Hi guys. Been having an ongoing issue with my current employer with me not being paid correctly over the last two months. I work a job with a "zero hour contract" but most of the time i end up working at least 40 hours, it's not the most glamourous of jobs but it pays the bills, i get just over minimum wage £6.59 @ over 25. The way holidays work with the company i work for is you accrue holidays @ 12% of your worked hours each week and as of end of june i had accrued just over 100 hours holiday entitlement since march. When we request holidays we can request either an amount of days or an amount of hours to be paid within that holiday period. As per company policies i submitted a holiday request form for one week in june and one week in july. Both of these i requested to be paid 50 hours holiday pay for however neither was paid, after contacting my companies payroll department and financial controller on the most recent pay date 3 weeks ago today:jaw: they advised me they had no evidence of the holiday request form beign received, as the site i work at held a carbon copy of both these holiday request forms i was told that as soon as they received these carbon copies they would be able to sort out the missing pay and send me a cheque, they received these carbon copies over two weeks ago and have still failed to pay me this missing pay. i spoke to the payroll department today who basically said theyve been "too busy" to sort it out but haven't forgotten about it, but because my next payday is now only a week away that i should just wait and have it paid to me in my next pay packet. As i pointed out, it's not as simple as that as when i took the time off i expected to be paid for the holidays i was entitled too, and as such had budgeted my months expenditure around receiving this pay and not receiving a quarter of my pay over two months has lead to me having to borrow money off family in order to meet expenditure and has also lead to me incurrring bank charges... After the long explanation - i simply have one question is it possible for me to claim back bank charges from my employer if them not paying me correctly has lead to me incurring bank charges or to financial hardship?

Anyone able to chime in on this?

Been a quite a while since i had this issue. Basically i attended the disciplinary meeting and after explaining myself and pointing out the issues i had with other staff members - and the fact that the people giving statements and "evidence" were likely co-erced i was re-instated, albeit with receiving a final written warning. As a result of the hearing and the issues it highlighted and some other things that it brought forwarrd which were investigated i was moved to another site. After transferring my area manager apologised to me for how he handled the issue and that he should never had suspended me, that he was impressed with my professionalism and that due to the issues highlighted within the hearing and further investigation he would be getting me paid for the time i was suspended without pay. I spoke with him at length regarding the issues and that i was going to submit a grievance letter outlining my issues etc, however after quite some time spent discussing with him and also the fact that i need the job and hours (i know from past experience with another person who submitted a grievance letter) that they would make it hard for me to stay at the company (reduced hours, transfer to unrealistic sites etc) even if this meant later taking them to a tribunal for unfair dismassal i could not at the time afford the possible lack of money. Fast forward to now, i never got paid for the time i was suspended without pay despite my area manager's promises and also the fact that i know other people who have been suspended for periods of time on the same contract as me have been for their time suspended. The area manager involved in suspending me and subsequent investigation has since left the company and i am unsure where i stand with regards to this issue as the company seems to enjoy putting up barriers for every issue you can think. Also recently due to issues with staff numbers i have been covering the shop where i was previously moved from, with 3/4 of the staff who gave statements against me and apparently had issues with me still working there, so i have been working both at the site i was transferred to and the site from which i was moved. Before they moved me i spoke to the new area manager about this and the fact i was uncomfortable working at the previous site due to issues in the past, to which he responded he "I don't care about past issues, i'm focusing on the present and making this area stronger", he didn't want to hear about why i was uncomfortable working at said site, however given that it was supposed to be temporary (1 week of shifts) i let it slide. However over the last month i have been working an increasing number of shifts at my old site with the site manager who caused me these issues in the first place and it's gone from them asking me to work one shift to me almost being moved back there. Because of issues in the past and teh fact i dont feel i can trust half the people i work with,or the manager of that site it's causing me a GREAT deal of stress and anxiety, i feel like i need to watch my back in-case she thinks up another reason to try and get rid of me seeing as she was unsuccessful last time. The current advice i am asking for is whether or not to submit a grievance letter now, outlining the past issues, etc and the stress it is causing me being back at this site or how i can proceed further considering the management isn't all that interested in the issues?

