Help, on garden leave/company going into adminstration what do I do?

leflynn

Hi,

I hope some of you can offer me a bit of advice as I'm very confsed about my situation at the moment.
A week ago I handed mynotice in to my current employers as I have another job to go to mid august. I was prepared for them to be a little unpleasant about the situation as they are will all employees that leave (I have worked there 3 yrs 3 months and have seen a few go). There was no to effort to retain me, which wasn't a surprise as I was verging on quitting and going down the constructive dismissal route (another story) and they duly sent out an email to the company confirming I was leaving about 3 hours after I handed my notice in, before they had confirmed to me they had accepted it.
They then had a company meeting, which I was not invitied to, but found out that the compay is in trouble, has a winding up order against them and is going into adminstration (this checks out on companies house.
On Friday I was then told I was being put on garden leave for confidentiality reasons (even though I have no information and was being tld things by other members of staff) and was given a pay schedule of when my pay would be made to made along with expenses and holiday pay.

I am now worried that they will not pay me and don't have enough money to cover bills as I have had to buy a new car since I crashed mine while using it for work.

Any tips on what to do gratefully recieved..... (please)

Ewarwoowar2

There is a Govt. fund you may be able to claim back some of the money you may lose by the company's insolvency.

Have a read of this:

http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/pdfs/guidanceleafletspdf/guideforemployees.pdf


If you got any questions after reading, let me know.

SarEl

Correct though it is, that advice is a little bit "in front of itself" - there is no evidence at all yet that the company will not be paying what is owed. The OP has received details of what he will be paid and when, and whilst I understand that he may be rightly concerned about whether it will be paid, the first thing that has to be done is to wait and see if he is paid. Employees are amongst the first to be paid when a company goes into administration, and simply because it has done so does not mean that it cannot meet these obligations. The best thing to do is to wait and see whether your paytment arrives - if it does not, start following it up immediately.

leflynn

Thanks for the advice and the link (very useful if it gets to that point). I think I am unlikely to get aid as I hear that things have got worse and the company they trade with has terminated their agreement.

1st payment is due on the 30th July, am just worried that I don't have enough money to cover the potential payment gaps.

I also got offered a bit of temp work to help out, but I'm worried I can't do it as I'm on garden leave and they might find out and it may effect any claim or payment I have?

SarEl

leflynn wrote: »

Thanks for the advice and the link (very useful if it gets to that point). I think I am unlikely to get aid as I hear that things have got worse and the company they trade with has terminated their agreement.

1st payment is due on the 30th July, am just worried that I don't have enough money to cover the potential payment gaps.

I also got offered a bit of temp work to help out, but I'm worried I can't do it as I'm on garden leave and they might find out and it may effect any claim or payment I have?

I u8nderstand the worry, but until they have defaulted on payment there really isn't anything that you can do I'm afraid. The government scheme only coughs up if you can't get your money - and there's a way to go before that happens. Companies in administration are not necessarily without the means to pay you, and, as I said, you are a first line creditor, before suppliers etc. You might try contacting the administrator (I mean the offical dealing with the administration - not the temp in the office ) to see whether they can tell you more. You could also find out more information at http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees/Pay/DG_10026695

This gives a basic guide.

I agree that you should be wary of taking other employment, no matter how attractive it may seem to do so - on gardening leave you can be called back into work, and this could be by the administrator and not just your boss.

SarEl

PS - On the other hand, if the new employer wants you to start early - well, there is no harm in asking. Since you have already handed in your notice before this all happened, it would seem unlikely that you would qualify for redundancy anyway, but check out your position before doing anything. However, if that isn't an issue, I am pretty certain the administrator would agree to you terminating early and starting the new job if that was possible. Just be sure that in so doing you don't loose out on any entitlement you may want to have!

getmore4less

If the cuurent job does not have "other work restrictions" then you should be able to take on other jobs but make sure they know that you are under contract and on garden leave and may be called back at any time.

Another option is to ask for PILON and immediate release(paid) since they have restricted your working, perhapse negotiate.

I would be chasing the expenses if they are overdue allready.

Did people not see this coming?

leflynn

getmore4less wrote: »

If the cuurent job does not have "other work restrictions" then you should be able to take on other jobs but make sure they know that you are under contract and on garden leave and may be called back at any time.

Another option is to ask for PILON and immediate release(paid) since they have restricted your working, perhapse negotiate.

I would be chasing the expenses if they are overdue allready.

Did people not see this coming?

I knew that things were bad within the company which is why I started looking for another job, I just didn't see it coming quite so quickly!

My current employer that put me on garden leave has now not paid me on the date due and their best response was that 'they will look into it'. My new employer has asked me to start early and acas advised me I could argue that they haven't paid me and we all need to money if I did want to start my new job early.... I'm really worries I won't get paid for sometime as they have a history of doing this with anyone that leaves the company (not paying wages on time).

I did also wonder if they can put me on garden leave if I don't have a contract? I had one in my first year of emplyement but haven't had one since?

Thanks for the help so far!

SarEl

I am not going to even start with the contract business - you worked there, you had one (this question gets asked a lot, and it isn't relevant). ACAS are only partially correct. By not paying you the company are now in breach of contract. This entitles you to claim (in writing please) repudiation - you didn't pay me and so breached my contract, so I am no longer bound by the contract with immediate effect. You can then go and work where you want. But if you do this you are giving up the remiander of your notice period and are not due payment for it (although that might be a moot point ). You can then only claim any payment up to the date of the repudiation of contract - but as I said, this may not be an issue to worry over since you aren't being paid.

leflynn

SarEl wrote: »

I am not going to even start with the contract business - you worked there, you had one (this question gets asked a lot, and it isn't relevant). ACAS are only partially correct. By not paying you the company are now in breach of contract. This entitles you to claim (in writing please) repudiation - you didn't pay me and so breached my contract, so I am no longer bound by the contract with immediate effect. You can then go and work where you want. But if you do this you are giving up the remiander of your notice period and are not due payment for it (although that might be a moot point ). You can then only claim any payment up to the date of the repudiation of contract - but as I said, this may not be an issue to worry over since you aren't being paid.

Thanks thats what I thought might be the case, but as my head is swimming I just wanted a bit of clarification! I find that ACAS do like to be very cautious with their advice!

As you say I am more than happy to give up the last week of my notice and the 2 days holiday I would be due at the end of August as I have a cat in hells chance of getting it. My main concern is that if I start work early then I risked losing any pay to date and my expenses (which is not an amount I can afford to lose).

Am I within my right after email conversation on Friday evening/Sat am to submit the letter to them early next week or do I need to give them the option to pay me within a stated timescale?

Thanks again for the advice offered

SarEl

No, to claim breach of contract you must do it immediately. So just get the letter sent.