My lad graduated smack in the middle of the recession and rather than going on the dole has been supporting himself by working in various hotels and inns in very low paid jobs. He is rather too willing to please and not ever so good at asserting himself, as a consequence he has always co-operated with requests to work extra hours and has come in at very short notice for late shifts. He has been working 70 hours a week for the last 22 months or so for his current employer.

In January his manager told him he would be promoted and go onto the 'staff' of course no contract materialised and nothing was put in writing, but he worked the hours for effectively no pay. He has now exhausted all forms of 'problem resolution' and has been told no pay and no promotion. He is absolutely gutted, but not having 2 years service cannot go to tribunal for constructive dismissal. Neither is he in a union.

What are his options? could he file a claim for the money he should have been paid in the magistrates court?

Magistrates courts are for criminal matters, your son can go to either an employment tribunal (complicated) or just use the county court small claims procedure.

No written contract is needed, although if he wasnt given one that is helpful to his claim (and even make a stand alone claim at an ET but a bond is required to go there)

What he needs to do is claim for money due under an agreement (breach of contract) and add up all of the hours worked, how much he was paid and for what hours and then claim for the difference.

If the employer claims a zero hours contract they should produce one and if what you say is true then they cant so whatever terms they offer other staff will be the terms that should apply regarding holiday pay, overtime etc. Again, add it all up based on his hourly pay and then claim for the differencebetween that summ and waht had been paid.

Make sure that it is clear how much is being claimed and what it is for so the employer has an incentive to pay up before you start full proceedings so to this end write a letter and say that it is a "letter before action" and make it clear waht the claim is and that he expects a response by a fixed time, say 14 days after the receipt of the letter. Hand it over or post by RD so proof of delivery exists. If they then respond by agreeing part of the claimed amount then he will have to decide what is worth fighting over, generally the people who behave in the way your son has been treated will either deny it all and ignore the LBA or if part of a larger organisation , lie to their bosses to get themselves out of the trouble. If it is a large organisation that his manager answers to, there may be an attempt at horse trading so any offer should be read vary carefully.

Thank you so much for replying and for the good advice. I will be speaking with him tomorrow so will take him through this and task him with evidence gathering.

If he worked long hours without being paid for them, that is a breach of minimum wage legislation and should be reported to HMRC.

On Tuesday this week he had been called in as they were short staffed and was working unpaid. The local manager took exception to the fact that he took a short break and informed him that she didn't like his attitude. He has always remained polite even under provocation. He had a meeting yesterday with the Regional Manager, his local manager was also present. He took his resignation letter with him.

He has a received a written apology and details of two training days after which he will be appointed to Kitchen Manager. No money though. He was happy with that and accepted. I have provided him with the contact details of Unite and have made a note about HMRC and minimum wage, thank you Steampowered. If necessary I can sub the cost of the bond to go to tribunal, his 2 years is up in September.

Thanks to all for your sound advice and marvellous support, it is much appreciated.

ps I am very pleased to have made a small donation - this forum is an absolute God-send to ordinary folks

Dont just make a note. If they are not paying him, then start complaining.

If it were my job I wouldn't hesitate, in spite of all the advice both myself and his Dad gave he wants to soldier on. His older brother and I had already planned a 'truth bomb' assault on their web site and Facebook but you can't tell them they know best - kids bah! The older they get the more trouble they are but you just love the sods to bits!

Thank you for the update and the donation. It will help CAG to keep on advising people like yourself.

HB

Very well done and thanks for the donation.

Make sure he keeps a proper written record/evidence of the hours he has worked and the hours he got paid. It is generally possible to claim for unpaid wages (either at the contractual rate or the national minimum wage rate) going back 6 years. He may decide never to kick up a fuss about this, but should at least have the option to do so if he gets messed around further in future.

If he worked long hours without being paid for them, that is a breach of minimum wage legislation and should be reported to HMRC.

What is meant to happen when you report this to HMRC?

My wife was working in 2012 for a company that provides cleaning services in hotels. They repeatedly processed payroll for less hours than she worked, and ignored all verbal and written complaints.

The complaint to HMRC resulted in an email saying to log it online via the Pay & Work Rights Complaint Form on the Direct Gov website. Logging online resulted in a phone call a few days later asking my wife for further information, then nothing since.