Employment Agency won't pay my wages and stalling

AliceBanned

Hello

I have been working in a second job on an ad hoc basis (mainly night shifts at the weekend on top of my 9-5 but only occasionally, about once a month on average) for several years. for the past two months I have had trouble getting paid, and keep getting excuses over timesheets and vaguer excluses about where the money is. I last spoke to the agency on Friday andthey assured methey would do a transfer today (the quick type of transfer, can't remember what it's called) so that I would have the money (for one shift that I'm owed) today. The money isn't there, and i have shifts booked for 27th December and 3rd jan, an did tell them that i wouldn't be able to do further shifts until payments were up to date.

Only one member of staff there has bothered to apologise, and no one has explained. I suspect they are going to hit the wall, and I don't want to be owed money from them if they do. The work I do is for a large and well respected London children's hospital, who have no relation to the agency but use them on a frequent basis. I have not yet broached this with the hospital, but fear I will have to tomorrow, and will have to let them down over the shifts which they need covering.

i can't risk working for nothing; i am only doing 12 hour extra shifts because I need to, but it isn't my main wage so could live without it. I am angry at being treated in this way after several years of service. What should I do? If I continue the shifts can I claim the money through the small claims court, even if the agency do go bust, which I suspect they might as they laid staff off a few years ago when they lost large contracts, so in a recession they may be really struggling. thanks for any advice, I'm frustrated with the lies and excuses and don't know what to do!:mad:

Conor_3

I've threatened and issued small claims court claims in the past but then again, I've not given a stuff if I work for them again.

ceridwen

Is there another agency you can swop to? You do sound at risk of doing unpaid work with this one.....

Is there any way you could get this place you go and work to pay you direct - instead of via the agency? It sounds to me like that you could end up going to the small claims court and getting a judgement that the agency should give you the money - but if there just isnt any money there...then you still wouldnt get paid...loads of hassle for no result.....not worth the risk...

AliceBanned

ceridwen wrote: »

Is there another agency you can swop to? You do sound at risk of doing unpaid work with this one.....

Is there any way you could get this place you go and work to pay you direct - instead of via the agency? It sounds to me like that you could end up going to the small claims court and getting a judgement that the agency should give you the money - but if there just isnt any money there...then you still wouldnt get paid...loads of hassle for no result.....not worth the risk...

Thank you both for replying. It is definitely a bit suspect isn't it? After all the years as well, but I guess once they're in trouble they don't give a toss! Good job it isn't my only income.

I will speak to the hospital tomorrow, probably tell them i can't cover the shifts through this agency and explain why, and see if they want to come up with anything. After all, they are being invoiced by the agency and where i the money going?!!

thanks again.

liney

They might be being invoiced, but they may not be paying on time....but that's not your fault, you are still entitled to be paid on time.

There will be a clause in the agency's Terms of Business, which the hospital have agreed to, preventing you working on site at the same company for another agency within (usually) 6 months.

Have you sent your timesheets in on time, in the manner they are supposed to be, authorised correctly etc? What i am getting at is, is there a reason they could be using to stall paying you at all?

AliceBanned

liney wrote: »

They might be being invoiced, but they may not be paying on time....but that's not your fault, you are still entitled to be paid on time.

There will be a clause in the agency's Terms of Business, which the hospital have agreed to, preventing you working on site at the same company for another agency within (usually) 6 months.

Have you sent your timesheets in on time, in the manner they are supposed to be, authorised correctly etc? What i am getting at is, is there a reason they could be using to stall paying you at all?

thanks - yes there probably is such a clause, but I think I must have a contract with a clause saying I would be paid within a certain time frame. But thanks for that; at least I know that the hospital won't be able to cover the shifts with me in another way; i doubt they would flout this, so I'm stuffed really.

