Employment problems, please help

[Libbi24]

Hi, i have been working at the same very small company for over two years now and am having a few problems. I have no contract of employment, and when i started i was doing a fairly basic admin/reception job as there was a more senior staff member to handle the bigger things. However he left shortly after i started and i have gradually taken on his duties in addition to my own. I have not had a promotion or payrise, and i work a six day week for barely more than the minimum wage. I know the other member of staff was on quite a bit more, and my boss has made it clear i will not be getting an increase in wages anytime soon which i don't feel is fair. Also i am given the bare minimum holiday leave (all bank hols are taken out of this), and have to use a full day's holiday if i take a saturday off (which is only a half day), is this right? I am not given any sick leave, and must take it out of my holiday allowance, if i go over this i have the extra days deducted from my wages. Is this normal for a permenant job?

Also, i know that my boss is not following correct proceedure in many areas, (even breaking the law) which i am expected to ignore, this leads me to want to leave however i can't because in the current climate i am finding it hard to find another job, i have bills to pay and cannot afford to be out of work.

What would people do in my situation?

Edited October 15, 2009 by Libbi24

[Libbi24]

Anyone???

[Guest Old_andrew2018]

You could PM one of the experts in HR, asking them to give advice please include a link to your thread.

 

Andy

[raydetinu]

you must have a contract, by law;ask for it. It must state you working hours and wages. you are entitled to 28 days annual paid leave, but these can include B hols. you must pay you sick pay evenif it is the statutory minimum. They must give pay slips with all deductions listed. Check your rights, spaek to ACAS, but at the end of the day it is your decision if you want to tackle your employer. How many hours a week do you work?If he dismiisses you for asking for rights etc. ( makes you redundant say ) you can take him to an ET and they will not be very sypathetic with him. As you have been there more than two years your rights are quite strong.

[Libbi24]

i have asked for it, i was told it wasn't needed and the issue was brushed under the carpet. So it is 28 days now is it? I've taken 20 and been told any more and i'll have deductions! Oh and my payslips don't show how many hours i worked and holidays taken, every other job they have, do they need to include this info? It is a small office and 'rocking the boat' will make the working environment even more unbearable. I work 43 hours.

If i take him to an ET won't that impact negatively on future jobs?

[elpulpo]

Hi, really sorry to hear that you're having such problems. Obviously they're failing in their satutory obligations on a number of issues.

I suppose at the end of the day, confronting such problems all depends on what you are prepared to risk, if you're really dependant on the money, it's probably better to just stick it out 'til ya find another job.

Wish I could be more positive, but in my experience, edit employers don't react well if ya take issue with them.

The government should hold them to account more, no good having laws if they're not forced to comply with them.

Best of luck.

Edited October 31, 2009 by IdaInFife
edit for bypassing swear filter

[teaboy2]

libbi although you have no written contract you are infact still under contract as according to employment law you have entered a contract once the employer has verbally offered you employment.

 

Now the company are legally required to provide you with a writen version of their policies and procedures and details fo holidays, wages and satutory sick leave and pay within 2 months of you starting work.

 

With regards to you taking saturday of and they deducting a full day from your holidays as a result then this is illgal as they can only deduct the actual amount of working time you had off. i.e if you only worked half a day on saturdays they can only deduct half a day from your holidays. so basically they owe you have a days wage for every saturday you have had.

 

With regards to sick leave they are required to pay you satutory sick pay from the date after your 3rd consquetive day off i.e if you were sick on monday, tuesday, wednesday then you will be entitled to recieve satutory sick pay for the thursday onward until the day you return to work. you will not hwoever be paid for the frist 3 days. it is also illagl for them to deduct your days of sick from your holdiay entitlement unless give your expressed permission for them to do so. if you do then they will still have to pay you for the days of sick as a holidays.

 

your company is in breach of employment laws and is acting illegally you can still take them to tribunal even though you are still working from them. any disclipinary action in response to you taking them to tribunal is highly unlikeely as it can been seen as harassment, dsicrimnation and constructive dismissal if ending with your Dismissal. Also any tribunal action you take agianst an employer, it will not effect you chances of employment in the future as you do not have to disclose such information, other then a reason for leaving. what you say as your reason is upto you! you will probably find the best people to work for are the ones that are sympathic to you having to go through a tribunal, as they are the ones who respect the law and their employees rights. any employer turning you down due to you taking tribunal action in the past isnt worth working for. as they know they not fully complying with the law themselfs and they probably dont want the risk of you taking the same action against them. infact would you want to work for them? probably not!

 

As poster above said contact acas but also goto citizens advice and ask to speack to an employment advisor as they deal with employment trbunals and will represent you at tribunal

Edited October 17, 2009 by teaboy2

[mariefab]

FYI, your right to a written 'contract' is assured in the first section of the legislation below.

 

Employment Rights Act 1996 (c. 18)

[Libbi24]

I don't really want to get a written contract now, as my boss will probably make me sign up to one month's notice when i want to leave... and at the moment with no contract it's only 2 weeks (right?). I have decided i just want out, as the situation is becoming unbearable. If i hand my notice in can my boss make me leave any sooner than the date i give? I haven't got anything else lined up yet but my life is being made a misery on a daily basis, my employer is rubbish and has no respect for the law so i don't see it getting any better

[geekay88]

If your employer has made you doing your job untenable, it can be treated as constructive dismissal - inform them that you consider yourself constructively dismissed , when you can bear it no more and wish to move on. If you wish you could pursue the tribunal route.

