What can i do in this situation?

Iammike_2

Hi Fellows,

This is a long one (4 minutes reading) so to anyone who reads thankyou. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Here goes.

I heard about a job through the grapevine. I did some volunteering in good faith and got a job in july. I asked about pay and hours straight away: minimum wage and 9-5. I offered my bank details and my p45...

I started a few months after another guy and was told (from the 2 bosses) they were expanding so had never taken on employees, only subcontracted to 'self employed' people or worked for themselves. They said when they had looked in to the PAYE setup they would ask me and the other guy for our p45 but to bear with them as they had never done it before. Ofcourse, I beared with.

I asked about how the money would work in the meantime: I would get what I would 'take home' under normal circumstances so it could be back tracked and easily brought up to date...Made sense to me.

I asked in respectful intervals about the PAYE setup, before things began shifting. A few months in they were needing to move units as theirs was too small and once the business park owner got wind he began pushing them out. I could see the difficulties and it seemed like a realistic hurdle so I accepted this and eased of asking as often. I did ask though and stated that I didn't like that I was in a position where I technically had no rights. Between this point and being told in december that they couldn't afford to pay me anymore the following things came to light. *I'll number them to break them up*After some of these things, I started looking in to others I thought was suspect*. I set, for myself, new year as a limit as the situation was making me uneasy.

1. Wages became sporadic and I had to start asking. They started making me feel guilty for asking and dropping comments about how I was taking home more money than they were. My wages were tracked on a system and on time sheets but the wage slips were a joke.
2. As it got closer to winter it got colder but until one of the bosses felt he was too cold there was no heating.
3. The other guy worked on a saturday for nothing (a little suckered into the privileges). Because of this I was asked to work every other saturday too, for nothing. I was told it was up to me but that I would be dividing the workforce if I didn't (I refused). Further to this what should have been always constructive criticism was sometimes underhandedley said (for example when they gave little or no direction they would later get mad and say 'i don't pay you to sit and toss it off' or the likes). Mild, I suppose, but insulting.
4. In other instances I voiced my concerns and was made out to be a whinger. For example the following situation really annoyed me: We were helping a similar company move units on to a new business park. The business park was evacuated because of a chemical leak in a nearby unit to which the police officers we asked said "If i didn't have to be here I wouldn't be". Because my boss didn't want to come back next day he drove us back on the the estate through a back entrance to carry on. I had no choice as I had no money to get home.
5. I queried a displayed out of date insurance certificate to a fellow worker. The gist of his passive giggled response was "Even if the dates were current, it probably wouldn't be real".
6. I noticed that some of the accounts i had to use had a slightly different company name. When I asked about it they said it was fine. I strategically asked about it on other days when people where calling asking for old debts and they said it was a dissolved company that had been re-registered back with companies house...Is this not fraud??

Since then I have called citizens advice and logged this with them in case taxes are queried in my next job. I didn't earn enough to be above the tax threshold for the year and this is inclusive of around £230 worth of hours worked that I never received. I've called and called. They never agree to a transfer time, just keep saying next week. I had to hide my number to get through.

My questions are...Can I get this £230 in anyway? Should I report this company? Can I, legally, say that I will report them if they don't pay me for hours I worked?

Please can I get any type of advice of smart actions. Thanks in advance to anyone who responds,

Mike

notanewuser

Yes, they can fold one company and restart with a different name (its called phoenixing). It sucks.

Report to HMRC for PAYE fraud. You weren't self employed and they know it. The mere suggestion of that would have had me running for the hills.

Is the £230 owed from the old company or the new? You can raise a claim at the Employment Tribunal for it but will have to be quick. You only have 3 months from the event to raise a claim. You can try adding the unpaid Saturdays - they were illegal as you were on minimum wage.

Iammike_2

I would have tried running for the hills too but it's a struggle getting a job at present, especially a career related once so I held out and hoped.

The money is owed from the new company. I didn't know I had three months so that does leave me a month to sort that out.

TY