(b) What is meant by a series of deductions?

(b)     What is meant by a series of deductions?

As noted above, under ERA 1996 s 23(3) where there has been a series of deductions, a complaint has to be brought within three months of the date when the last deduction in the series was made. There is no statutory definition of a 'series of deductions' for the purposes of ERA 1996 s 23(3). However, the term has been considered by the EAT in the joined cases of Bear Scotland Ltd v Fulton; Hertel (UK) Ltd v Woods; Amec Group Ltd v Law [2015] IRLR 15 where Langstaff P stated:

''Whether there has been a series of deductions or not is a question of fact: “series” is an ordinary word, which has no particular legal meaning. As such in my view it involves two principal matters in the present context, which is that of a series through time. These are first a sufficient similarity of subject-matter, such that each event is factually linked with the next in the same way as it is linked with its predecessor; and second, since such events might either be stand-alone events of the same general type, or linked together in a series, a sufficient frequency of repetition. This requires both a sufficient factual, and a sufficient temporal, link.''

(i)     The factual link

As far as the factual link is concerned, case law has demonstrated a liberal approach. In Group 4 Nightspeed Ltd v Gilbert [1997] IRLR 398 the EAT