The Claimant, a schoolteacher, made a claim for unlawful deductions, submitting that, having attained, under a previous pay scale, the maximum U3 point, he was entitled under the School Teachers Pay and Conditions Document (“STPCD”) post-threshold pay scale to be paid at the top of the upper pay range regardless of the School’s assessment of his performance. The ET ruled that the Claimant’s contractual entitlement was to be paid at a level which fell within the STPCD upper pay range as it was fixed from year to year and that he did not have any right to be paid at the maximum figure or at any other particular level within the upper pay range. The Claimant appealed.

The EAT dismissed the appeal. The STPCD system of pay for post threshold teachers had changed in 2013 so as to confer entitlement to be paid within the upper range dependent (primarily) upon performance. In the absence of a performance assessment which met the required standard and a consequent decision to pay the appellant at a higher rate, the Respondent’s contractual obligation was to pay the Claimant at no less than the minimum of the upper pay range.