Owner upped and left

stacey89

Hi i was wondering if anyone has any information that could help my situation. I was working for a new business for 9 weeks and never received payslips nor was the tax the owner deducted from any of the staff actually paid to the tax office(basically in his back pocket). It turns out he never paid the sub letters little rent and never paid any bills. And one night i received a text saying shop would no longer would be open,when queried all staff were told they were opening next door due to high rent demands.
To cut long story short the shop never reopened he is due us all money and i have been to a solicitor but they can't help as legal aid would want the money i was owed to cover fees, other staff members were at citizens advice and never got very far. And to top it off he gave us a number to some debt agency who now want nothing to do with the case as we have no proof we actually worked for him. This wouldn't be as bad if he didn't still have another business still running after lying to us saying that was also going into insolvency. I am running out of ways to try and get our money back and just wondered if anyone else had been in the same situation and has managed to get it resolved.
Many thanks

terryw

Was the business a sole trader or a limted company? Have you any letters or emails confirming the employment?

stacey89

He was limited company have no email or anything all i have is cctv which was already on premise a bank statement as first wage was paid into bank the rest was cash in hand. And still have texts saying shop will be closed , which i doubt will be much use.

harrys_dad

You could try getting together with all the other ex-employees and take him to small claims court. You could report him to HMRC. You could picket his other company.

Dimey

Happened to me once but the company went bankrupt. I never got my last 2 months pay nor my out of pocket expenses as the Inland Revenue & Customs have first call on any money left in the business. Sadly I wouldn't be surprised if you never get your pay.

But if you can prove to HMRC that the tax and national insurance were deducted from the salary you did get then they will pursue the employer for their money. I was able to show pay slips and my bank statements and my records were corrected to show I'd paid.

stacey89

Thanks doubt i will get anything but have written a letter to tax office about him not paying tax money which was deducted. I want to name and shame him as going by searching him on google he has had other businesses which have also lasted just over a month.

Dimey

Don't forget to tell HMRC that you paid your National Insurance as those payments count towards your state pension in later years. You don't want it to appear that you missed your contributions.
Good Luck

JCS1

Dimey wrote: »

Happened to me once but the company went bankrupt. I never got my last 2 months pay nor my out of pocket expenses as the Inland Revenue & Customs have first call on any money left in the business. Sadly I wouldn't be surprised if you never get your pay.

But if you can prove to HMRC that the tax and national insurance were deducted from the salary you did get then they will pursue the employer for their money. I was able to show pay slips and my bank statements and my records were corrected to show I'd paid.

HMRC are no longer a preferred creditor, it was changed with the Enterprise Act of 2002. Employees are preferred creditors though.

OP - has the limited company been formally wound up? Redundancy Payments Office should be able to help if it has https://www.gov.uk/your-rights-if-your-employer-is-insolvent/claiming-money-owed-to-you

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/pdfs/guidanceleafletspdf/guideforemployees.pdf

stacey89

JCS1 wrote: »

HMRC are no longer a preferred creditor, it was changed with the Enterprise Act of 2002. Employees are preferred creditors though.

OP - has the limited company been formally wound up? Redundancy Payments Office should be able to help if it has https://www.gov.uk/your-rights-if-your-employer-is-insolvent/claiming-money-owed-to-you

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/pdfs/guidanceleafletspdf/guideforemployees.pdf

Thanks i have no clue about his company but it seems he worked for another company in the same town but was sacked and a lawsuit taken out on him for using E numbers in his products. That's all i know, i was just silly enough to keep working for him bringing in extra money for th family. Bu i will definitely contact the number on the link given and let you know the outcome.

MisterMan_2

Take the employer to an employment tribunal, this is fine as long as you start proceedings before he's declared insolvent.

The tribunal will be held, he'll probably not turn up, and when you win you can claim back awards (usually unpaid wages/holiday pay) from the government (think from the national insurance fund or something similar).

Good luck

harrys_dad

Dimey wrote: »

Happened to me once but the company went bankrupt. I never got my last 2 months pay nor my out of pocket expenses as the Inland Revenue & Customs have first call on any money left in the business. Sadly I wouldn't be surprised if you never get your pay.

But if you can prove to HMRC that the tax and national insurance were deducted from the salary you did get then they will pursue the employer for their money. I was able to show pay slips and my bank statements and my records were corrected to show I'd paid.

In cases where the company goes bankrupt you can claim unpaid wages and accrued holiday pay from the National Insurance Fund. I don't know what the time deadline is but give it a go.