One-off deductions may be voluntary or compulsory and are often linked to termination of employment. Again, they are only lawful if they are defined in your employment contract or if you have given your signed agreement to them. Examples are:

• a charge for damaging company property, e.g. damage to a company car that was caused by your neglect
  
  
• a charge for non-return of company property, e.g. clothing or tools, on termination of employment
  
  
• failure to work your contractual period of notice, e.g. a week's pay deducted from your termination payments
  
  
• recovery of an advance of expenses
  
  
• recovery of holiday pay that has been paid in excess of your entitlement, e.g. you were entitled to two week's paid holiday up to the date of leaving but you have actually taken three week's paid holiday. See the FAQ Can my employer deduct holiday pay from my final wages?

But note that deductions that are punitive in nature are only likely to be lawful if the amount of the penalty is a reasonable reflection of the actual loss to your employer. For example, if you should have given four week's notice to leave your job and you only gave two week's notice, and your employer deducted two weeks' pay from your termination pay, that may not be lawful if the employer's loss caused by you leaving early was less than two week's pay.

Your employer is also considered to have made a deduction from your wages if you are paid less than you are entitled to be paid under your contract. However, such a deduction would not be treated as unlawful if the underpayment was due only to an error made by the employer in calculating your gross pay.

More Information:

• Introduction
  
• Pre-tax deductions
  
• Statutory deductions
  
• Voluntary regular deductions
  
• Deductions in retail employment
  
• Exempt deductions
  
• Making a complaint

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