Ok an update, i received a phone call today from the companies head office informing me of the date and time of a disciplinary meeting - and also that copies of evidence were sent out today by first classe recorded delivery. The notice of disciplinary i have states "At this meeting the question of disciplinary action against you, in accordance with the Company Disciplinary Procedure, will be considered with regard to: Sexual Harassment Breach of Cash Handling Theft of Company Property Falsification of Company Records" None of these i am guilty of, and i'm going to fight with every ounce of strength i have - but would appreciate some help from people regarding this. The copies of evidence i have are transcripts of interviews with employees - hand written transcripts of interviews between employees and my area manager. Some stating they witnessed me making inappropriate comments towards female colleagues others that i have been taking money from tills in order to pay for taxis, some saying i have taken stock. Another one stating that i talked down to him after he had complained about feeling ill during a shift, i know an employee who witnessed this and it did not happen the way the employee has worded it in his statement/complaint. I believe i should receive recordings of the conversations and so forth when the mail arrives via recorded delivery. How exactly can i form my defense? Unless there is some other form of evidence other than the verbal testimonies of some employees such as cctv etc can they dismiss me for gross misconduct? Another thing to note is that the employees that have made statements are all employess that i mentioned in my initial post as being "friendly" with my store manager - all part of her inner circle. I will try to contact the person who was a witness to what happened for the event where the employee claims i mistreated him and se eif he is able to provide a statement for my disciplinary meeting, is that ok? What else can i also do. Edit :- one thing i noticed thte statement from one employee claiming that i had made inappropriate comments towards them and is dated 29th september, i was on holiday from 25th sep to 13th october yet was not suspended for investigation until november 13, with some statements being dated nov 14th others dec 15th. Surely if there was suspicion that i had committed sexual harrassment or gross misconduct and in the employees own written words "made them feel uncomfortable whilst working on shifts with them" i should have been suspended far sooner than mid-november? Another question i would ask is - is it fair of me to ask when attending the disciplinary meeting for said meeting to be held by another individual if i am not comfortable with the individual heading the meeting? I only ask as i have a feeling that my manager who i have already stated i firmly believe has a vendetta against me, if she was in the meeting or heading said meeting could i raise issues with this?

i know it's been a bit sicne i updated this thread, been having issues with internet not being available... It's now been 4 weeks and one day since i was suspended, i had an update last week after contacting my area, during the phone call he asked me if i was available for a q & a session on the wednesday i agreed, he also said that depending on how the meeting went and whether there was a need for a disciplinary meeting i may be back to work as early as thursday. I turned up and this q&a session turned out to be a recorded meeting between me, my manager and area manager where they asked me questions relating to my suspension had i ever acted towards other employess in a way that might be considered sexual, had i ever made remarks that could be mistaken as being discriminatory to people of other ethnic backgrounds, all kinds of questions. I answered there questions honestly and then asked them for a copy of any and all materials relating to their investigation including any evidence statements etc, they said thats fine and also informed me i should have a copy of any materials by saturday 9/12 by the latest and instructions on when and where my disciplinary meeting is due to be held., Saturday came and went - no letter , no evidence, nothing. i rang my area manager - no answer so i left a message on his answer phone. Monday and tuesday both came and went nothing in the post on either of these days, i attempted to contact him both days, no answer monday, tuesday he answered the phone then after introducing myself he hung up, i rang back - answerphone - left another message, no answer again today. to me it just seems like they are stalling for time because they have nothing to pin on me, yet do not want me to return to work. Either way i can't see myself returning to work for this company, i just have no confidence in the way they operate any more.. Anhy advice anyone?

I don't have a copy of said procedurespolicy nor do i have an employee handbook/contract was never provided with one. However i work a zero hour contract so i believe suspension without pay is allowable for them whilst as most weeks i have been working 40-60 hours i'm neither salaried or guaranteed a set number of hours.

