employer not paying expenses / wages

[jakemuk]

Hello all,

 

I recently worked for a small firm and the agreed ammount was 19p per mile, I completed there mileage form and returned it with receipt for the fuel, It was due to be paid yesterday nothing was in in the morning, So asked them they said later in the day, I re contacted them at 4:30 to the director he said he would call back he never did despite trying to contact him,

 

I contacted them today and he answered the phone and simply said, "**** off its the weekend" this is the director of the firm, So you can see what im up against.

 

He also has refused to pay us for 5 hours work that we completed, Because we left site early and didnt complete the job, I beleive he can't refuse us to the point we left the site !

 

What i want to know is how to proceed further, the best way i feel is writing so would a letter before action be ideal and then go for MCOL, Is that an option ? or do i need to send a normal letter first

 

Any help greatly appreciated

[papasmurf1cx]

Report him to the HMRC, as he will hardly have kept good accounts if he is that abnoxious.

 

How much does he owe you?

 

Sending him a letter before action means that you will take action if he does not reply...are you prepared to do that?

[jakemuk]

Yeah prepared to pay MCOL no issue at all,

 

he owes £49.42 expenses to myself

 

and also owes £40.32 In unpaid wages

 

Its low ammounts but its the princaple of the matter that i am more concerened about.

 

He didnt even ask for any proof of id when we started working for him which i beleive is a requirement of the law also ?

[Sidewinder]

When you say that you 'worked for', was that as an employee or as a contractor?

[jakemuk]

paye , i was paid my wages by he deducted tax, They never sent us the employment contract he kept delaying it but he let us commence work working on the sites for him,

 

We completed one job in full and another one we left halfway through, as we were suspicious re payments etc

 

he paid us for the job we completed, but not for the expenses i.e the mileage, even though i have completed his expense form, i have alot of communication via text message, of which i am going to export into an excel spreadsheet via an android app

 

with a fake national inusrance number also, not my NI number for sure !

[RachelMD]

Ask for the money by a LBA. Mention complaining to HMRC.

I reckon he'll pay.

[jakemuk]

Any templates for the lba ?

 

Thanks for all the help

[RachelMD]

Just headline it LETTER BEFORE ACTION

 

Itemise what you're owed, give a deadline for payment and say that you'll take legal action if he doesn't pay.

Send it by recorded delivery.

[jakemuk]

thanks rachel youve been very helpful

[postggj]

Section 13 employment rights act

unlawful deduction of wages

[RachelMD]

Section 13 employment rights act

unlawful deduction of wages

Aye. Include that.

[jakemuk]

Debtor Company Name

Address – line 1

Address – line 2

Address – line 3

Address – line 4

 

25/06/2011

 

LETTER BEFORE ACTION

 

 

 

 

 

TAKE NOTICE that according to my records the sum of £49.41 is overdue for payment of expenses.

 

Unless payment is made to the above address within fourteen days Legal Action to recover the debt will be taken against you without further notice.

 

Copies of the outstanding expense forms are attached.

 

 

 

 

Signed:

 

 

Name: {your name}

Tel: {phone number}

Email: {email address}

 

 

Date: {date}

 

 

Thats my rough letter at the moment, where abouts should i include this and do i need to do 2 seperate letters or can i combine the expenses and wages into one ?

[postggj]

Section 13 employment rights act

unlawful deduction of wages

[jakemuk]

ok where in the letter shall inlude

 

Section 13 employment rights act

unlawful deduction of wages

 

just not sure on the placement of this

[postggj]

Tell them the witholding of wages etc is contrary to section 13 of the employment rights act

 

you either take them to court or inform them that you will be issuing an et1 form for compliance (employment tribunal)

[jakemuk]

Debtor Company Name

Address – line 1

Address – line 2

Address – line 3

Address – line 4

 

25/06/2011

 

LETTER BEFORE ACTION

 

 

 

 

 

TAKE NOTICE that according to my records the sum of £49.41 is overdue for payment of expenses, And the sum of £--.-- is overdue for the payment of wages

 

The witholding of expenses and wages is contray to section 13 of the employment rights act

 

Unless payment is made to the above address within seven days Legal Action to recover the debt will be taken against you without further notice.

 

Copies of the outstanding expense forms are attached.

 

 

 

 

Signed:

 

 

Name: {your name}

Tel: {phone number}

Email: {email address}

 

 

Date: {date}

 

is this better guys ? sorry letter writing is not the best talent of mine, Feel free to ammend it in anyway

 

THANKS

[postggj]

Perfect

[jakemuk]

as an update guys,

 

i faxed them the letter and posted it,

 

they paid the expenses but didnt pay my outstanding wages i gave them 7 days, and tried to call them one last time,

 

They woudlnt answer, so i filed an ET1 yesterday and today its been accepted with a hearing in august !, I don't expect him to even turn up or acknowledge it ,

 

But at least we are progressing

[honeybee13]

Well done you! August is soon for a hearing. Fingers crossed.

 

My best, HB

[RachelMD]

I reckon he'll pay.

As it gets close to the time of the hearing (if nothing's happening), let us know and we'll do a 'without prejudice save as to costs' letter.

[hhh_88873]

This may be a daft question, but can you serve a letter before action by email or does it have to be snail mail? I mean, if there is ample evidence that the company has used email for contact purposes before?

[RachelMD]

What matters is that one can substantiate the the other party received it.

If you can do that by email, then fair enough.

I think I'd send a snail by RD just to be sure.

[jakemuk]

thanks rachel,

 

yeah i think he will pay once he receives it through form the ET, also the other lads have filed for an ET to, so there will be about 4 cases all different ammounts of money so hopefuly he will pay as hes still trading