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LUNN Poly agents face having their wages docked if they make a mistake that costs the company money.

The multiple is rolling out new employment contracts which it says are designed to “protect itself from fraud”. And it has warned workers they will be pursued through the courts if necessary to recover ‘lost’ cash.

Industry trade union the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association has been flooded with calls from worried Lunn Poly agents concerned that a wrongly calculated booking could leave them struggling to pay the bills.

TSSA negotiations officer Dave Allen labelled the policy “horrendous” and accused Lunn Poly of railroading staff to sign up to the clause, introduced in the last two weeks.

Lunn Poly will deduct money if employees are deemed to have failed to follow company procedure when they make a mistake.

Lunn Poly agents - most of whom earn a basic salary of £9,000-£13,000 a year - will be liable when shop tills are short, for holiday or foreign exchange calculation errors and administration mistakes.

The multiple has produced a repayment table with guidelines based on length of service and the amount owed. An agent with more than five years’ service blamed for a loss of between £200-£500 would be expected to pay back a minumum of £100 a month, while an agent with less than one year’s service would face monthly repayments of £150.

Allen said the move was a “slap in the face” for its travel trade charter, which aims to introduce minimum employment standards across the industry (Travel Weekly July 16). 

He expressed concern rivals First Choice, Thomas Cook and Going Places will follow suit and fears the move will hit morale.

Legally, an employer can dock 10% of an employee’s wage even if it means they will effectively earn less than the national minimum, as long as it has been agreed as a condition of service.

The employer must inform the employee in writing how the money will be deducted from their wages.

A Lunn Poly spokeswoman stressed the policy’s enforcement is at each shop manager’s discretion and claimed most of its 5,500 staff have signed up to the agreement.

“This is not intended to punish staff who add something up wrong on a calculator on a busy Saturday afternoon.

“It’s for persistent offenders - the company must protect itself against fraud.”