Sorry i should have been a bit clearer when explaining, the person who has accused me is a current employee as far a s i'm aware, what they told me is that this person named 4 individuals they believe were stealing money one being the employee who resigned before he could be investigated - 2 others have since left. Which leaves me being the last of the 4 who have been accused, i have an idea who the accuser may be but not knowing their identity puts a bit of a downer on me complaining regarding this, also regarding the grievance i spoke to cab the day after i was suspended and they said to wait until after the results of a disciplinary hearing, Seeing as i have had no contact from my employer is it still worth following this advice or should i get the letter typed up and sent off asap? if the letter what kind of content and claims should i outlie in the grievance letter.

Hello all, Recently i was suspended from work pending an investigation regarding theft. The day i was suspended i was working at the shop i work(ed?) at and was taken away from the shop floor by my store manager and area manager, they both spoke to me regarding issues in the work place saying that another superviser who recently left had resigned after he was accused of theft of company property. In this impromptu meeting my area manager accused me of breaches of procedure (i am guilty of these breaches i admit that much, it amounts to not doing some things by set guidelines) this would normaly carry with it a final written warning, however they then went on to say they have had accusations that i have been stealing money from tills although they have no evidence regarding this. He then offered me the option of resigning on the spot or being investigating for theft telling me that he would proseecute me if anything was found, i told them to investigate me as much as they want as i am categorically not guilty of theft. They then gave me a letter which details that there has been allegations regarding my contact at work (not detailing what the accusations involved) that i would be suspended without pay and that they would contact me for a disciplinary meeting, and not to contact current members of staff regarding the issue. Fast forward to today several weeks down the line, i haven't heard a peep from them regarding this, i have been looking for a new job whilst i have been suspended but so far no luck, i can't afford for this to continue and to be suspended for an extended period without pay. I'm worried that if i contact the head office hr department and ask if there is any update on the situation they might construe this as a breach of the"no contact with current employees clause" What should i do regarding this. Furthermore i feel this has only come to light after my manager was convinced that i submitteed a complaint to head office regarding her conduct, i know whilst i was on holiday she told employees of the store that i submitted this complaint regarding her even though i didnt. A couple of days before i was suspsended i was working on shift and she said something to me about the previous employee resigning, and the fact a couple of other employees had resigned recently, all these people had given evidence again her when she was being investigated regarding this complaint. what she had said to me was "You all tried to s*** on me, this is what you get for trying to play with the big boys" i have no witnesses to this so cannot prove what was said. The complaint was regarding the fact that as a manager she hired her partner, promoted them and treats them preferentially compared to other employees, i and other employeed were interviewed regarding this with the interview being recorded by a hr representative at the meeting. I am wondering if my area manager has let her know the content of said meetings which were supposed to be confidential, also i feel that i am only being investigated because i gave evidence at said interview and that my manager thinks i submitted said complaint. Any advice is appreciated, thanks

Still thinking on what to do really, it would be nice not to have to take on additional debt when doing a consilidation loan as it would bump down monthly payments, length of the debt etc all of which are good things. Then again if something were to happen in the next two years (could be statute barred by december 2013, as last payment was in either october or november 2007?) it could cause me problems further down the road, it's definitely a matter that asks for some serious thinking and that's what i intend to do.

The other debts aren't challengable i didn't take out ppi on anything im afraid, got paperwork for the others.

Yea, you got it.

To clarify i took a loan from welcome to pay off an overdraft, the loan was for 2300, i used this to pay an overdraft, and to start working on where i was living, i got defaulted because i had problems paying the repayments. 4.5 is roughly the figure they filed the claim for back in 2009, £7,473 is what they have written to me recently to say that i owe them at moment, i.e. this is what they are pursuing.

