Urgent : Company acting illegally?

FireWyrm

Hi all

I usually hang out over at DFW, but I've just found myself in a position and I'm not sure what to do for the best here.

At the beginning of January, I started a new job with a company in Watford. When payday rolled around on the 25th, my payslip clearly showed that I was paying some sort of emergency tax. I flagged this with my new employer who told me it was a P45 snafu and it would be sorted. I rang the tax office for advice and was told that they had no record of my employment with this company but this was often normal in a new job.

In February, I was again paid using an emergency tax code. By this time I began to suspect that the company was in trouble financially and began to lobby for my expenses to be paid in full since they were outstanding. On Monday, I checked with the tax office again and was told that they still had no record of my employment, so it's clear that they never received my P45 and it is now too close to payroll for it to be rectified. I lost all patience and at the beginning of the week I put feelers out for a new job. I've managed to secure one as of tonight.

Looking on google, it seems that the company has been flagged by Companies House as being in imminent danger of being 'struck off'. I'm not expert, but that sounds bad to me and confirms my suspicions.

Ok. Payroll is due to run late next week and there is no way they will have rectified my tax code. I have been paying tax apparently on an emergency code leaving me short each month. I finally managed to extract my expenses out of them in cash which I've banked. I am currently still within my 'probation' which means legally, I only have to give 1 weeks notice. The tax office tell me I need to provide them with a PAYE company reference, but my employer ignored me when I requested it. I suspect thats actually what prompted the expenses payment....

I cannot find this reference number, it's not on either of the two payslips I have. The payslips look reasonably official and are issued by a payroll company, so somewhere someone knows what is happening. I have a company asset in the form of a quality laptop and a phone, both of which would cover any debt they owe me.

Right, I don't know what to do here....

1) do I keep the laptop as collateral until I get paid on the 25th?
2) how do I sort things with the tax office if I can't guarantee a P45? How do I get the tax back that has been stopped?
3) what does being struck off actually mean?
4) should I submit my resignation on Monday, or, wait until the end of the week (and payday) and THEN just walk out without notice?

Help?

marybelle01

It isn't collateral. It's theft. If you are owed money you deal with that eventuality in they correct manner. You don't steal things.

LadyMissA

Your payroll office should be able to tell you the PAYE ref in a matter of seconds.

Do not keep anything that's not yours or you will be as bad as the company.

Resign if you have a new job and give one weeks notice as per the contract.

Make sure they issue you with a P45 & if not report them to the HMRC

As long as your pay slips show dedcutions you will be ok as far as tax and NI go (well as long as you get the PAYE ref from them and they are registered)

When you then go to your new job and hand in the P45 they will send part to the HMRC and you should get a refund.

Struck off means - sorry to say they are close to being disolved.

FireWyrm

marybelle01 wrote: »

It isn't collateral. It's theft. If you are owed money you deal with that eventuality in they correct manner. You don't steal things.

Thank you for your response. However, things are not always so black and White. For instance, it wasn't until I mentioned the HMRC that they paid my expenses, they owe atleast one person I know of about £50K. I would not keep the laptop, I wanted to force their hand. Since payday is the 25th and if I resign on Monday, they could conceivably stop my wages out of spite and I would have no way of recovering the money. I could take them to court, but with nothing to pay the solicitor with, I wouldnt get far. This leaves me in serious trouble until next month. If I resign, hand back the laptop and act honestly, they have already shown a willingness to act dishonestly themselves since they knew the company was in trouble when they employed me and I had to obliquely threaten them to get my expenses....

FireWyrm

LadyMissA wrote: »

Your payroll office should be able to tell you the PAYE ref in a matter of seconds.

Do not keep anything that's not yours or you will be as bad as the company.

Resign if you have a new job and give one weeks notice as per the contract.

Make sure they issue you with a P45 & if not report them to the HMRC

As long as your pay slips show dedcutions you will be ok as far as tax and NI go (well as long as you get the PAYE ref from them and they are registered)

When you then go to your new job and hand in the P45 they will send part to the HMRC and you should get a refund.

Struck off means - sorry to say they are close to being disolved.

Thank you. There is no apparent payroll office. They use a payroll company allegedly. I have no one to complain to. I should have known something was up...the office was too shiny.

LadyMissA

FireWyrm wrote: »

Thank you. There is no apparent payroll office. They use a payroll company allegedly. I have no one to complain to. I should have known something was up...the office was too shiny.

Even if they outsource the payroll who ever submits the payroll to the outside source should know your PAYE ref after all this relates to the company not the people who do your payroll.

FireWyrm

Yes. The person who submits the payroll in the MD who is also AWOL as of today. I asked for this reference number, he ignored me. I cannot find out what it is through 'official' channels and HMRC say they cannot help until I give it to them. It's beyond my comprehension why they cannot search by company name and address, but that's what they tell me. No number, no help and no official recognition of my time at this company. My Tax apprently has disappeared.

LadyMissA

FireWyrm wrote: »

Yes. The person who submits the payroll in the MD who is also AWOL as of today. I asked for this reference number, he ignored me. I cannot find out what it is through 'official' channels and HMRC say they cannot help until I give it to them. It's beyond my comprehension why they cannot search by company name and address, but that's what they tell me. No number, no help and no official recognition of my time at this company. My Tax apprently has disappeared.

No you have to get it from the employer in case they are not even registered and this will be the only thing that can ID them 100%

On Monday find out who the payroll co is and call them to get the number. Do you have an accounts team? They will know.

FireWyrm

We don't apprently have an accounts team. It's all done by the MD. The company is registered at Companies House and has a number there, but this isn't the same is it?

I guess I can try the Czech branch of the business since they notionally pay out expenses. Mine were paid on the personal credit card of the MD the other day.

Ok, I have an idea but it's going to tick him off big time. He has a business partner who runs the Czech office and apparently owned much of the parent business. My MD is a shyster, but he's been going to great pains to keep this all under wraps and away from them. I suspect the Czech office has no idea how bad things are here and the status of the company. I could appeal directly to that MD, but he may not have the information I need. If it gets back to my MD, I probably won't get paid at all. The UK office is very small...just the MD (missing), a sales guy (clueless), a contractor (even more clueless), me and three juniors.

LadyMissA

FireWyrm wrote: »

. The UK office is very small...just the MD (missing), a sales guy (clueless), a contractor (even more clueless), me and three juniors.

Not one of them knows the payroll company name? Very odd that.

FireWyrm

Well, I should imagine that the MD does, but he's not telling....