A security guard had his wages docked when he attended a hospital appointment to find out he had cancer.

Michael Turner

Michael Turner, 51, who has worked at Campsfield House, Kidlington, for eight years, said he felt "shocked and cheated" when Group 4 docked him £46.43 the day after doctors confirmed he had a tumour in his neck. He took the company to an industrial tribunal for unauthorised deduction of wages this week and won his case. His employer said it accepted the findings of the tribunal, which awarded him the day's wages back.

Mr Turner, of London Road, Chipping Norton, who has three children and four grandchildren with wife Freda, discovered a lump in his neck in October last year. After visiting his GP, he was referred to the Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford. He arranged time off sick to attend an appointment on October 9, where he was told he had non-Hodgkins lymphoma and would need chemotherapy and an operation to remove the tumour.

The next day, as he was struggling to come to terms with the news, his employer told him he was not entitled to sick pay for the hospital visit.

He said: "They were the two worst days of my life. I was absolutely gutted. After eight years of total devotion to the firm I should not have been treated the way Group 4 treated me."

After an operation and six courses of chemotherapy, Mr Turner was finally given the all-clear last month. He said his family, colleagues at Campsfield House where he continues working, and the medical staff who treated him had been extremely supportive.

Group 4 told the tribunal details of Mr Turner's time off had not been made clear at the time. After a medical note was produced at the hearing stating that Mr Turner had not been fit for work, it admitted he had been entitled to a full day's pay.