Gets worse by the second!!

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What a morning i have had and its not even 11am yet!! Just had to drop off my new bicycle to the local bike shop to tweaked as having teething problems (bought it off ebay and it arrived yesterday) but nothing major.

I woke up with aches and pains all over my body after a gruelling session of football with the lads last night (fun times hehe).

However, the real bad news is that I just found out today the agency who I left last week are not going to pay me for the days I worked. Why? Cos I breached their contract (which I can understand) and it also states this in the contract.

What I am more angry at is the fact that the guy who I was arguing with last week (threatening me with legal crap) didnt even mention this to me. If he had, then I would have sat out the last two weeks. Instead he decides to throw the legal stuff to me. So yeah im not happy about it.

Im going to seek advice about this cos as far as I am concerned you can't not pay someone for the work they have done even if they did break the contract...ok maybe I might be wrong in that, but its not like I was there for one day otherwise that I can understand. But thats not the case here.

I would appreciate your inputs in this and I know a few of you will heavily criticise me for the way I have gone about this, but I will take it in the chin as I am not that bitter of a person.

As I said had the guy told me this last week I wouldnt be writing this right now. When the woman told me this morning I was shocked...totally shocked.

 

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It all depends whether this is stated in the contract (my girlfriend is a solicitor). If it is, and you signed the contract, then they have you over a barrel. Legally, its your responsibility to read the contract before you sign it, and not the employers responsibility to verbally go through the full details with you.

Its rough I know, but Its seems they have you on this one mate. Sorry!!

 

It does state this in the contract (the woman emailed me it this morning). Im still going to seek advice on this tho...yes I know I should have read the contract fully but if you remember my other post I was rushed into everything regarding the job...I was practically forced into it...but u never know eh!

 

Now thats a different story. If you were put under duress to sign the contract then you may be able to fight it out with them in court.

I think you best bet is to go see a solicitor and see what He/She thinks. It may be worth pursuing, but it may also cost more than the wages you have lost.

Another option is the Citizens Advice Beuro.

Getting your solicitor to send them a letter may not be that expensive, and may put the willies up them enough to back down.

 

Hi Noel,

sounds rough... At least youve got the other job! Or did you not take it? May have missed the post?

Kat

 

lol yes Kat I did take the other job and i am loving it loads its great

Stu, thank you mate I shall deffo look into it more...

 

Ok I think I may have something to go up against these people.

I have just been on the CAB (citizens advice) website and it states a couple of things which the agent have broken by law:

now regardless of me breaching the contract it says, "If your employer breaches a right that you have by law, for example, your employer does not pay you for the work you have done and so makes an illegal deduction from your wages, you should try to sort the matter out informally with them first."

Another thing it says is:

"All employees are entitled to be paid for the work they have done."

Now on the contract the agency have theirs state:

"If the Company incurs or suffers any costs, expenses, damages or any financial loss or other liability, loss or damage because the Contractor breaches any term or condition of this Agreement then the Contractor shall reimburse the Company accordingly."

However, after carefully looking at this statement (there is more by the way which I havent copied onto here), it doesnt mention we will not pay you any money owed for the hours or days you have worked (or something along those lines).

So if anything they are the ones who have broken the law, I just merely breached their contract not the law itself. Now, if anyone would like to shed more light on this please do...because now I think I may have the upper hand...and the first thing I am going to do is write to them about this saying that I am not happy about how they have gone about this...and if they still refuse then its an employment tribunal...and I think its fair to say they will either cough up or lose a lot of money...I maybe getting ahead of myself here but now i have the info needed I can start the ball.

 

of course, you could talk to quantum claims. they specialise in employment law, and they operate no win no fee.

still might not be worth it, they might charge more than you would receive.

Edit: If this is the route you wish to progress, I would suggest NOT contacting them until you have received advice. If you do, anything you say may damage your case.

 

Most agencies require you to sign an opt out from employee law regulations, this means in the eyes of the law you are not an employee but a contractor. So be careful when mixing these two terms.