Hi thanks for the reply. Just to clarify the original loan was to pay off an overdraft and for home improvement, i was thinking of taking out a consolidation loan to pay other debts i currently have. The discontinuance was of their claim in court regarding the loan i tookfrom them in 2007, the amount of which was 2300 (not 2700 that was a mistake), they claimed i owed them around 4.5k when they took it to county court in late 2008, i submitted the defence before their notice of discontinuance. The debts are a few K worth of various bills / creditors that i couldn't afford to pay when i got made redundant previously, this would allow me to deal with one creditor rather than several, mainly just for piece of mind and less costs when corresponding (recorded delivery letters etc) one of the creditors i would be looking to pay off is welcome but again i was unsure regarding this debt seeing as they haven't contacted me until this week in about a year. Now that i'm working again i believe i could realistcally afford the repayments of the loan i was thinking of applying for a bank loan(been with the bank several years and never had any late payments unauthorised overdrafts etc)

Right, so i spoke to the court this morning regardign the case. Apparently i was wrong, there was no judgement as welcome finance filed a notice of discontinuance before the hearing was due.

looked through every bit of correspondence i have, unfortunately have nothing from the court other than the initial claim form submitted to the county court. i do have a letter dated after the course case which reads. We have been in contact with the mediation service following the recent court order as the claimant would be interested in pursuing this opportunity for settlement. If you are interested in a mediation taking place please contact the mediation service on (Telephone number). But other than that nothing im afraid. Edit :- I do have a letter from their solicitors (irwin mitchell) dated mid 2009 offering a reduced settlement of 3660, however that is probably not an option lol.

I'm not 100% sure, i submitted defence etc online. Just looking through my documents and stuff now to see if i have a copy of information regarding the judgement. Although i believe it had something to do with the fact they hadn't complied with my cca request, they claimed that the timescale i had given ( same as the template from here ) was unreasonable and i had to allow upto 4 weeks to receive the information, the information didn't turn up until well after that. one thing i have noticed going through my documents is that a copy of the credit agreement (photocopy) that was submitted to the court by welcome is signed and dated 10/09/07, whereas a copy i have is dated 10/07/07. Also far from happy with the charges they have added to the account (£10 a phonecall) for multiple phonecalls, when i had written to them saying to contact me in writing only..

Hi, i'm looking for some advice regarding a debt i have with welcome finance, i'll outline the history of the debt etc below. Initially i took out a loan to sort out a house i was moving into (first place of my own, yes it was rented but was not furnished etc) of £2700, i took this out in order to also consolidate another debt i had at the time (overdraft). Everything was going alright until after the first couple of months payment, i had a problem with my place of work, they didn't pay me on time which meant my bills went out and i got overdraft charges (unauthorised overdraft charges at £25 a time or something similar from hsbc), this left me in a bit of a state for the rest of the month as my wages barely cleared my overdraft + the charges levied on top of me, on top of that hsbc reversed the payment that was due to be made to welcome. it all came to a head the next month as i had problems with being paid late AGAIN which lead to my welcome bill not being paid again, this led to welcome defaulting me, and they had been chasing me for the money ever since. they took me to court in order to get a ccj against me, i won they lost shortly after this they sent collection agents round my house when i wasn't in, i arrived home to find a piece of paper with my personal details, the amount i owed, account number etc stuck to my door. I made a complaint to welcome regarding this back when it happened and heard nothing from them until recently (after movign properties the complaint happened in early 2009). They now claim that i owe them £7,473. I was looking at getting a loan to consolidate some of my other debts.(simply because i would much prefer dealing with one creditor etc) The main advice i'm looking for is what kind of settlement figure should i offer welcome finance regarding this loan (need to know how much i need to pay out so i don't take on more debt than i can afford) or what action i should take regarding this loan.

oki dokey , will do. Thanks mate

particulars of claim are By agreeament(s) entered into between the Claimant and Defendant , the defendandt has failed to pay the sum of £4365.13. The claimant has requested payment but the defendant has failed to pay the full sum demanded. The claimant claims the sum of 4365.13 and interest under s.69 of the county courts act 1984 at a rate of 8% per annum from 05/08/2008 until judgement or sooner payment. Cost. the claim does not include issues under the Human Rights Act 1998.

