Help! Advice needed for ex part time worker

saz-1

Hi all

Please could you give me some advice regarding my rights as a part time worker with my previous employer.
I worked for a cleaning company for less than two weeks in total as a cleaner.
I realised on the first day that this company (or to be precise the boss of the company) was not the most ethical of employers to work for.
The job was advertised as three hours a day five days a week. I rang the employer, gave him some details of my pervious work experience and he offered the job to me straight away, not even asking for any references! (Looking back maybe the alarm bells should have rang then) He also asked me would I like to do six hours a day, and of course I said yes I would do the extra hours.

The cleaning job was within a very large building site, which entailed cleaning workmen’s huts and offices around the site. First thing all new employees had to do before working on the site was to do the health and safety induction. One of the main points the man who conducted the induction said was “NEVER WORK ALONE, wear a safety helmet, high visibility vest and safety boots.
I had the cleaning supervisor with me to show me what to do and show me around. I had safety boots but no safety helmet of high visibility vest I asked him about providing these items and he said “don’t worry the place is empty after 6 O’clock and you will not need these items, but I’ll get you a helmet to carry around with you in case any body asks” I also said to him surely I couldn’t do those six hours alone now as this would be a breach of health and safety regulations.
His response shocked me as he said “don’t worry about that the boss said they don’t know what their on about”. The supervisor later said to me that he’d worked alone on the site for approximately for two to three weeks and I would be expected to do the same. He later went on to say that on one occasion working for this company, after completing a cleaning assignment his boss didn’t pay him as the boss wasn’t paid by the company he contracted to clean for!
That was it for me so the following Monday I gave weeks notice to leave. However I decided to leave a day early as to be honest I’d had enough.

So when I rang the next day to say I wanted to leave immediately the boss became aggressive and intimating and said I’d gone back on my word was a pain as an employee, I had dropped him right in it. He went on to say he would never give me a reference and if anyone asked about me he would give them a negative response. I asked about the wages for the four days I was owed he said I was under contract and I’d broken the contract. He went on to say “call me next week and I’ll see if you’re due any money” and put the phone down.

Any advice would be very much appreciated as to if and how I could get the days I worked paid to me.

Thanks
Sarah

Savvy_Sue

I would look at the ACAS site, I am sure your employer does have to pay you for those days whether you dropped him in it or not.

LittleVoice

saz-1 wrote: »

Hi all

That was it for me so the following Monday I gave weeks notice to leave. However I decided to leave a day early as to be honest I’d had enough.

So when I rang the next day to say I wanted to leave immediately the boss became aggressive and intimating and said I’d gone back on my word was a pain as an employee, I had dropped him right in it. He went on to say he would never give me a reference and if anyone asked about me he would give them a negative response. I asked about the wages for the four days I was owed he said I was under contract and I’d broken the contract. He went on to say “call me next week and I’ll see if you’re due any money” and put the phone down.

Had you been given written particulars of your employment? If so, did this state that you had to give a week's notice? If it did, then if you did not work the final day, I think that technically you broke your contract and the employer could try to reclaim from you if they suffered any loss from your action. However, I think they would probably need to pay you in the meantime.

If you did not receive written particulars before or during your two weeks, then you did not have to give any notice at all and therefore there are no grounds whatsoever for withholding payment of your wages.

saz-1

Thanks for replying, Yes I did receive written terms of notice LittieVoice, it states "three months written notice".

I am a bit worried now about what you said about the employer able to claim off me. How much could he claim?

I’m back on JSA now and struggling to make ends meet to pay the usual utility, shopping bills etc without another bill to pay off. Plus I realise I may get my JSA benefits stopped for six weeks for walking out on a job.
Next time I’ll read the contract carefully.

Sarah

Conor_3

saz-1 wrote: »

I am a bit worried now about what you said about the employer able to claim off me. How much could he claim?

He is entitled to claim any losses and expenses incurred due to you leaving. So if he lost the contract, he could claim for the loss of income for the rest of the duration of the contract. If he had to get an agency worker in, he could claim for the cost of the agency worker.

In reality, companies seldom do although in law, they're perfectly entitled to.