huge clawback of hours by temp agency :(

simpywimpy

OH has been working for a contracting agency since Jan and always been paid for all hours worked. Suddenly they are saying that we should only have been paid upto a limit per day and have therefore clawed back nearly £2000 from previous invoices.

Surely after all this time, and being told by email that all hours would be paid, a contract has been formed and the agency should pay up? I dont think we have signed a formal contract of employment but I still have the email where we asked about hours and was told all were being paid.

There was no warning this was going to happen, just the deduction of the final wage.

I have emailed saying I think what they did was unlawful and giving them 7 days to reply which has now passed without a response.

Any ideas of where we stand?

SarEl

simpywimpy wrote: »

OH has been working for a contracting agency since Jan and always been paid for all hours worked. Suddenly they are saying that we should only have been paid upto a limit per day and have therefore clawed back nearly £2000 from previous invoices.

Surely after all this time, and being told by email that all hours would be paid, a contract has been formed and the agency should pay up? I dont think we have signed a formal contract of employment but I still have the email where we asked about hours and was told all were being paid.

There was no warning this was going to happen, just the deduction of the final wage.

I have emailed saying I think what they did was unlawful and giving them 7 days to reply which has now passed without a response.

Any ideas of where we stand?

I'm afraid that you are going to have to do better than "I don't think we have signed a contract" and telling them that you think what they have done is unlawful. You need to check all your documents - you must have had some documents that you signed with the agency because in my experience agencies want everything but the kitchen sink signing! And it matters. It is not unlawful to make a deduction if an error in payment has been made - this is one of the exclusions. And it also isn't an unlawful deduction if you aren't an employee (most employees do not invoice their employers in order to get paid!). So you need to know a lot more before you can get any reliable advice, because opinions won't help you and that's all you can get unless the information is more accurate. Even the e-mail may be of indifferent value - if there are no specific hours stated, then what does "being paid for all hours" mean? See what you can find and then let people know.

simpywimpy

There has been no contract signed by us.

I emailed the agency to clarify the number of worked hours paid and was told all, yet now 6 months later and with no prior warning or explanation, the company have decided that they will only pay a max of 12hrs per day. The agency has therefore clawed back the excess from us.

Surely as I have emailed confirmation from the agency that all hours will be paid, then that is the contract between us. Any subsequent problem between the company and the agency is a matter for them to sort.

This is not just a matter of having been paid too much - we were paid what was agreed. A further change of mind outside our control or knowledge has meant we have lost almost £2000.

The system is that hubby fills in a timesheet, the company authorises it and the agency then pays us. Those already signed and authorised timesheets have now been altered by the company.

I feel that the agency and the company should sort it out between themselves - after all hubby worked those hours on the basis told in good faith

Judith_W

Call ACAS they should be able to give advice. Certainly sounds incredibly dodgy to me. What if they had decided the most they would pay was 5 hours a day!!

kazwookie

Contact ACAS

and for now only work the 12 hours they are paying you

Evilm

did hubby sign any forms at all? It wouldn't have looked like a contract, would have looked like a terms and conditions page.

I would ask them to provide proof that hubby signed to these terms and then contact ACAS. 6 months is a lot of time for them to claim back a "mistake" with almost no notice.

SarEl

If there is a clear statement that the employer/agency will pay as many hours as a person works, then they cannot "back date" a change in that position and you are owed the money and can sue for it. But it must be clear that the statement is saying that, and there isn't documentation anywhere else that stipulated a maximum number of daily hours. Because if there is, then the employer is actually within their rights to claim back an overpayment, and does not have to negotiate repayment.

But I am still not convinced that your husband is an employee (which matters - if he isn't neither ACAS nor the tribunal can help him, and it would have to be a County Court claim). I am struggling to comprehend, or perhaps I have misread it - how many hours per day did your husband work? Because if, as I think you said, he was working 12 or more hours per day, unless he didn't work a full week, he would have been way, wat over the maximum working hours set out in the WTD. But the WTD does not apply to self-employed people, which is what contracted staff are. Can you clarify this - was he an employee?

Zazen999

simpywimpy wrote: »

OH has been working for a contracting agency since Jan and always been paid for all hours worked. Suddenly they are saying that we should only have been paid upto a limit per day and have therefore clawed back nearly £2000 from previous invoices.

Surely after all this time, and being told by email that all hours would be paid, a contract has been formed and the agency should pay up? I dont think we have signed a formal contract of employment but I still have the email where we asked about hours and was told all were being paid.

There was no warning this was going to happen, just the deduction of the final wage.

I have emailed saying I think what they did was unlawful and giving them 7 days to reply which has now passed without a response.

Any ideas of where we stand?

a - if he is working for a contracting agency; then how was the agreement set up? What agreement was in place that led him to get the work and the agency to pay him?

b - do you both work for them as you keep saying 'us' and 'we'?

c - how long ago did they change the terms of the payments?

d - have they shown you the signed agreement that states their terms relating to the max no of hours per day? Have you asked to see this?

simpywimpy

Yes he is a contractor not an employee

We emailed his cv and they phoned to say he was accepted for the position and what the terms would be.

We struggled to get anything concrete on the hours issue but emailed early Feb asking for clarification which the agency said they would get. Every payment received was for every hours worked until the final payment 2wks ago when a huge chunk was taken out.

Apparently the company and the agency began arguing about the payments in early June but at no point did either of them raise the issue with hubby so despite the final wage being delayed by 3wks because of this, still no-one bothered to mention any problems.

Looking back through emails the agency clearly states that hubby was employed on the basis of all hours paid and that it is the company that have subsequently changed their minds. The changed their minds six months after starting.

I will ask the agency to email us a signed copy of their terms and conditions stating that we accepted work on this basis but I am positive we/he didn't.

DVardysShadow

simpywimpy wrote: »

I will ask the agency to email us a signed copy of their terms and conditions stating that we accepted work on this basis but I am positive we/he didn't.

Yes, put the ball into their court to prove that it was part of the contract. And sue them.

Evilm

simpywimpy wrote: »

Yes he is a contractor not an employee

We emailed his cv and they phoned to say he was accepted for the position and what the terms would be.

Looking back through emails the agency clearly states that hubby was employed on the basis of all hours paid and that it is the company that have subsequently changed their minds. The changed their minds six months after starting.

Then try to get proof of the terms you signed to just in case they have found a sneaky way to get round it but I would consider a Employment Tribunal claim suing them for the reclaimed funds.