Did you sign the opt out ? (from Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003)

 

Their actions *shouldn't* be shocking. Before you bained on the contract, I *did* advise you to inspect every word of that contract with a fine-toothed comb to find out what they could and could not do... and if the contract says they can withhold your pay, then that should have been warning enough to you.

Secondly, I advised you that you might be financially responsible for them replacing you for the remainder of the contract... meaning, you'd have to pay that tech's salary to work for the remainder of the contract, in addition to the costs for finding that tech. In what way would that be financially different than you not getting paid for what you've already worked? It *could* have been much worse!

The warnings were out there and available for you, but you chose to ignore them because you were dead set on leaving. Just because that guy didn't spell it out for you doesn't mean he's responsible for spelling it out for you - it was clearly stated in your contract. You can't just say that it's not *your* fault that *you* didn't read *your* contract... either when you signed it the first time, OR when you chose to bail on the contract two weeks early.

I disagree - I don't think you would have worked the last two weeks, regardless. Despite my warnings and the warnings of others on this forum, you were absolutely dead set against going back to that job. Sorry, mate, you're just looking for someone to blame besides yourself for the bad choices you've made. You keep saying that you were forced into the job, you were forced/rushed to sign the contract... Dude, *you* are responsible for *you* and your actions. Nobody else. No matter how much you want to rationalize all this, it's not their fault this is happening.

I don't mean to insult you - I am simply trying to provide "tough love". I think you've learned from this experience, and hopefully, you don't make the same mistakes again. And, honestly, I *do* hope it all works out for you, my friend.

 

You weren't an employee. You were a contractor.

Unfortunately, you may have to go to court to get this sorted out... and if you lose, you'll be even worse off financially.

 

sorry to be harsh on this one myself BM but if u were in my position and spoken to this agency, trust me it was as if I had no get out clause...even before the interview I was being told will u say yes if the job was given to you and even when I said I had other interviews she was still insisting I said yes to this one regardless of the others I had lined up...when ur pushed into a corner and u have no way of getting out...in the end its a case of lets see what they have to offer then go from there...im going to seek advice cos in the end I maybe the one paying them to find a replacement but they have broken the laws of my rights...

however in repsonse to dmarsh's question...I think I may have said yes to that...but that wasnt for the agency it was more for the umbrella company I had signed up with who were dealing with my expenses and that...so really isnt that seperate? or does it tie into this? bearing in mind I didnt exactly *sign* anything I just agreed to it their website and that was it...well if it is all my fault then at least I will learn from this...

 

Yes I know I was contractor but I just wanted to highlight that...

Besides let me ask u...is it worth me losing out on getting just under £1000 from the hours I have worked?

 

If you signed the opt out It probably means you cannot be treated as an employee of the umbrella company, agency or the company you were placed at.

I would then expect contract law to apply, I'd take some legal advice but honestly I wouldn't expect to get a penny back from the agency, this is their bread and butter they know what they are doing.

Unfortunately being a contractor includes watching your back and being careful what you sign, you cannot go around with an employee mentality.

Hopefully your increased earnings from contracting will cover this little mishap. I'd put it down to experience be happy with the new job and move on.

 

Well I guess in the end its only about £1000...so Im gonna admit defeat in this instance and just let it lie...

 

I think its the right decision to let it be as well mate.

I have to agree strongly with Michael on the subject as well, you signed the contract for a reason, contracts are there to ensure people do what they're saying they're going to do. If you could just walk away, without big penalties, they would be pointless.

Away from the troubles, glad to hear you like your new job! Keep working hard there and soon this will all be forgotton

 

I don't think you're being harsh at all. That said, I wouldn't have said yes because nobody can force me to take a job before I've signed anything. You always have a way out (at least, before you sign anything): you say "No", you get up, and you walk out. And now, you know this, so you can use that to your advantage next time.

 

Depends on how much court costs will cost you, including the time lost from your present job as you pursue legal action.

That said, no matter how much or how little it costs you to pursue, I don't think you have much of a defense. You won't likely be able to convince a judge that they pressured you to sign a contract. Perhaps a lawyer may have a different take on the matter, but I don't see how you could win.