Employer pay problems

otter125

Hi folks,

I have a little problem i went to work for a person who i attended school with. My position was as sales manager and salaried for £12k a year. I worked for 4 weeks and when i asked for payment on the 25th as in my contract of employment he said he did not have the funds available. so i gave him anohter few days to sort it out.

Anyway on the saturday i went into the office and he told me his freind was lending him the money to pay me so i gave him my account number and sort code so he could do the transfer. which apparently would be immediate. nothing went in on the saturday so i left it 3 days just in case. the money cleared into my account so i went and drew it out as i needed to pay for our car. everything was fine until yesterday when we got a cheque trough the post saying payment stopped on it. and the money has been drawn out of our account again sending us £800 overdrawn.

What can i do about this as i have been lied to so many times now and i dont want to resort to anything i will regret. all i want is what i have worked for. everytime i ring he just says he will sort it but nothing ever happens. do i ring the bank and try and explain but i have a feeling they wont really be interested. but now whatever money we get from tax credits for our son we wont be able to touch as they are just clearing little parts of the overdrawn amount.

Any help would be greatly received.

Mike

Newbiesw

I know jobs can be scarce but I'd consider looking for another asap.
If this is your experience with your first payment, what are the rest going to be like and your employer relying on a friend to give him money to pay his employees wouldn't give me much confidence or a sense of security.
I don't think talking to the Bank will help, can't really see them being at all interested or much they can do.
But I am a bit confused, perhaps its the way I'm reading it but can you clarify: you state the money cleared into your account because you drew it out to pay for car but then received a "cheque?" stating payment stopped and drawn out of your account?
Did the money go into your account (I didn't think it could be re-called once it was in your account?).
What was the "cheque" for?
Once you have been paid, I don't think an Employer can ask for his money back !!!

Newbiesw

otter125

well the money cleared in my account the day he put the cheque in on the 1st then the money was recalled on the 4th. but natwest had allowed me to draw on the cheque as obviously it is a business cheque.

i have already found anohter job but the fact is i have a baby due in 3 weeks and am now £600 over my overdraft and cant put petrol in the car or anything if my partner goes into labour i am so stressed its making me ill. i have been up all night throwing up and crying. i have really had enough.

Newbiesw

otter125 wrote: »

well the money cleared in my account the day he put the cheque in on the 1st then the money was recalled on the 4th. but natwest had allowed me to draw on the cheque as obviously it is a business cheque.

i have already found anohter job but the fact is i have a baby due in 3 weeks and am now £600 over my overdraft and cant put petrol in the car or anything if my partner goes into labour i am so stressed its making me ill. i have been up all night throwing up and crying. i have really had enough.

Mike, I don't know what the legal situation is here, I'm sure there are others who will jump in and confirm but if I was in your situation I would keep the money and run!
You kept your side of the deal by working for him, it is not unreasonable that he should keep his side of the deal and pay you for work done, you are entitled to it.
It sounds like this person is not worth working for, in effect he is asking you to loan your wages back to the Company to prop up his dodgy financial situation, it is NOT your responsibility, that money is YOURS now.
Easy to say look for another job but if they are scarce, difficult choice?

Newbiesw

Dr.Shoe_2

Firstly, you can call an ambulance to get your wife to hospital so don't worry too much there. Talk to the bank, explain the situation, they are not complete monsters and their own records should back up what you're saying. Next, I would phone up and ask my employer for cash to settle the wages. The chances are he won't be able to give you everything but he might be able to give you something on account, even a personal cheque for £100 covered by a cheque guarantee card.

Edit: The cheque will only be a good idea if you have another bank or building society account or it could be in your wife's name.

Dr.Shoe_2

Newbiesw wrote: »

Mike, I don't know what the legal situation is here, I'm sure there are others who will jump in and confirm but if I was in your situation I would keep the money and run!
You kept your side of the deal by working for him, it is not unreasonable that he should keep his side of the deal and pay you for work done, you are entitled to it.
It sounds like this person is not worth working for, in effect he is asking you to loan your wages back to the Company to prop up his dodgy financial situation, it is NOT your responsibility, that money is YOURS now.
Easy to say look for another job but if they are scarce, difficult choice?

Newbiesw

Sorry, I don't get any of this. The OP was given a cheque that didn't clear but his bank allowed him to draw on so he is now deeper in debt. He did not have a choice to keep the money or not.

zzzLazyDaisy

This may not be what you want to hear, but if you end up going to the small claims court, your claim should be for a dishonoured cheque (ie not failure to pay wages).

The reason for this is that the recipient is entitled to treat the cheque as cash, and there is no defence to 'bouncing' a cheque (actually that isn't strictly true - if the person writing the cheque is a victim of fraud, that is about the only instance when they are entitled to stop the cheque, but that doesn't apply here).

What this means in practice is that the court proceedings would be much quicker as you'd make the claim and as you can apply for summary judgement at the same time as you make the claim on the basis that there is no defence to the claim.

What you need to do is to write to the employer stating that the cheque was dishonoured and that if you do not received full payment into your bank account in cleared funds by (give at date least 7 days away and preferably 14 if you can afford to wait that long) you will start proceedings in the small claims court for the full amount of the debt, consequential losses including bank charges, interest and court costs. No further notice will be given.

If you don't get the money make a claim - just explain that your employer paid your wages by cheque for the month of February, but the cheque was subsequently dishonoured and as a result you have incurred bank charges of (however much). You can do it online but personally I'd do it directly with my local court as it will be easier just to attach a photocopy of the dishonoured cheque (both sides) to the claim, and evidence of the bank charges such a statement, which you can't do online.

Note - keep the originals safe and take them to court.

Chances are he'll pay up before that.

Unfortunately all of this won't help you if he has no money and no assets, as it will be very difficult to enforce the debt. Also be very clear who your claim is against - check your wage slip, is the friend your employer or a company owned by him? If a company then that is who you make the claim against. Unfortunately there is a risk that he may wind the company up and you'll get nothing.

Sorry you are in this mess and good luck!

Newbiesw

Dr.Shoe wrote: »

Sorry, I don't get any of this.

Nor do I now!
Mike was talking about supplying bank details for pay to be transferred, nothing went in on Saturday (suggesting a 3rd Party transfer), then the money being cleared into his account which suggested (I assumed) a BACS type payment and cannot be recalled once cleared ?, hence my confusion when a "cheque arrived later stating payment had been stopped" ?
I asked Mike to clarify, he needn't now, you've done that perfectly...thank you Dr. Shoe!

Newbiesw