9 weeks unpaid wages

nattyuk

hi there acas has basically given up they have said hes not returning there calls and next i should go to employment tribunal or county court which is best choice also my ex boss has appaently said he cant be touched as hes a limited company a couple of sugestions put to me which i think are extreme but could work is go in the morning and tell him if he doent pay me im going to go and see the manger of the building i used to clean which is run by the local authority (which he still has the cleaning contract for) and if she wont help me ill contact her manager at the councill and complain to them hopefully he wouldent want that ,or what about siting outside the office which is on a very busy industrial estate with a big banner and contacting my local newspaper and tell them im haveing a 1 woman protest and see if there intresed in running the story what do you think

dancingfairy

I think if you protest you run the risk of the message being lost and being seen as a lone fruit lop so taking the legal route might make sense.
Do make sure you sue the right entity - whether it's the individual or the company. I would imagine you can ask for costs although for 40 ish pounds and the satisfaction of getting your money back it might be worth it anyway.
What proof do you have you worked there? any chance the people whose bulding you actually cleaned will back you up? have you got copies of your timesheets? any other proof of contract (or implied contract?). Obviously the more proof you have the better.
What assets does the company have? do they have company cars? any money in the bank? I'm just thinking that winning a court case is one thing but unless they actually admit defeat and pay up you've then got to pay bailiffs to go in and take stuff to sell, or you've got to find some other way to actually get the money out of them.
With regards to contacting the people whose building you actually cleaned they are probably unlikely to intervene directly on your behalf to negotiate and they aren't exactly going to pay you themselves(especially if they've already paid the cleaning company). They may (or may not) be preapred to back your claims up in court.
Hope you get some resolution.
df

nattyuk

my main question is tribunal or court

Notmyrealname

To answer the OP's question:

Yes you can protest outside the premises as long as you do it on public property, i.e the path outside, and not on their premises.

However it is likely to do you more harm than good in fighting your cause.

blossomhill_2

It unfortunately sounds like the company is likely to go west and you will be among their victims

If you are saying that a council cleaning contractor has failed to pay staff for cleaning council buildings then I think it would be of interest to the council, as it may indicate the company has financial difficulties and may not be viable bidders for future contracts - however if you speak to anyone at the council it should be done in a measured way. I don't think it would get your wages paid though.

Any public protest may stick in the public's mind and jeapordise you getting employment from other employers in the future, I'd advise against going there, especially as anyone seeing you, or any competent reporter is likely to ask "why didn't you go to ET if you really had a case?"

Why aren't you going to ET or CC, if that is the advice given?

jobbingmusician

Were you employed by the cleaning company, or were you employed through an agency?

Have you got any payslips from the past?

If you have a payslip from the company, you were probably an employee. (You obviously think you were, but it is worth checking.)

You have two main options - court or tribunal. Note that you will also be awarded interest on your money if you win - if you apply online there is a handy calculator which will work this out for you.

If you raise an employment tribunal case - you can do this online - you MUST do this before you are out of time. I imagine you will be claiming constructive dismissal, although others on here may have clearer ideas. Anyway, I believe it may be important for you to raise a tribunal case because - how are you surviving at the moment? Your JSA or other benefits may be sanctioned unless you can prove that you didn't just resign for a flimsy reason. If you can prove to the DWP that your employer constructively dismissed you, you may get benefits reinstated.

Sadly this will not be a quick option. I suspect the small claims court would be your quickest option, and for this reason you might prefer this. SCC is designed so that it doesn't cost you much to apply (and yes, you will get this cost back from your employer assuming that a) you win, and b) there are any resources with which to pay you.)

Even more sadly, I suspect that you did the right thing in resigning, and that this employer is about to go bust. That makes it more important to apply NOW if you are going to do so. Before you do, look up your employer on http://wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk/3a54282228c611d33b2999395783ea19/wcframe?name=accessCompanyInfo to make sure they have not already folded. Then go to http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/ManagingDebt/Makingacourtclaimformoney/DG_195639

Remember to claim for ALL your additional costs caused by the lack of payment. For example, if your bank has charged you for going overdrawn, this sum should be included. (You will have to produce evidence of these charges).