Boss taken all my wages

swanseastilo_2

Hey guys im posting this for someone else.

I work in a nursery and currently in debt with them as i take my 2 children there.

My boss called me to the office today and told me she is taking all this months wages off me to pay off the debt this as left me unable to purchase any food or pay any bills.

Is she able to do this. I have asked for a contract and she says she doesnt do contracts??

McKneff

Google 'unauthorised deduction out of wages'


Your friend does have a contract, just not a written down one.

stix62

...and refusal to provide a written contract/statement of employment particulars could cost the employers 2 or 4 weeks pay as compensation for the employee if they had taken the employer to a tribunal over a different matter and won.

An employer must give employees a ‘written statement of employment particulars’ if their employment contract lasts at least a month or more and it should be provided within 2 months of the start of employment.

mountainofdebt

How are you in debt to them ?

GwylimT

mountainofdebt wrote: »

How are you in debt to them ?

The poster has already explained that they are in debt to them due to taking their two children to the same nursery, hence owing fees.

jacques_chirac

Child tax credits will pay a large proportion of your childcare if you are on a low income.

AP007

Deduction for goods or services can only be taken if already in writing and why is the person in debt to the boss?

stix62

. :wall:

LittleVoice

AP007 wrote: »

Deduction for goods or services can only be taken if already in writing and why is the person in debt to the boss?

See post #1 and signpost to that in post #5.

marybelle01

stix62 wrote: »

. :wall:

Sorry you didn't like the question asked, but it is a legitimate question in the circumstances. Because your advice is a bit off too. If the OP's friend goes to an employment tribunal for unlawful deductions, then she could also claim up to 13 weeks pay in compensation for failure to provide a written statement of main particulars (not 2 or 4 weeks - how many weeks is up to a tribunal). Although if she does go to a tribunal then it will cost her to make a claim. But more importantly, the deduction without permission may be unlawful per se, but she is in debt for her childcare, and the employer can countersue her for payment of the debt and costs associated with making such a claim.


Another legitimate question would be how long she has worked there, because unless she doesn't need the job, she may find that her services are no longer required.


What the boss has done may not be legal, but life isn't always that straightforward, and this one isn't likely to be one of the straightforward things. So it is pertinent to ask why she is in debt for nursery fees. Because if the employer backed down tomorrow at the legal threat and paid her the wages (and assuming she still has a job) she still owes the debt, and it needs to be paid. If it is a weeks fees, then maybe something can be worked out, or there is help available that she hasn't claimed. But if not, then something still has to be worked out to repay the debt.


Sooner rather than later, because court action would require due process before a claim which still leaves her without anything for the next month. So an agreed negotiation has to be the most immediate solution, even if it is from a position of weakness (in that the employer has the money, legally or not).

marybelle01

LittleVoice wrote: »

See post #1 and signpost to that in post #5.

But neither of those is an explanation of why, they are explanations of what. The normal expectation, whether you work there or not, is that if you send your children to nursery and there are fees to be paid, then you pay the fees. The OP's friend has not paid them. The why is therefore quite relevant - there may be other help available if we knew why.