agency won`t pay up

PeTcOn1235

My husband was recently employed by an agency however, because the agency say the company they were recruiting on behalf of have gone into administration, they are refusing to pay him. Is this legal?

Fiddlestick

Who is his contract of employment with?

If it's with the agency then they must pay him for all hours worked - it's a legal requirement.

If one of their revenue streams has dried up, that's not your partner's problem.

lyndsay1986

It's the agency's responsibility ....they was the ones that have employed him . check his contract that they should have supplied him with when he signed up.

CPJames19

If the Recruitment Agency are refusing to payout I would send an invoive to them. Give them 30 days to respond otherwise you will be seeking legal advice. If they don't respond after that time I would take it to a small claims court. Found a link that will generate an invoice for you:

http://www.timesheetportal.com/InvoiceTool/

Hammyman

"It depends"

1) If the agency were merely the company doing the advertising and recruiting stage where they got a fee for that then his employment contract was with the company who went into administration

2) If the agency were providing him AND PAYING HIM and he was basically "on placement" to the company then he works for the agency and not the company and the agency must pay him.

If he was no2 BUT PAID VIA AN UMBRELLA COMPANY then it gets really complicated because he's employed by the umbrella company and not the agency so would have to deal with it as a self employed person would - it being a business debt.

haveibeendone

If the agency were responsible for paying your OH then he is an Agency Worker (not an employee of the agency) and it is most likely that he was on a "Contract for Services". In this case the agency are responsible for paying him regardless of whether or not the agency were paid by the hirer. If they wont pay you can contact the usual ACAS CAB etc or also The Pay and Work Rights Helpline. The P&WR people can give support or advice on your rights as an agency worker.


If the agency just acted in an intoduction role and your OH was employed by the company that he was doing the work for then he would be an employee of that company whether or not he actually recieved a copy of his contract of employment. If this company has gone bust AND he was an employee then he can make a claim to the National Insurance fund who compensate employees if thier employer goes bust.

If the agency goes bust and he was an agency worker then you most probably wont get any money.

However as Hammyman said there are different ways to "work" for an agency including self employed, umbrella, limited company and personal managed companies. If he is in one of these categories I would think he needs the proffesional advice of the above the CAB,ACAS or P&WRH.

pimento

It's a minefield, isn't it?