The Claimants, who were LGV drivers, made a claim of unlawful deductions, complaining that they had not been paid an enhanced rate of pay for overtime. The Respondent paid them overtime in respect of hours worked in excess of 48 hours in any given week. The Claimants claimed that they were entitled to be paid at an enhanced rate of pay for working hours that exceed their contractually prescribed daily hours. The ET had to consider two documents: the Staff Handbook and the Driver's Handbook and first found that the Staff Handbook did not confer such a right on the claimants, because it contained a provision which excluded drivers from its substantive provisions relating to overtime. The ET did not determine whether the Driver's Handbook conferred this right. The Claimants appealed.

The EAT dismissed the appeal. The ET did not err in the interpretation of the Staff Handbook. Nor did the ET err by failing to determine the position in relation to the provisions relating to overtime contained in the Drivers’ Handbook. It correctly identified the scope of what it had to decide by reference to the final amended Particulars of Claim that had been tabled by the Claimants’ representatives; and the list of issues that had been agreed by the representatives on both sides in advance of the hearing at which the matter was considered.