging that the company had made unlawful deductions from his wages. He claimed that the money he owed was already being reclaimed through the Post Office and that the company had not followed procedures.

The company stated that it had made the deductions because of the attachment of earnings order. As the deductions were made pursuant to a court order, it had a lawful basis for doing so under Sections 13 and 14 of the Employment Rights Act 1996.

The ET was satisfied that the attachment of earnings order was valid. The company was under an obligation to comply with it by virtue of the Attachment of Earnings Act 1971, and had checked that it was correct before making deductions from the employee’s wages. The company had deducted the amount required by the order, plus a number of small administrative charges permitted under the 1971 Act.

Given the ET’s findings of fact, it concluded that the deductions had been made in accordance with a statutory provision and were not unlawful. The employee’s claim was dismissed.