witholding pay

nicter

hi
Posting on behalf of my son
My son did a 2 month contract self employed obtained for him by his agent working on a mini cruise.
While on board my son posted a comment on facebook about the ship although he didnt name the ship or company. He had a call from the agent reprimanding him for this and was asked to remove said comment which he did. This was back at the beginning of August
My sons contract came to an end the beginning of Sept and his final pay cheque was due end of Sept. He wasnt paid on the due date and on contacting his agent he was told they are witholding this money "in case there are any repercussions" from this comment.
As advised by ACAS he asked the agent to supply in writing the rationale for witholding this payment and has had no response whatsoever
Can anyone advise where he can go from here please.
He doesnt work for this agent any more as he resigned due to ongoing problems with him
Thankyou

T_T_2

He could always send the company an invoice for the amount he is owed and then hire a debt collection agency to collect it.

MissSarah1972

They can not with hold pay. Get him to write a letter sayng he has contacted ACAS and to say he gives them 7 working days to pay all monies in full.

Then if no response has to take them to court to get it.

nicter

ACAS did advise he give them 7 days to pay which my son did. The 7 days were up on the 8th Oct hence wondering where to go next

MissSarah1972

nicter wrote: »

ACAS did advise he give them 7 days to pay which my son did. The 7 days were up on the 8th Oct hence wondering where to go next

Did he send the letter registered post? They will just say they never got it if not.

If he has done this then the next steps are here

He needs to raise a grievance then take it to tribunal

www.adviceguide.org.uk/e_employer_witholds_your_pay.pdf

isplumm

MissSarah1972 wrote: »

Did he send the letter registered post? They will just say they never got it if not.

If he has done this then the next steps are here

He needs to raise a grievance then take it to tribunal

www.adviceguide.org.uk/e_employer_witholds_your_pay.pdf

Hi,

Is that right - the OP says his son is self employed - so this sounds like a B2B transaction - so small claims seems the way to go?

Mark

Uncertain

MissSarah1972 wrote: »

Did he send the letter registered post? They will just say they never got it if not.

This is something of a myth. Whilst it can be of some help it can also be two edged. A large organisation can still claim it was lost internally and a small company / individual may refuse to accept the letter if they know who it was from.

The normal presumption in English civil law is that mail IS delivered. The firm would need to show a history of mail problems to convince a court that they did not get a letter where the sender has proof of posting.

Even a signature for recorded or special delivery doesn't prove WHAT was sent, it could have been an empty envelope.

Generally there is little to be gained from the extra three quid cost!

nicter

Thankyou for the replies. Yes he is self employed therefore tribunal is not an option
He didnt physically send a letter he did it by email to 2 different members of the company so I guess he should put it in writing and post it.
If it does go the small claims court route will he be able to claim any fees incurred ?

Notmyrealname

nicter wrote: »

My sons contract came to an end the beginning of Sept and his final pay cheque was due end of Sept. He wasnt paid on the due date and on contacting his agent he was told they are witholding this money "in case there are any repercussions" from this comment.
As advised by ACAS he asked the agent to supply in writing the rationale for witholding this payment and has had no response whatsoever
Can anyone advise where he can go from here please.
He doesnt work for this agent any more as he resigned due to ongoing problems with him
Thankyou

He never worked for them in the first place. They were his client.

Small claims court is the only way. He was self employed so has no protection under employment law.

He needs to issue a reminder invoice then a statement of account then a final demand and then a letter before action. All need to give a reasonable amount of time to pay so this could take 2 to 3 months before you even get to the point where you can put in a claim.

Notmyrealname

MissSarah1972 wrote: »

Did he send the letter registered post? They will just say they never got it if not.

If he has done this then the next steps are here

He needs to raise a grievance then take it to tribunal

www.adviceguide.org.uk/e_employer_witholds_your_pay.pdf

He was self employed. None of that applies.

Seriously, is it possible for you to give one correct bit of advice?

nicter

Notmyrealname wrote: »

He never worked for them in the first place. They were his client.

Small claims court is the only way. He was self employed so has no protection under employment law.

He needs to issue a reminder invoice then a statement of account then a final demand and then a letter before action. All need to give a reasonable amount of time to pay so this could take 2 to 3 months before you even get to the point where you can put in a claim.

Thankyou for this. Just posted off the second letter to them
He does have his pay schedule from the agent which lists this payment as due on 30/09 so does he still have to send the statement of account ?
Thanks again for your helpful advice