Deductions by Agencies

Rach39

Hi, my husband is a self employed bricklayer and surprise surprise has no work! Decided to go through Hays Construction recruitment in Belfast and after silence for about a month they got in touch offering him temporary work. It was on a PAYE basis (1st time ever for him) and initially they quoted hourly rate at £6.43. Pretty low but better than nothing he thought and spent 3 days on a site clearance working really hard, coming home knackered and hardly able to walk but still, better than nothing! Letter came from Hays head office stating although wage was £6.43 they deduct 11% for holiday pay and this is compulsory. I think this is a real scam since the majority of people only temp as a filler till something more long term comes up and I assume can't claim the holiday pay until they've been working for a minimum term? Has anyone had any experience of this and how it works and whether hubby will ever get this money back since he has no intention of working for them again (slave labour for what worked out at minimum wage!) Any advice / opinions appreciated.:D

jazzyman01

He will accrue holiday benefits from the date he joins so will get the money back.

If he has anything that states he will get paid xx and no reference to the deduction he is perfectly within his rights to request holiday pay on top of the hourly rate quoted.

CCFC_80

One well known high street agency which begins with the letter P and ends in the letter S who I worked for last year, where I had a very short booking would only pay holiday pay (equivalent to 1 day) if I worked 11 full successive days. Some agencies in fairness will pay you holiday pay from the first day you start even if you work for just one full day.

ring4v0

I'm in this situation now! Apparently it's a legal requirement, according to them anyway, to me it seems like a scam! Luckily at the end you will get the holiday pay back, that is if you don't use it, it's just hard trying to cope with less pay than I'd prepared for

Home_Alone_2

It was a new European directive which came into force with the temp agency I was with in Jan 2008 I think. I was paid a percentage of my hourly rate less and it was put aside for me to accrue time. It is the same rate but encourages people to take holidays, get paid for bank holidays if they want to etc., as before then I worked solidly and even made up the hours on a four day week if one of those days was a bank holiday. It all works out the same in the end, although granted your OH certainly is on a very low wage for all that hard manual work.

CPJames19

Dear Rach39,

I feel you OH's pain. I worked for Hays Office Support for 10 months. I think it's disgraceful that Hays take off 10+% for your own holiday pay. However, it's better to be employed by an agency then to be unemployed.

Quiet_One

I used to go through a Ltd company (umbrella) when using agencies so I got my holiday pay on top of my rate up front rather than 'banked' also worked out well for me in terms of claiming tax releif on my expenses/travel etc. But..I'm pretty sure that at £7 an hour wont be worth his while going Ltd.

At the end of the day he isn't losing any money it is just being banked for him and will probably come in handy at the end of his temporary contract to be paid for a week or so after whilst he seeks other employment?

You do have to be careful when you deal with agencies as to what exactly the rate is and if holiday pay is inclusive or not. It is cheeky quoting the rate without the holiday deductions as it can be very misleading.

As said already a job is a job and stops any gaps on his CV and I hope he finds somthing more suitable soon.

Deep_In_Debt

When I temped for a large High Street agency beginning with R, I accrued holiday pay which worked out at roughly 10% of my weekly hours worked to a maximum of 24 days per year including Bank Holidays. If I didn't use the holiday, I got it paid in my final wage.

What they quoted as an hourly rate was what I earned but my working hours accrued the holiday...if that makes sense!

Bigvoice

Hays also take money from mileage allowances when using your private car too. The business pays 40p per mile and Hays give me 35p per mile, then they class the mileage expenses as taxable pay too!! Personal car business mileage is exempt from tax.
Agencies should pay holiday pay as guaranteed by English law for agency workers, but a European directive allows the 10% deductions to cover holiday pay. Grossly unfair, the sooner I get away from Hays the better. When challenged their attitude is like it or lump it.

Hammyman

andy46 wrote: »

One well known high street agency which begins with the letter P and ends in the letter S who I worked for last year, where I had a very short booking would only pay holiday pay (equivalent to 1 day) if I worked 11 full successive days.

Thats illegal.