C.I.T.B Levy

[maisielou]

Hi i wasnt sure where to post this one, my husband is a self employed builder and the contractor he has been doing work for has been stopping the citb levy from his money each month, i know this is supposed to be up to the "workers" wether they pay this or not if they do decide to pay they have to sign a form stating that the levy can be stopped from there pay, my husband refused to sign the forms but it has still been stopped from his pay, any idea how i go about getting this back ?
i have copied and pasted this from the citb web site
many thanks

Under the Industrial Training Act 1982 we levy employers in the construction industry. Employers must pay levy on payments to sub-contractors for labour-only as well as on direct employees. However, the Act does not give authorisation to make deductions from any amounts paid to labour-only sub-contractor or other worker.
Section 13 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (what was Section 1 of the Wages Act 1986) says that an employer must not take amounts from his or her worker's wages unless:
The deduction is authorised under the workers contract, or
The worker has previously agreed in writing
There have been a number of cases before industrial tribunals about deductions for our levy. The tribunals have made it clear that the deductions are not legal unless the worker has agreed beforehand.
The condition shown above of the Employment Rights Act applies to deductions made from labour-only sub-contractors as well as employees

[Donk28]

Hi Maisielou,

Your husband needs to request the money from the contractor in question. Request this in writing, and if you don't get it back you can raise a Court action, and if it is a small claim it'll cost you about £50 which you'll get back when you win.

The deduction is obviously unlawful, unless explicitly authorised or outlined in the Contract for Services your husband will have agree to when he was engaged by the contractor.

Hope this helps

	County Court guidebook by Judge Patricia Pearl Follow this link to read the review of this excellent Small Claims Guidebook. This comprehensive and very accessible guide will take you through the process of suing or defending a claim. This guide will help you take control of your litigation and make you more confident about doing it yourself. Applies to England and Wales

[maisielou]

Thanks Donk28
letter on its way

[maisielou]

Right i started the letter to the contractor........but not really sure how to word it .only the cunning**** never put the amount of deductions on our advice slip only ever put what was paid in the bank so not sure how to go about asking how much was stopped? :conf used:

[maisielou]

Anyone got any ideas p l e a s e

[maisielou]

Does anyone know how i can word a letter asking the contractor for proof of the money he stopped every month? i have looked at all the template letters on her but none are suitable.

[tawnyowl]

Was it a long contract-how much has been taken.Does your husband pay CITB-have to earn a few bob to pay it i think.Not that many small builders paying it-enough to pay just surviving.If husband friendly with contractor call round say hello jack you took levy from pay i dont pay it so can i have it back.If not that friendly write letter recorded saying i would like a copy of all payments given and amounts deducted for levy.or ask your friendly accountant to draft a letter for you because sounds straightforward but so time consuming for you.Hope this helps a little. Tawnyowl.

[maisielou]

Hi
the contractor knew it was illegal to take the money from my husband ........but said he couldnt afford to pay the levy so passed it on to the workers.......my husband was labour only on a fixed monthly amount as i said in my first post you are supposed to sign to say it is ok to have the levy stopped which my other half refused to do ( but it was taken anyway) and the contractor was crafty as when he got his "pay sheet" every month it never said how much citb was stopped so we really dont know what he took...........so i need a letter like the Subject Access Request but not sure how to go about wording it i did phone our account last week but he is in australia for 6 weeks !!!!!!

	Subject Access Request A Subject Access Request is a demand which you can make to any organisation to disclose any personal information which they hold on you. The right to disclosure of data is provided by the Data Protection Act. There is no time limit. The organisation is obliged to reveal everything they have about you - which you ask for - as far back as you ask for. There are very few exceptions. It does not matter whether the data is held on microfiche, in an archive, on tape, in a cardex system, in sound recordings or in screen notes. Some companies are saying that they do not have to disclose where it would be difficult to do so - "disproportionate effort". This is untrue. Disproportionate effort refers to something else under the Act. If you are seeking bank charges information then you should ask for "all data held on you" and you should make it clear that you want everything as far back as it goes. Do not be put off by excuses. Do not accept being fobbed off. It is not in your bank's interest to make full disclosure to you. This means that it is in your interests to get it. If you have not started gathering your bank charges information yet, then you should start now. There will soon be a big rush once the OFT test case has been settled. Get all of your bank account informtion as far back as possible. At least as far back as 1995. If your bank says that they don't keep data as far back as this, don't accept it. Be persistent. They've got what you need in some form or other.

