Ex-Employer Wants to take me to Small Claims

[chickadee1976]

i left my job on very short notice which resulted in an overpayment of wages as Pays had already been processed for the month.

 

I recieved a letter from the solicitors saying i had to return the mobile phone or pay £150 , pay £30 travel expenses for the uplift of workshop keys and pay £216 in over paid wages .

 

I replied saying the phone had already been returned, i wouldnt pay £30 as i had offered to return the keys so this was there decision and that the wage calculation was wrong.

 

They had calculated my wage on a salaried amount and from the day before i had left . They also did not take into account the PAYE and NIC which had already been deucted.

 

I had always been paid a salaried amount and had been there for 6 months at the time i left, everytime i queried the salary nothing happened, it had also been verbally agreed i would recieve Travel expense this also nevr happened.

 

I calculated the amounts which i thought were actually due, based on my contract of employment sating i would be employed on a salary of £9.50 per hour and from the day i actually left. I then roughly deducted an amount of PAYE and NIc giving a total of Approximatley £110

 

I also requested my origial payslip a revised payslip and my P45

 

 

The solicitor has now written back asking only for the £216 which is still wrong no matter how you look at it as PAYE and NIC would still have to be deducted

 

I have offered to pay the amount of £110 in full settlement.

 

My question is when they dont accept, which i reckon they wont, do i have a leg to stand on to fight them, i really cant afford court fees.

 

Im in Scotland BTW i know some aspects of LAw work differently here

 

 

Many Thanks

[elche]

Hi chickadee

 

English & Welsh law only, for me I'm afraid.

 

In English law this would be a small claim and hence costs would be limited even if you did lose e.g. £30 issue fee, £80 sol's costs, etc - haven't checked these figures for a while as I don't do any civil lit any more.

 

It wouldn't surprise me if Scottish law was similar BUT I am not sure on this.

 

Again in English law you can put a claimant to strict proof - i.e. they have to prove their claim on the BOP, you don't have advance an actual defence - but you would still have to ensure you complied with directions e.g. returning your defence form even if it just states, "The Defendant denies the claim, and puts the Claimant to strict proof' .

 

Sorry I couldn't be more definitive, I'll PM a colleague to see if we have any experts in Scottish Litigation - but can't promise anything.

 

Che

[chickadee1976]

Thanks for your reply, whats BOP

[elche]

Balance of Probabilities - sorry typing all day leaves my poor fingers weary!

[rory32]

The solicitor has now written back asking only for the £216 which is still wrong no matter how you look at it as PAYE and NIC would still have to be deducted

Have they broken down this figure or have they simply come up with this sum?

[chickadee1976]

It has been broken dow as Salary = £19760

 

Divided by 365 x 4 days - £216.55

 

 

The way i break it down is

 

14.5 hours @ £9.50 per hour = £137.75

Less Paye @ £1.32 per hour x 14.5 hours = £19.14

NI @ £0.76 per hour x 14.5 hours = £11.02

 

Leaving an overpayment of £107.59

 

 

H is calculating on a salaryied amount whereas im calculating per hour as stated on my contract. He also has my leaving day wrong and has not allowed for the PAYE and NIC already deducted.

 

My only problem is he always paid me the salaried amount even when i had overtime and travel claims on my time sheets, when i raised the issue nothing was ever done about it

[rory32]

In English law this would be a small claim and hence costs would be limited even if you did lose e.g. £30 issue fee, £80 sol's costs, etc - haven't checked these figures for a while as I don't do any civil lit any more.

 

It wouldn't surprise me if Scottish law was similar BUT I am not sure on this.

If the value of the claim is £200 or less there will normally be no award of expenses.

If the value is between £200 and £1500, the maximum amount of expenses which can normally be awarded by the court to the successful party is £150.

[rory32]

Again in English law you can put a claimant to strict proof - i.e. they have to prove their claim on the BOP, you don't have advance an actual defence - but you would still have to ensure you complied with directions e.g. returning your defence form even if it just states, "The Defendant denies the claim, and puts the Claimant to strict proof' .

If you intend to dispute the claim, you must appear in court (or be represented) on the hearing date to state your position - you don't actually state a defence on the copy summons.

 

To dispute the claim, you would simply complete box 3 at section B on page 5 of the copy summons. You must return page 5 to the court on or before the return date shown on the first page of the copy summons. If you do not, the court may grant the order sought by the pursuer, together with any interest and expenses claimed.

 

If you intend to counterclaim you should send the court a written note of any counterclaim you propose to state at the hearing. You may do this at any time before the return date. If you do so, you should also send a copy of it to the pursuer at the same time.

 

If you defend the claim, you may make a written or oral incidental application to the court for the pursuer to supply any information/documents that they may have that is required for you to defend/disprove their claim. They would have to show how they have come to calculate the amount they state as owing anyway and you would be able to show the sheriff your contract and how the figure should have been calculated.

 

Guideance notes on the small claims process in Scotland are here