Long term temp public sector worker 10% pay cut with no notice or discussion

londonbabe73

I am a long term temp ( 3 years) working for a London borough, who has decided without warning notice or discussion to effectively cut every temps pay by 10% as of next Monday.

Also I had to learn about it from a collegue who happened to notice the change of rate on his timesheet. !!!!

I am totally disgusted this is the kind of of behaviour you expect from a sweatshop / factory environment not a local authority who has basically used the Xmas holidays to disguise a pay cut without even telling us.

For me it is the final straw , whilst I appreciate it's a tough world out there we have been messed about all year not getting paid for weeks because of supposed management issues and having to work without a contract not knowing we are actually getting paid at the end of the week.

The agency I work through are useless and basically swallow whatever is chucked at them for me it's 10% today and it will be more next time
The contract is not worth the paper it's written on

Advice anyone ? And no I don't earn shedloads but as a single parent it's the only way I can work and have some control over my working hours etc. :mad:

bendix

If you are a temp, you are not employed by the borough, but by the temp agency. Your beef should be with them.

The borough are basically telling the agency they want your services at a cheaper rate. It is up to the agency whether they continue to pay you at the previous rate and absorb the cut themselves, or pay you less to reflect the client's position.

Your contract is with the agency; NOT the borough.

SarEl

I have to agree - this has baolutely nothing at all to do with the local authority. The agency is your employer - it is up to them to pay you, to provide employment information, and to communicate with you. The local authority is nothing to you - they are the client of the agency. Upo are complaining about the wrong people. It sounds to me like it sin't the case that your agency is useless - more that they are blaming things on the local authority which are their responsibility to deal with.

There is, however, something odd here. Within weeks the Agency Workers Regulsations come into play, meaning that anyone with a continuous contract from or before 1st October is entitled to the same rate of pay as permanant staff doing the same job on the clients workforce. So what you are saying here makes little sense. It might make sense if, as is often the case in London, temps are being paid a premium wage above what permanant workers get - they don't have to reduce the rate, but equally there is nothing stopping them from doing so. Vut something does not add up in the exp[lanation you appear to have been given.

However, as said previously - the issue is with the agency and not the hirer. They are responsible for paying you on time etc., and any difficulties with the client are their problem. There is no reason why you should not have been paid for weeks - the egancy is responsible for payment. It appears that they are not "useless" - they are passing the buck.

LittleVoice

It does seem to be related to the agency worker rights which, for someone employed from or before 1 October in the same role, means they have same pay rights as a directly employed worker and the same holiday entitlement. At the moment the temporary worker will be entitled to the statutory minimum of paid leave but as from next Monday it should be the same as an employee. Some agencies are allowing accrual of holiday at a higher rate and others, I understand, are rolling the extra into the hourly rate. I would expect that the OP's agency is allowing holiday to accrue at a higher rate and is cutting the rate paid as one means of compensating for that (obviously more than enough).

**Juice**

TBH I'd try and move from an agency position in a public sector organisation - it's one of the areas that's constantly under scrutiny where I work and the management are always looking to reduce agency spend across the board.

Notmyrealname

londonbabe73 wrote: »

I am a long term temp ( 3 years) working for a London borough, who has decided without warning notice or discussion to effectively cut every temps pay by 10% as of next Monday.

No they haven't, YOUR AGENCY HAS.

I am totally disgusted this is the kind of of behaviour you expect from a sweatshop / factory environment not a local authority who has basically used the Xmas holidays to disguise a pay cut without even telling us.

This has nothing to do with the local authority. It is solely the agency who are doing this. And I would expect this underhandedness from an employment agency.

Advice anyone ? And no I don't earn shedloads but as a single parent it's the only way I can work and have some control over my working hours etc. :mad:

First of all, direct the blame where it lies - the agency. Secondly, see if there are any other agencies you can work for.