[tawnyowl]

ConstructionSkills - The contractor I am working for has made deductions from me - why?
Certainly seems to be acting illegally according to rules about levy not signed anything or on contract so now really thinking who to complain to.As for contractor saying he couldnt afford to pay so passed it onto workers-sooooo naughty of him.Feel unless the contractor pays your husband back you will have to complain to CITB and see if any other workers on site have had these payments taken illegally-bet they have and not very pleased about it.Sounds like you have no real proof as not shown on payslips-crafty as you say-i feel this is going to be hard to prove and contractor may say noooooo never took levy he is mistaken-what then.Sounds as you say if really true what the contractor has said he may not have much money anyway-and sounds like he does not keep correct records.Going to be hard this i think.

[maisielou]

Looks like this one isnt going any further.............heard today that the company we contracted to has closed

[maisielou]

more news.they havent closed yet!!!!! seems like they are just ignoring my letters ........so they havent sent me the levy statements i need to calculate how much they have stopped..............so hit a dead end again

[tawnyowl]

ConstructionSkills - How much do I need to pay?
Ok as i see it and could be wrong but contractors employing sub contractors take 1.5 pence in the pound out of payments to subbys-so check the pay sheets from the contractor over those months and add another 50 pound for your trouble and time taken sorting this out.Send recorded letter to contractor saying this is your last chance to pay me back the levy payments you took from me illegally or i will take the matter further.Suppose that works out at 15 pound in the thousand.I know youve no proof of these payments but might make him pay you -i know i would-not worth the hassle hes going to get if you take it further.Can you imagine the grief hes going to get if they investigate this matter.Hope he doesnt go bankrupt in the meantime-Good luck Tawnyowl
PS when you go on that link press search to see if hes registered with them

[maisielou]

Im not sure how this contractor worked it out all i know is that he took approx £45 to £50 each month.............i have sent him a letter registered post saying that i will take further action .........but still no reply as i said before the trouble is he NEVER put how much he was actually taking i tried the search on the link you supplied but i dont have his members number
i suppose the best way is to get onto the citb

[tawnyowl]

Send me the name of the contractors company or name and i will find out for you should take all of 5 minutes please dont name the contractor on here but send by PM.We musnt name the company or contractor on here.Hope to here from you soon.Tawnyowl.

[tawnyowl]

Sorry, we couldn't find a matching employer. It might be worth trying another search.
The name of the firm might have been spelt incorrectly, or the firm could have been registered as part of a group registration under a different name. If you're still having problems, check that the post town or post code is correct, or try a search with only the main body of the firm name leaving out any initials.

MMM-send me the postcode of the registered address of the contractor if he is limited or the postcode on his letterheads or his advertising if he on in Yellow pages or something like that this will help check again.If this fails i can ring them and find out myself if this contractor is registered.Dont forget to send by PM TAWNYOWLDONT WORRY THE SEARCHES I AM DOING ARE ANOMYNOUS.

[tawnyowl]

0 matching firms have been found
Sorry, we couldn't find a matching employer. It might be worth trying another search.
The name of the firm might have been spelt incorrectly, or the firm could have been registered as part of a group registration under a different name. If you're still having problems, check that the post town or post code is correct, or try a search with only the main body of the firm name leaving out any initials.

If you want to double-check the registration status of a firm, please telephone the Levy Registration Hotline on 01485 577562 Your enquiry will be treated in confidence
MMM Still no luck-upto you if you want to check or i will on Monday .

[maisielou]

Thanks for all your help will see if i can email them on monday

[tawnyowl]

Originally Posted by maisielou

Thanks for all your help will see if i can email them on monday

Any problems just let me know i will help if you hit a brick wall-preferably the contractors.Interested in how this will turn out.Dont give up.I will keep a sharp eye on your thread Tawnyowl.

[maisielou]

Phoned the levy office cant get through so sent an email monday......still no reply!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[tawnyowl]

Perhaps their phone is covered in webs and not used to getting enquiries of this nature-well will watch your thread over next few days and if you havent heard anything will try to get info for you if you dont mind.All enquiries treated in total secrecy-up to you -but will find out for sure.Tawny