When is commission payable?

In Saul & Co v Rashbrook, a solicitor, Mr Rashbrook, claimed unpaid commission. His contract said he’d earn 20% commission on fees billed to clients once he billed more than three times his salary.

He argued he should be paid commission based on all invoices issued on his files - even if others had done some of the work.The employment tribunal agreed with his interpretation and upheld his claim for unlawful deduction from wages.

The employer appealed – and their appeal was successful.The Employment Appeal Tribunal held:

• Contract clauses should be construed neutrally on given their natural and ordinary meaning.

• The clause clearly said commission was only due for “work carried out by the Employee” as a solicitor.

• This meant that only work done by Mr Rashbrook himself counted toward the commission threshold.

• Once the fees for work done by others were removed, he hadn’t met the required threshold of three times his salary.  

• 
  

Applying the case of Jafri v Lincoln College, the EAT decided there was only one possible outcome: Mr Rashbrook hadn’t earned the commission.

There was no need to send the caseback to the original tribunal.

Appeal dismissed.