Won employment tribunal, but still not been paid.

[ward267]

Hi all. This is my first post here, and any answers will be much appreciated.
I worked for a company for about 6 months in 2007, unfortunately it turned out the job was not as good as it was made out to be when I was interviewed. So I handed in my notice, expecting to serve a months notice. Instead the MD said I could leave there and then. This was a couple of days before payday, which came and went with no wages going into my account.
I spoke to the director regarding this, he said someone had just gone bust owing him a lot of money, so he was unable to pay me at that time, but would as soon as possible. This went on for 2 months, so I took them to an employment tribunal, which I won. They were given 42 days to pay me, and if they hadn't paid by then interest would be payable at 8%.
The 42 days finished on 14th March this year, and there is still no payment, even though I have been promised it on several occasions. I sent him an email early this week saying that I needed the money by Friday 16th May, to which he never replied or got me the money, so I sent him another email last night saying that interest was due on the monies owed but if he got a cheque to me by this morning (Saturday 17th May) I would forget about the interest owed, if I have not received the cheque by then I would be taking legal action against the company.
I am unsure now as to how to take this forward in the best way. Should I speak to a solicitor, or go to a small claims court, and if I do these what are the cost implications to myself, and the chances of me getting my money.
A couple of things I should mention, the company is still trading, and secondly, I have some equipment that he never bothered to pick up when I finished for the company. I have said he is free to pick this up any time, but am now thinking of telling him he can only have this back when the money has cleared in my account. Would I be within my rights to do this?
Any help greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[letshelp]

Hi Ward,
Taking someone to the small claims court is a simple process and can even be done online. This site has many references to the procedure. As stated it is a simple process and I wouldnt bother with a solicitor on the face of it you have an easy case. I would personally hold on to the equipment until paid, dont let the boss threaten you with the police for holding onto the equipment, it is a civil matter and nothing to do with the police.If the police do get involved tell them the equipment is held in leu of a debt that is lawfully owed by the company to you and that you have no intention of permantly depriving the lawful owner of that equipment, which will be returned once the debt owed to you is paid.
best regards

[Weird Al Yankovic]

You already have a judgment so now you just enforce it via the county court.
I think it's a case of registering the debt with the county court and then you will be able to choose to send in the bailiffs, seize bank accounts, put a charge on a property etc etc.

Give your county court a call on Monday.

[letshelp]

Weird Al,
I give way to your superior knowledge on this subject. Just a point, could the original poster send the company a statutory demand, which is quite effective against companies?
best regards

[ward267]

Thanks for your replies. Midday 17th has been and gone, and still no sign of my wages.
I have just been doing a bit of research on the internet regarding statutory demands, it seem that for the amount owed it is not the best way to go. I could be wrong on this, so if anyone better please let me know.
I will call the county court early this week and speak to the regarding this matter.
If he decides to pay me before it reaches court, how can I work out how much interest he owes me?
Again thanks so much for the replies.

[Weird Al Yankovic]

Originally Posted by letshelp

Weird Al,
I give way to your superior knowledge on this subject. Just a point, could the original poster send the company a statutory demand, which is quite effective against companies?
best regards

That's a very kind compliment and thank you!

Yes, a statutory demand could be sent, subject to what the amount of the debt is to qualify, as the debt is from a judgment and they are now unable to appeal it as the time has elapsed.

This is important as the debt is not in dispute, which can be a mitigating factor to challenge a stat demand.

However, a stat demand are often sent as a bluff as it is free to do.

The employer may just ignore one from the OP as they will probably know it will cost them quite a bit of money to follow it through with no guarantee of getting any money back.

Yet one from HMRC will not be ignored as they don't bluff!

I'd use the county court route to enforce.

[Time4revolution]

Alternatively, you could use the High Court route to enforce.

[ward267]

I phoned my local court who told me to fill in form N322A. This form is to register an employment tribunal award with a county court for enforcement. However doing a bit of research on the internet, it seems that this still does not guarantee me receiving the monies owed, and that if I wish to pursue this even further then it could cost a lot of money for myself.
I was always under the impression that if a company was unable to pay debt, they would automatically be declared bankrupt. Have I got this wrong?
Another thing that has happened since is I emailed my ex-employer to inform him of the action I was going to take and he has replied saying that they are going to dispute the tribunal, and they will be issuing a counter claim against me for the unauthorized removal of company property and the subsequent loss of value. I believe this is a bluff though, because he would of gone to the police or taken action immediately after I left the company, and not 9 months later.
As I started a new job a couple of months ago, I have not really had time to pursue this matter, and I am going on holiday in a couple of days, so it will be at least two and a half weeks before I can take any legal advice regarding this matter. Any comments greatly appreciated.

[Allwood]

It depends on how much you are owed but you could see if the small claims court would be of use to you.