Refusing to pay unclaimed holiday?

JWIOW

Just looking for a bit of advice...

I'm 19 and was (up until recently) employed by McDonalds.
I resigned from there and have now been told that none of the holiday that I hadn't taken would be paid because I didn't work the 2 week notice period.

The reason I didn't work the 2 week notice period was because I felt as though I couldn't continue to go to work.

I was drained from working crazy shifts... One day I could have been on a 7am-3pm shift then the next a 11pm-7am (overnight) shift... My body clock was well and truly ruined by this.
Not to mention being put in areas of the work that I wasn't fully trained to do and being shouted abuse at from 'managers' that worked within the company.

Once I was working an over night shift and I was told by the manager that was on that night that, because I was the only person with a car I had to go and pick up the boss (Restaurant manager?) who had been out drinking and two of her friends and take them home during my working hours!! (I don't think this was in my contract?!) then, on the way back my car got a puncture (At 3am!!) and I received a warning for not coming back?!?

This was just a few of the problems I experienced working for McDonalds, not to mention the time I slipped over with no wet floor cones and the manager 'forgot' to make a note of it in the incident book!

So after all this and the poor management I decided enough was enough and I told them that I would not be able to work there any more and I was resigning as of that day and not coming back.
They were more than happy to agree to this and there was no mention of me not receiving my unclaimed holiday pay...

So I got my last pay slip and there was no holiday pay, contacted them and they have refused to pay it because I didn't work the 2 week notice period...

Could anyone advise what I should do?

sniggings

I would mention the drunk boss to head office, I doubt you will get your holiday pay but you never know.

I once worked at McDs and know how they treat people, I don't know if they can withhold holiday pay for the reason given, but I think they can claim for any loss that you not giving notice has caused them but not sure they can take the holiday pay instead of sueing etc.

You should be allowed 11 hours between shifts, so if this didn't happen you could bring this to head offices attention too, if you cause enough hassle, they may just pay you.

Hope someone who knows the law on this can help.

Uncertain

They cannot legally withhold the holiday pay.

As mentioned they could theoretically make a claim against you for any unavoidable losses they suffered as a result of you failing to work your contracted notice.

However, in order to do this they would actually have to have suffered a quantifiable loss despite making all reasonable efforts to minimise it. For example, if they had to pay other staff overtime to cover for you then they might be able to look to you for the difference.

It is very unusual for such a claim to be made for a normall everyday job. More often wages are withheld (illegally) and it degenerates into threats of you sue us and we will sue you.

Most likely if you file an ET claim for unlawful deduction of wages they will settle but there is a slight risk of retaliation.

Was the McD you worked for directly run or a franchise?

Mara69

JWIOW wrote: »

I'm 19 and was (up until recently) employed by McDonalds.
I resigned from there and have now been told that none of the holiday that I hadn't taken would be paid because I didn't work the 2 week notice period.

That's the only important part of your post. The rest is white noise. If you were that concerned about how you were being treated you should have dealt with the situation instead of walking away without notice.

JWIOW

Uncertain wrote: »

They cannot legally withhold the holiday pay.

As mentioned they could theoretically make a claim against you for any unavoidable losses they suffered as a result of you failing to work your contracted notice.

However, in order to do this they would actually have to have suffered a quantifiable loss despite making all reasonable efforts to minimise it. For example, if they had to pay other staff overtime to cover for you then they might be able to look to you for the difference.

It is very unusual for such a claim to be made for a normall everyday job. More often wages are withheld (illegally) and it degenerates into threats of you sue us and we will sue you.

Most likely if you file an ET claim for unlawful deduction of wages they will settle but there is a slight risk of retaliation.

Was the McD you worked for directly run or a franchise?

This was a franchised one, would that make any difference?

Uncertain

JWIOW wrote: »

This was a franchised one, would that make any difference?

Only in that (I assume) your claim would be against the individual franchise holder and not against the big multi-national.

I have very little experience of franchises (although years ago I used to know the holder of a McD's franchise quite well). Most people don't realise that many are franchises.

JWIOW

Uncertain wrote: »

Only in that (I assume) your claim would be against the individual franchise holder and not against the big multi-national.

I have very little experience of franchises (although years ago I used to know the holder of a McD's franchise quite well). Most people don't realise that many are franchises.

Hmmmm!
I think I'll drop the head office an email outlining the issues I faced whilst working there and see what their advice would be.

colino

Do you really think that McDonalds will side against a Franchisee paying them tens of thousands each year for a complaint from someone who walked away from their job?
Move on and forget about it.

Uncertain

I would hold off doing that for now - what would it achieve? At best you will get a vague reply. Any action they might take against the franchise holder won't help you.

You need to establish who any claim would be against and then decide if you feel it is worth the hassle and (as I pointed out) the slight risk.

denla

JWIOW wrote: »

Hmmmm!
I think I'll drop the head office an email outlining the issues I faced whilst working there and see what their advice would be.

What evidence do you have? It's the words of someone who failed to hand in notice over management. No one will believe anything you say if you can't prove it.

McKneff

I dont have a great deal of sympathy with anyone who walks out of a job.

Who suffers - your workmates because they have to do extra work to cover for the job yuve just walked out of.

You should have handed your notice in, worked it and then left.