Wages Act 1986

3 Payments by workers in retail employment on account of cash shortages etc. E+W+S

(1) Where the employer of a worker in retail employment receives from the worker any payment on account of a cash shortage or stock deficiency the employer shall not be treated as receiving the payment in accordance with section 1(2) unless (in addition to the requirements of that provision being satisfied with respect to the payment) he has previously—

(a) notified the worker in writing of the worker’s total liability to him in respect of that shortage or deficiency; and

(b) required the worker to make the payment by means of a demand for payment made in accordance with this section.

(2) Any demand for payment made by the employer of a worker in retail employment in respect of a cash shortage or stock deficiency—

(a) shall be made in writing, and

(b) shall be made on one of the worker’s pay days.

(3) A demand for payment in respect of a particular cash shortage or stock deficiency, or (in the case of a series of such demands) the first such demand, shall not be made—

(a) earlier than the first pay day of the worker following the date when he is notified of his total liability in respect of the shortage or deficiency in pursuance of subsection (1)(a) or, where he is so notified on a pay day, earlier than that day, or

(b) later than the end of the period of 12 months beginning with the date when the employer established the existence of the shortage or deficiency or (if earlier) the date when he ought reasonably to have done so.

(4) Where the employer of a worker in retail employment makes on any pay day one or more demands for payment in accordance with this section, the amount or aggregate amount required to be paid by the worker in pursuance of the demand or demands shall not exceed—

(a) one-tenth of the gross amount of the wages payable to the worker on that day, or

(b) where one or more deductions falling within section 2(1) are made by the employer from those wages, such amount as represents the balance of that one-tenth after subtracting the amount or aggregate amount of the deduction or deductions.

(5) Once any amount has been required to be paid by means of a demand for payment made in accordance with this section on any pay day, that amount shall not be taken into account under subsection (4) as it applies to any subsequent pay day, notwithstanding that the employer is obliged to make further requests for it to be paid.

(6) For the purposes of this Part a demand for payment shall be treated as made by the employer on one of the worker’s pay days if it is given to the worker, or posted to, or left at, his last known address—

(a) on that pay day, or

(b) in the case of a pay day which is not a working day of the employer’s business, on the first such working day following that pay day.