Docked wages for self-employed work

CPallett_2

Hi all

My husband is self-employed and has been working for a propery maintenance company. He is owed £285 in wages and the company have said they will be docking him wages as he hung a radiator wrong which needed to be fixed, he has been taken on as a plumbers mate so a trainee. I am not sure if this is legal or not? it is the second time they have done it in the few months he has worked there and last time it was £100.

He has actually left the firm due to this and many other problems so this is his last wages but if this is ilegal we still want to let them know and hopefully get all the money we are owed.

Thanks so much, any help will be much appreciated.

Russe11

Report them to HMRC, I very much doubt a "trainee plumber" would meet the critriea for self employed status

G51shopaholic

The "self-employed" angle is a way for the Property Company to dodge paying Tax & NI

To truly be self employed your husband would have to have been invoicing them for the work he done. And they would be allowed to refuse to pay for work that wasn't completed properly.

But you state they deducted this from his "WAGES" this indicates he was actually their employee and therefore they CANNOT deduct for employee error, unless stated in terms & conditions of employement.

Did he have an employment contract? Were they the only people he did work for?

Contact HMRC and Low Pay Unit - if total number of hours x minimum wage didn't add up.

CPallett_2

Thanks so much

Self-employed is a minefield isn't it......he has set himself up as self-employed, he has a UTR number but has never been told he needs to invoice the company. He pays his own NI and taxes.

They would pay him at the end of the month for the days he had worked that month and this is the second time they have done it for minor mistakes he has made.

He didn't have an employment contract again as he thought he was self-employed he didn't realise he would need this but yes they were the only people he worked for while he was there.

He was getting £50 a day and working at least and working at least 10 hour days.

Hammyman

CPallett wrote: »

Hi all

My husband is self-employed and has been working for a propery maintenance company. He is owed £285 in wages and the company have said they will be docking him wages as he hung a radiator wrong which needed to be fixed, he has been taken on as a plumbers mate so a trainee. I am not sure if this is legal or not? it is the second time they have done it in the few months he has worked there and last time it was £100.

He has actually left the firm due to this and many other problems so this is his last wages but if this is ilegal we still want to let them know and hopefully get all the money we are owed.

Thanks so much, any help will be much appreciated.

Firstly lets get one thing straight. He is self employed therefore there are no such things as wages and he doesn't get paid wages. He also has no rights as an employee.

If he is self employed, he is financially liable for such things unless he puts in his terms of business that he isn't. If he feels he is owed this £285 he needs to invoice them for it, send a reminder then a final demand and then take them to county court.

Hammyman

CPallett wrote: »

He didn't have an employment contract again as he thought he was self-employed he didn't realise he would need this but yes they were the only people he worked for while he was there.

He was getting £50 a day and working at least and working at least 10 hour days.
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He isn't entitled to a contract however anyone with any sense has terms of business they get their clients (in his case who pays him) to sign which have a clause in saying you're not liable for losses etc because of poor workmanship.

CPallett_2

Hammyman

Maybe it isn't wages, I am sorry I used the wrong term. My husband has only been self-employed for a short while and is just getting used to it, I am just on here for some advice.

I will talk to HMRC and if we don't get anywhere invoice them.

As I said we are new to this and it may seem obvious to you but we honestly didn't realise we needed to or was able to get the company he is working for to sign terms of business. So in future if my husband works for another company he can ask them to sign terms or business to cover himself is this correct? Is there anything else we should do, sorry if I am asking the obvious.