[raydetinu]

See below:

 

The statutory minimum notice period

• Employee's length of service is less than 1 month - No notice period
  
• Employee's length of service is 1 month to 2 years - 1 week
  
• Employee's length of service is 2 to 3 years - 2 weeks
  
• Plus an additional week for each year of continuous employment to a maximum of 12 weeks
  

If you terminate their employment without proper notice, then your employee does have a claim for wrongful dismissal (see below for further details).

 

If you've given them proper notice, they will have no claim for compensation. But they may still have a valid claim for unfair dismissal, even if the proper notice period is given.

 

Instant dismissal

 

When an employer terminates an employee's employment contract, they often want the employee to stop working immediately. They may want instant dismissal to take affect, as they may be worried that the staff member may not continue to work effectively or they may be disruptive in the workplace. If this is the situation in your case, it's usual for you to pay them a sum in lieu of notice or as compensation for failure to give notice.

 

Sometimes the employment contract will expressly state that you can terminate employment on payment of a sum in lieu of notice. In this instance, when the payment is made, tax and National Insurance deductions should be made in the usual way.

 

If there is nothing in the employment contract relating to making payments in lieu, the payment may be paid tax-free, up to a limit of £30,000 and without deduction of National Insurance contributions. It's not always entirely clear whether the payment is tax-free, so it's worth seeking advice on this point.

 

If a payment in lieu of notice is made, it's not only the employee's salary, but also all of their benefits, such as a company car, that must be included in the calculation. The exception to this would be if their employment contract stated that pay in lieu of notice didn't include benefits.

[Libbi24]

I doubt i will be able to prove constructive dismissal as it boils down to my word against his, there are no other staff members to back me up and no grievance proceedure. My main problem is that he is acting illegally in several areas, and either thinks i am too dumb to realise or just expects me to go along with it, which i wouldn't of course. I am worried though that i might get dragged into it, i can't report him as he will know where it's come from. I have to get out but i still can't find a new job, would i be able to claim JSA if i left or would they refuse me as i left the job??

[elpulpo]

when you say he's acting illegally, can you be more specific? PM if you want.

pIf you're in a situation that's causing you real distress you should go to your GP and get a sick note for work related stress. They HAVE to pay SSP.

[Libbi24]

I can't afford to live on SSP, and i don't want it to look bad on my record for a future job. I have thought about going to my GP for help managing the stress, but going off sick is not an option.

I don't want to go into further detail in case i am identified, things are bad enough already, i realise this makes it harder to get an idea of the situation.

[elpulpo]

OK.

It strikes me that you're really scared of this guy.

Obviously I don't know what your personal circumstances are. In my experience, whenever I've been miserable in a situation, no matter how scared I was of the consequences, I've always soon felt better when I've just walked away from it, if there's nothing to be gained by staying. Life goes on.

I get the impression; certainly from your use of language in your posts, that you're a capable person, but given the circumstance you've been under, that perhaps your self esteem has taken a clobbering.

[IdaInFife]

when you say he's acting illegally, can you be more specific? PM if you want.

pIf you're in a situation that's causing you real distress you should go to your GP and get a sick note for work related stress. They HAVE to pay SSP.

 

 

CAG does nto advise to ask for or give advice through PM. This is an open forum which helps to ensure that any advice given is not misleading or inaccurate.

 

ida x

[cynic09]

I doubt i will be able to prove constructive dismissal as it boils down to my word against his, there are no other staff members to back me up and no grievance proceedure. My main problem is that he is acting illegally in several areas, and either thinks i am too dumb to realise or just expects me to go along with it, which i wouldn't of course. I am worried though that i might get dragged into it, i can't report him as he will know where it's come from. I have to get out but i still can't find a new job, would i be able to claim JSA if i left or would they refuse me as i left the job??

 

You can get guidance on what constitutes grievance procedure from ACAS, it's no longer a matter of choice for employers.

A great deal of misery is created by employers who either have no knoledge of employment law or who are arrogant enough to believe it shouldn't apply to them. Unfortunately these people get away with it because employees are too scared of losing thier job to take them to task

[Libbi24]

A great deal of misery is created by employers who either have no knoledge of employment law or who are arrogant enough to believe it shouldn't apply to them. Unfortunately these people get away with it because employees are too scared of losing thier job to take them to task

 

Well said!

 

Just to update this thread, i m still in the same job, things are getting worse. I have been expected to take on even more responsibility, and still no mention of any promotion or payrise.

I am looking for other jobs but so far no luck. I daren't just leave (though i've been tempted to hand my notice in so many times!), as if you leave a job and don't find anything else you can't even claim JSA for 6 months (i think?). I don't think i'd have much trouble getting a temp job really, but i just can't afford to risk being out of work.

My boss is piling more and more onto me, including personal errands and even setting up his new laptop and running the office whilst he takes holidays.

I have gone round in circles so many times with this i'm going dizzy