Labour Court recommends Chambers Salons training deductions dispute leave industrial relations process

The Labour Court recommended that a dispute over wages and training deductions at Chambers Salons was not suitable for an industrial relations process. The recommendation was dated 11 January 2022. The apprentice sought repayment of deductions she said related to training at the employer’s academy and had been made without her agreement or knowledge. Chambers Salons said she had signed a contract and handbook setting out her employment and pay arrangements. The Court noted disagreement over whether she had received a contract and agreed to deductions, and that she had not followed the employer’s grievance procedure. The Court said alleged unlawful wage deductions should be addressed under the Payment of Wages Act, rather than through the Industrial Relations Acts. It recommended that both sides accept the matter was not appropriate for an industrial relations process; it did not decide whether the deductions were lawful.