IN THE XXXXXXX COUNTY COURT CLAIM NUMBER XXXXXXXX BETWEEN: WELCOME FINANCIAL SERVICES LIMITED - Claimant xxxxxxx - Defendant DEFENCE 1. On 6 August 2008 IRWIN MITCHELL commenced proceedings against the defendant for £4365.13 plus interest, a debt allegedly incurred under a credit agreement between the defendant and Welcome Financial Services Limited. 2. The defendant does not admit or deny the debt, but puts the claimant to strict proof thereof. 3. The defendant has not received a valid notice of assignment for the alleged debt from the original creditor and therefore put the claimant to strict proof that privity of contract exists between the claimant and Defendant. 4. The claimant’s solicitors were requested by letter dated 14 August 2008 to produce the following various documents under Part 18.1 of the Civil Procedure Rules viz., a copy of the executed credit agreement, a true copy of the alleged assignment and any default notice from the original creditor together with some form of proof of postage that this notice was sent to the correct address and was served with the proper notice before this claim was submitted. 5. To date, the claimant’s solicitors have not provided the requested documents. 6. The defendant has not received a copy of any default notice from the claimant, and asks that the claimant provides the court with a true copy of such a notice, and with some form of proof of postage that this notice was sent to the correct address and was served with the proper notice before this claim was submitted. AND the defendant 7. seeks an order that the claimant’s action is struck out or otherwise is dismissed on the grounds that any claim cannot be enforced following the claimant’s default in failing to supply a true copy of the executed credit agreement as required by S78 (1) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. 8. In the alternative, the defendant respectfully asks the court to order the disclosure of the credit agreement, notice of default in the form required by the Consumer Credit Act 1974, and notice of assignment in the form required by the Law of Property Act 1925.The defendant also requests that the court order the claimant to disclose a list of all charges made to the account and a list of the costs associated with each charge for the last 6 years in order for them to prove that the debt amounts to the amount claimed. 9. The defendant also respectfully asks the permission of the court to amend this defence when the above documents are provided by the claimant. Just about to enter this as my defence online, anyone able to give me a quick heads up whether it is any good or not?

need to know what to do, just got back after a weekend away, and apparently got a letter on friday from welcome, signed for by my housemate. now i need to submit my denfence today, and i need some advice. here is the basic contents of the letter that i received With reference to your letter (undated) You do not specify which part of the civil procedure rules you are relying upon to request the information from our client. Are you requesting under part 18? If so, we would advised that part 18 states " a request should be concise and strictly confined to matters which are reasonably necessary and proportionate to enable the requesting party to prepare his own case or understand the case he has to meet" we believe that your request is not reasonably necessary and proportionate. Furthermore, you have not given a reasonable time for a response. We have sent a request to our client for the information which is necessarry and proportionate however it may take up to 4 weeks for this information to be provided. If your request is not under part 18 please specify further. please note also we are under no obligation to hold proceedings and as such you should file your defence at court. i need some help and fast please! Gotta submit my defence based in this today, and i am work from very early afternoon so there isn't much time. =/

What kind of info should i put into said holding defence as they still haven't provided the info? Is there a template defence i could use and alter, if not is anybody able to help me with this. Would do this myself but i dont really know much , and well you dont get anywhere without asking!!

Checked mail, and haven't had anything from welcome whatsoever. So how do i go about filing/submitting my defence and what kind of information should i submit to the court, Also how would i present to the court the information needed i.e. a copy of the letter i sent.

Well so far i haven't had anything back from welcome's solicitors. Haven't had chance to check todays post as it comes in around noon and i started work at 11am. My royal mail delivery slip shows that it was delivered on 15th august the same day i submitted my aos on the ccj site. Now if i get home and have nothing from them, does this mean that they are in default as they haven't provided the requested material. and what kind of defense do i need to submit to show this to the court. Do i submit it via teh ccj site (i dont know if i can upload a copy of the letter i sent to welcome's solicitors on that site, or do i send the information to the court via recorded delivery? Also if the issue date on the ccj claim for is 6th august and i submitted the aos on the 15th does this mean i need to submit my defense today, or do i have a couple more days?

ok, great, thanks for the info andy.