Self Employed - Owed money and struggling to obtain :(

[HF whO?]

Firstly Good Evening,

 

I'm hoping that I may be able to obtain some sound advice regarding a little trouble I am having with a tradesperson that I was working for.

 

I work on a Self Employed basis and have had a falling out with the chap that I was working for.

 

After only doing a few months work with this chap I was getting hacked off with the way I was being treated and the way in which I was being spoken to. I had challenged this in the early days and things did improve for a short while.

 

Anyway, 2 weeks into a 3 week job I was asked to pack up my tools and leave site for swearing on the premisses. This was a forced reaction due to recurrence of the above problem. Anyway, I did exactly as I was asked and packed up all of my tools and my coat and left immediately. Since this event we have had further fall outs due to the matter of outstanding money. I have never been asked to go back and complete the job.

 

The amount that I stated I would be invoicing has been challenged because the job had not been completed and it was even said that deductions would be made for the uniform that I was issued and deductions of the amount for a few tools that were given to me as a gift on my Birthday. I obviously expressed that I was not happy with this and said that the clothing supplied was PPE and the tools were a gift but if it was that much of an issue I would return them.

 

I have not been refused my money but I have been told to send the invoice, to which he will not agree on the total and he will deal with it and if/when payment is to be made it will be done so on proper invoicing terms which he has in his mind as 90 days???

 

The amount that I want to put on my invoice is two thirds of the job total because I completed two weeks out of the three but the problem I see arising is that if I send my invoice and then he refuses to pay due to disputing the amount I may end up losing my money completely???

 

Also, am I better off invoicing for each week seperately? The reason I ask this is because the amounts if seperated will be low enough to pursue in the small claims court.

 

I'm lost in this area and really don't know what to do, I have bills to pay, children to feed, a course to pay for to try and improve my chances of staying in work and an Army of debt collectors chasing me for money

 

PS As well as this money I am also owed one hundred pounds for a previous job which I was told would be transferred into my bank but never has.

[SarEl]

This is a contractual matter between you and them. You should have sorted this out contractualy between yourselves. So how you invoice makes no difference to the dispute between you. You are not an employee and therefore entitled to pay for the weeks that you worked - you were contracted to do a job which was not completed, and the terms of payment on an incompleted job are dependant upon the terms you agreed. That said, it is normal, in business and in the law, to interpret a job as a completed piece of work, and unless you have terms to the contrary, if the job was not completed you may struggle to obtan any payment even if you went to court for it. Certainly, splitting the invoices is unlikely to work, as the separate amounts relate to a single job - not individual weeks of work.

[grrrrrr]

I would suggest that if the terms and conditions of your contract did not specifically state that swearing would end your contract, that you have a breach of contract issue with your client (even if the contract was not written) - and if you were working on a building site or similar that was not part of the Considerate Construction or some such scheme where swearing is no permitted then I think your client would struggle to claim that you broke the contract by swearing rather than him by sending you off site!! It sounds more likely that he breached your contract, and not you, so the previous advice that you did not finish the job isn't relevant if your client won't allow you to finish your job!

 

Invoice him the full amount and offer a 33% reduction for early (i.e. 14 days or something) payment, including an offer to deliver on the remainder of the project within a specified time.

 

If your normal payment period is 90 days, then give him 90 days to pay and include small print saying queries to the invoice need to be made within a specific time (30 days / 10 days?) as long as it is reasonable.

 

Send the invoice by recorded delivery, or email to prove when it was sent. If you don't get paid and there is no written query to the bill you can take him to small claims court to get your bill paid, or at least part of it before it gets there.

 

Good luck.

[HF whO?]

Thank You kindly for your posts.

[SarEl]

I would suggest that if the terms and conditions of your contract did not specifically state that swearing would end your contract, that you have a breach of contract issue with your client (even if the contract was not written) - and if you were working on a building site or similar that was not part of the Considerate Construction or some such scheme where swearing is no permitted then I think your client would struggle to claim that you broke the contract by swearing rather than him by sending you off site!! It sounds more likely that he breached your contract, and not you, so the previous advice that you did not finish the job isn't relevant if your client won't allow you to finish your job!

 

Invoice him the full amount and offer a 33% reduction for early (i.e. 14 days or something) payment, including an offer to deliver on the remainder of the project within a specified time.

 

If your normal payment period is 90 days, then give him 90 days to pay and include small print saying queries to the invoice need to be made within a specific time (30 days / 10 days?) as long as it is reasonable.

 

Send the invoice by recorded delivery, or email to prove when it was sent. If you don't get paid and there is no written query to the bill you can take him to small claims court to get your bill paid, or at least part of it before it gets there.

 

Good luck.

 

You are not seriously suggesting that if a self-employed contarctor swears at their client (which is what happened) that this would, in any circumstances, be considered appropriate or acceptable? The action of swearing AT your client, whoever they or you may be, and whatever the circumstances would be quite sufficient for THEM to consider YOU in breach of contract.

[HF whO?]

You are not seriously suggesting that if a self-employed contarctor swears at their client (which is what happened) that this would, in any circumstances, be considered appropriate or acceptable? The action of swearing AT your client, whoever they or you may be, and whatever the circumstances would be quite sufficient for THEM to consider YOU in breach of contract.

 

And if there is no contract?

 

This incident had occurred on a a customers premisses (Domestic Work) and was directed at my boss who I was working for on a Self Employed basis.

 

Don't get me wrong I do not condone this behaviour but as I mentioned this was a forced reaction and unfortunately for myself the customer happened to be in the room next door

 

Obviously from my point of view I have provided services that remain unpaid for. I believe that there is no reason for me not to be paid this outstanding money as there is no LOSS that has been incurred by the Tradesperson providing the work for the customer.

 

I was not told that I was no longer required (sacked) and was not instructed to return to site either.

 

I appreciate your help.

 

Regards

[MARTIN3030]

Any updates here