Employment Dispute

[natsmanc]

Hello

 

I am due in court on Tuesday to set aside a judgement made by my previous employer for being apparently overpaid.

 

I was intitially going to defend the whole claim via a solicitor but when he hiked up his prices by 50.00 an hour I changed my mind (as this wouldve cost more than what the alleged debt was), I panicked as there was only 2 days left to send an Acknowledgemt of Service to MCOL, so I decided to send an Admissions Form in , even though I didnt owe the debt.

 

I have to say though at this time I was unemployed and suffering with depression and very ill. The solicitor also did not explain things properly to me and made me panic.

 

Since then, I have controlled my depression and have started working. I also now understand the concept of Small Claims and know that I can deal with this myself having claimed for my bank charges. I also complained to the Law Society about the aforementioned solicitor who got his wrist slapped.

 

The reason why I dont think I owe this debt to my ex employer is that

 

a. I never recieved a Contract of Employment stating what my hours, pay & holidays were

 

b. I never recieved payslips

 

c. I thought that the wages I was recieving were correct

 

 

They say the part of the sum I owed is holidays which I was not entitled to, which is rubbish as they owed me days from the previous year, plus I had nothing in writing.

 

Also, they were hounding me for ages to go back working for them, and when I said no (as my job was the cause of my depression), they sent me a CCJ.

 

I hope all of this makes sense!

 

Does anybody have any advice about how I should handle things on tuesday? I have an idea myself but would appreciate other's opinions

[ladybird17]

Given you didn't get a contract, or payslips I would certainly concentrate on going down that route. Do you have some evidence of you illness that you could take to court with you?

[bidstermeister]

Although there is nothing written down, there is still an implied contract - albeit a verbal one. Are you certain that no specifics with regards to salary were discussed upon your hiring ? I am a bit miffed to understand why you'd work for an unknown amount ?!

 

Having said that, the door swings both ways - Who's to say that you weren't paid too little by this empoyer ? How does anyone know ? What kind of job was it and how were you paid (hourly, per job ?) etc

[natsmanc]

Hi

 

Thanks for you speedy replies!!

 

I thought I was being paid 23k which is equivelant (i think) to what I was getting paid weekly.

 

Trouble is, these people were friends (sort of), my colleague and I helped open the business (my colleague was another close friend), and when things started going bad for the business, they started increasing our hours and reducing our wages!

 

I should also point out tjat I only worked there for 8 months so probably dont have the same rights as someone who'd have worked there for a full year.

 

I actually left the job as they were making life very difficult for me, they dropped my wages down by 5k and increased my hours. I was told "If you dont like it, you know where the door is"!

 

I asked my doctor for medical notes, but she will not supply them for court, only for time off sick for work.

[danler]

Hi

 

When you left the company did they give you a P45 or did you recieve a P60 whilst you was there??? By law they have to provide these.

Does the amount add up to the wages you were paid or is there is difference?

If there is a difference ask your previous employer for a detailed breakdown of your wage records, they will have these on record otherwise how will they know what NI and tax and Employers NIC was to be paid.

 

As for not recieving a contract of employment they are breaking the law, a company no matter how big or small needs to give their employees a contract.

 

As for your holidays being from a previous year, a difficult one without a contract as some compaines allow carry overs some don't.

 

Danler

[natsmanc]

Hi

 

Regarding the holidays, I just assumed I was allowed to carry them ove as I didnt take them, plus they didnt tell me what my entitlement was!

 

Employers should not be allowed to make up the rules as they go along!

 

As for the p60/P45 i shall have to look at home

[natsmanc]

Do you think I could countersue

[danler]

Maybe you could? Or inform them that you will report them to HM Revenue and Customs.

 

I might be reading it all wrong or jumping in feet first but if there is a difference between your P45/P60 and what you was actually paid, they could be trying to fiddle the tax (ie- putting your wage through as minimum wage and then paying cash in hand for the rest) If you've never seen a wage slip then you won't know what they was actually putting through the books.

[danler]

As for the holidays, when did you start work for them and when did you finish? And how long did you have off sick during this time.

 

I am presuming that the holidays ran from April to March or was it Jan to December.

 

You can roughly work out how many holidays you are entitled to by law.

[natsmanc]

I couldnt honestly tell you when they ran from cos they never said, I assume it ran from January, they did agree to pay sick time though.

 

I have 3 days off and they agreed to pay me as they sent me home

[patdavies]

I asked my doctor for medical notes, but she will not supply them for court, only for time off sick for work.

 

You are legally entitled to your medical notes - for whatever reason you want them.

[natsmanc]

I understand that, but the doctor wouldnt write me a note for court. I think I have to send a cheque off for 50.00 or something

[natsmanc]

Do you think that there is a chance that the judge will set aside the judgement? I want to defend the whole claim and countersue

 

Thanks

[bazak1]

hiya natsmanc,

if you go to Website of the UK government : Directgov, ( or just type in employees rights on your google page, you will then find it from there ) then go to the part titled PAY, you will find the part that covers pay slips etc, and i believe it informs you there that your employer Must by law give you written confirmation of your wage etc.

hope this helps.

[natsmanc]

Thanks Bazak1

[StudentInDebt]

As for not recieving a contract of employment they are breaking the law, a company no matter how big or small needs to give their employees a contract.

I believe this to be incorrect, a company does not break the law by not giving its' employees a contract and a contract can be verbal, they must provide written terms of employment if asked for them though.

[natsmanc]

i agree with that StudentInDebt, however they never agreed holiday terms or anything. When I asked for a written contract it was always refused or they were "too busy" to do it.

They also kept changing the hours and changed the salary before I left, if I had a written contract they couldnt have done that!