Haven't received P45 or any payslips!?

[kitten112]

I left my job 3 weeks ago, we didn't part on good terms and when i went to see them for my final pay, i got into an argument with them and they were saying that i owe them money as ive taken too much holiday. I still haven't received any payslips or my P45 which they originally said they would post, this was before the argument. Can they withhold this from me because i "owe" them money?

[Sidewinder]

Simple answer is NO. Unless your contract specifically permits it, the employer cannot just withhold salary owed to repay overtaken holiday, nor can they hold you to ransom and refuse to issue you with a P45. In order to recover this they will need to pay you up to the date that you leave, and then come to an arrangement or sue if no arrangement can be reached.

 

There is a legal entitlement to a P45 and payslips, so I would suggest that in the absence of a contractual entitlement re the overpaid holiday pay, you write to the employer and point out that should they not provide you with the documents, you will ask HMRC to intervene on your behalf (which they will for the P45). Ask them for details of the overpaid holiday pay - if indeed it is owed, and make a proposal for repayment if you agree. You may well still have a battle, but that is the way to go.

[kitten112]

Thank you, they already paid me my week in lieu and then said to come back to discuss any holiday pay that they owed me. When i turned up that day he started shouting and having a go at me saying that i owed them £75. I they knew that then why would they have not deducted that from my week in lieu?

[Sidewinder]

When i turned up that day he started shouting and having a go at me saying that i owed them £75. I they knew that then why would they have not deducted that from my week in lieu?

 

Because as I indicated this would have been an Unlawful Deduction from your wages and you could have taken action through a Tribunal to recover it - an employer is not allowed to take it back without a clause in your contract which allows it!

 

Believe it or not, the employer would seem to have acted correctly in paying you in full and then arguing over the holiday pay, but is wrong to a) Get into a shouting match over it, and b) withholding documents that you are entitled to receive. Far better to have been polite, point out the overpayment in writing with a breakdown so that you could agree on a mutually acceptable means of repayment.

 

Do you agree that you took more holiday than had been accrued (it doesn't matter that it may have been their fault for allowing you to do so)? Have you gone to another job? Assuming yes to both, then propose to repay the money either in full by {DATE} or in a couple of instaklments. If not, then suggest repayment amounts which you would be able to afford over a longer period of time.