Was a Self employed driver and not paid off company?

[Barnsleyelie77]

Hi hope someone can help me here please.....I was a self employed courier driver for a local company in May 2017. I worked 7 full days for the company and i got an invoice for 4 days work which i should have been paid on 15th June but because i left on the 8th day with 8 parcels left and they had to pick their van up from my premises they have refused to pay me for any days work that i did prior. And ive looked through contract and it does not state anything at all on that. Could i send a LBA to the company requesting full 7 days payment what they owe and can i charge interest????If so where can i find a LBA template please or what steps do i take.... Thank you.

[maroondevo52]

Hello and Welcome,

 

When you left did they get their parcels back ?

[ericsbrother]

as they provided the van and all of the work you werent self employed. Likewise the contract you had was undoubtedly an employment contract rather than a contract for services so it is likely that you should be paid properly and that will include an extra 12% for holiday pay accrued but that isnt your question. I would be writing to them saying exactly what you are owed and give them the opportunity to explain themsleves and why they think that they dont owe the money. After a week a LBA outlining the maount owed and why and then take them to court without further ntice

[Barnsleyelie77]

Hi thanks for getting back in touch and they got all their parcels back an hour later as i met up with another worker who finished delivering them....when they did not pay me on the date it should have gone in i rang payroll and the lady was very arrogant on the phone and says i will not be paid as i did not finish delivering the parcels that day and that i went home with the van and they had to pick the van up the following day so i will not get paid for any work i did at all for the company. But its monies im owed for the work so im going to chase it.

[ericsbrother]

that is interesting but doesnt answer the questions about the contract itself and whetehr they had any right to refuse to pay you.

What paperwork do you have regarding the offer of a job and your employment? How are you supposed to be piad- by the hour/day or by the parcel? It makes a big difference

[Barnsleyelie77]

I will take a copy of the contract and post it on here for you to have a look at.

 

And it was £74 a day the rate but if anybody took any parcels from you on your route if you was struggling they took £10 off your daily wage and if you got a concession they took £20 off your wage for each concession you got i.e if parcel was instructed to be left in greenhouse and you posted it in letterbox and customer phoned up complaining that was a concession.

 

but looking through not a contract but 'Conditions of work' they called it. That is all i have what was signed what i can remember.....They provided the van and the fuel and Amazon provided the hand held on the day of work. On the first sunday of work i got a concession so took £20 off my wage so ended up with £54 then the other days what they call a floater came round mid day and took some parcels from myself and they took £10 off my wage and did not know this. All workers also have to pay the company accounts dept £10 a week and they generate the invoice on your behalf and you dont know what you are getting until they send you the invoic

 

e each month, but been self employed i should have sent them the invoice myself??? Something really not right about this company. Ive sent them an email last night one to payroll and one to the women who set me on, just stating that i want the monies owed within 7 days plus interest which in total is £422.99.

 

Then told them that if no payment is recieved within 7 days i will then forward a LBA then i will go to court if needs be to get my money owed.

Edited July 24, 2017 by honeybee13
Paras.

[ericsbrother]

how many parcels were you expected to deliver in a day?

Now, if every one was a concession, say for example you delivered 100 parcels to the right address but left them all with a neighbour would you owe the company £1926? (£2000 penalties less the £74 daily rate). This is not self employment, they provide all of the work tools and all of the work. Doesnt matter how they dress it up you are EMPLOYED, not self employed. Now you may not be a staff member but there is another class of worker that people on zero hours contracts and contractors fall into.

As for the penalty clauses, this would most likely be seen as an unafir contract for havinmg them in when the penalty for misdelivering an item si greater than the amount you get for delivering it properly. again, there is case law on this so they will have a job justifying it. See what happens to your email. i would leave it 14 days to allow time for payment but responding in 7 days isnt unreasonable.

[Barnsleyelie77]

Hi i was delivering 140 parcels per day expected to. And up to press ive recieved nothing at all from this company payment or correspondence?

[ericsbrother]

so theroetically you can lose £2800 a day for misdelivering.

Well, I say agin, you werent self-employed and by knocking the money off like they did they have paid you less then the minimum wage, even if it could be said to be an 8 hour day..

You need to be writing a letter to whoever signed you up and let them know that you are making a claim for 7x£74, a pay slip showing how your pay was calculated, a P45 showing all payments and deductions for tax and NI and if they failt o do this then you will be using the county court to recover the monies owed. Tell them they have14 days to respond.

You can tke the failure to pay the min wage to an employment tribunal but that will take for ever and needs a lot of precision with your paperwork. The small claims track at court is simpler and will get you your money but they get away with their behaviour. That is the trade off.

[Barnsleyelie77]

hi thanks for getting in touch ive found the paperwork out what i recieved from them when i started...ive not sent LBA as yet but they have recieved some more copies of my invoices and a copy of my email stating that they had 7 days to pay. Last week i got an email back from the route manager including an invoice from themselves saying that i owe them £180...£30 for collecting their van from my premises and £150 for 5 men to finish my route off there was only 8-12 parcels left on my van to deliver lol:roll: and he told me to take a look at my 'conditions of work' when i started which ill put a copy on here...best thing is i never charged them for that day as it states in their conditions...just the previous worked days. Just thinking now wether to charge them too for my time on my days off to go pick one of their vehicles up ready for my working day the next day... i had to do that 4 times whilst i worked for them.

[ericsbrother]

yes, because if the reverse is true then you can but you should still get your head around the idea you were employed on £x per hour (daily rate divided by number of hours) and just slap in a claim for that. It wont get to the bottom of the deeper issues but that would be an expensive and drawn out fight.

 

An ET would then be the place regarding possible minimum wage matters and tbh you would need a lawyer to help with the paperwork. you may get pro bono help via the CAB but that would depend a lot on luck as to where you live and what lawyers do good deeds in that way.

Edited August 17, 2017 by honeybee13
Paras