It is weekend work, and the manager signs the timesheet on Monday following my shift, and she faxes them over as i am hardly ever there (like a few other ad hoc members of staff). The agency are using this as an excuse to delay payment, but I doubt very much they are as confused over the timesheets as they are making out; it has never happened before and suddenly it is happening every time. so yes they can use it as an excuse, so unless I go there say tomorrow and pick up the time sheet and physically take it to the agency (total time it would take about 2 hours, and anyway I will be working!), I can't really prove I've faxed the timesheets in. this system has worked without a hitch for years before I was there, as the nature of the work makes this necessary (it is a 24 hour dept). I have said to the agency that the timesheets are out of my control; if I am told over the phone that they are signed and faxed, and this is probably true, and a week later the agency says they don't have it, what can I do?!

LittleVoice

Though temp contracts with employers have terms to prevent workers working for them directly or through another agency without an introduction fee being paid to the first agency, this often has a time limit relating to the length of time that the worker has been providing services to that client.

So, if you have been working for the hospital for years (even though it is not your major job), the hospital may not need to pay anything to the first agency if you transfer to another or join their bank staff directly.

Definitely worth asking the hospital HR department about it.

AliceBanned

LittleVoice wrote: »

Though temp contracts with employers have terms to prevent workers working for them directly or through another agency without an introduction fee being paid to the first agency, this often has a time limit relating to the length of time that the worker has been providing services to that client.

So, if you have been working for the hospital for years (even though it is not your major job), the hospital may not need to pay anything to the first agency if you transfer to another or join their bank staff directly.

Definitely worth asking the hospital HR department about it.

Thank you - I have heard about this and think you are probably right. Will speak to the hospital tomorrow. I have in the meantime received a text from another temp in the same job, as I asked him whether he had had problems. he does a lot more shifts than me, and said they are sometimes late but usually ok, and I need to keep a check on the timesheets. It is strange that recently the agency has gone slow with payments though; it can only be due to cashflow..

liney

It is usually ok for the compnay to take you on permanently, but not transfer you to another agency after the set time frame.

So the crux of the problem is that the agency is claiming not to receive your time sheet on time, which is slightly different from them with holding payment, as you are responsible for submitting the timesheets by Xtime come hell or high water, and without one the agency is unable to pay you.

My suggestion would be to call the agency at 9am on each Monday morning and check they have your timesheet. If not you have time to chase it in, instead of not being paid on time. Your supervisor may well be forgetting to send the timesheets in on time. Alternatively, could the supervisor email you a copy when they send it across? That way if they have not recieved it their end you could forward the email.

AliceBanned

liney wrote: »

It is usually ok for the compnay to take you on permanently, but not transfer you to another agency after the set time frame.

So the crux of the problem is that the agency is claiming not to receive your time sheet on time, which is slightly different from them with holding payment, as you are responsible for submitting the timesheets by Xtime come hell or high water, and without one the agency is unable to pay you.

My suggestion would be to call the agency at 9am on each Monday morning and check they have your timesheet. If not you have time to chase it in, instead of not being paid on time. Your supervisor may well be forgetting to send the timesheets in on time. Alternatively, could the supervisor email you a copy when they send it across? That way if they have not recieved it their end you could forward the email.

That is not entirely the issue - the agency said they were going to pay me last Fri, said they had the time sheet. Money wasn't there so I phoned on Friday pm and they said had tried to do urgent transfer but was too late. then said they would do this today. I phoned my bank at 4.50 and the money wasn't in. After two weeks of chasing and the agency claiming they had the time sheet, then saying they were confused and had an earlier date, blah blah, I decided they are taking the !!!! now and something is amiss. I let them know that I couldn't do further shifts unless paid for this one (next shift due this saturday). I will see whether the money is there tomorrow, then chase them up but frankly it isn't worth all this bother to do the job and then worry about getting paid, and it never happened in previous years...

AliceBanned

Oh yes and previous wage wasn't paid because the payment "hadn't gone through". they tried to "put it through" again and it didn't work, so some days later it appeared. also i haven't had a payslip for the last shift, on 29th november. Long time to wait for acknowledgment. All the payment not gone through business smacks to me of serious cashflow problems on their part, even that they may fold. Don't you think it a bit suspect?