Interest on Late Payment of Wages

paulfromskeg

Hi,


Over the last few years I have been repeatedly underpaid, and despite constant complaints to my Payroll/HR Department it took several years to get the pay I was entitled to. Some of the wages was paid 3 years late and I have tried to submit a claim under the "Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998", bun unfortunately this legislation does not apply to Business to Individuals debts and only to B2B debts.


I know that I am entitled to interest at the prescribed rate (which works out to over £700 interest), but I am unsure of the act that covers a debt owed to an employee by an employer. Is anyone here able to advise which legislation covers this instance?


Also since the payment of my late wages in October last year, my wages have still been lower than my contractual rate (due to miscalculation of overtime etc), can anyone advise me of the legislation that would cover repeatedly being paid less than the contract says? This has been going on since 2008, and it is very rare that I get the pay I am entitled to without protesting to my employer. I know that if I am entitled to quit and claim constructive dismissal due to the wages being repeatedly incorrect, but apparently this is quite an arduous process to prove. I just want to get the pay that I am entitled to...


Many thanks


Paul

getmore4less

what legislation says you are entitled to interest

I see no grounds for constructive dismissal.

Why are they getting the pay wrong?

might fall under illegal deductions if they are not paying for the contracted hours at the contracted rate

PHILANTHROPIST

paulfromskeg wrote: »

Hi,


Over the last few years I have been repeatedly underpaid, and despite constant complaints to my Payroll/HR Department it took several years to get the pay I was entitled to. Some of the wages was paid 3 years late and I have tried to submit a claim under the "Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998", bun unfortunately this legislation does not apply to Business to Individuals debts and only to B2B debts.


I know that I am entitled to interest at the prescribed rate (which works out to over £700 interest), but I am unsure of the act that covers a debt owed to an employee by an employer. Is anyone here able to advise which legislation covers this instance?


Also since the payment of my late wages in October last year, my wages have still been lower than my contractual rate (due to miscalculation of overtime etc), can anyone advise me of the legislation that would cover repeatedly being paid less than the contract says? This has been going on since 2008, and it is very rare that I get the pay I am entitled to without protesting to my employer. I know that if I am entitled to quit and claim constructive dismissal due to the wages being repeatedly incorrect, but apparently this is quite an arduous process to prove. I just want to get the pay that I am entitled to...


Many thanks


Paul

I am off out, but pl remind me tomorrow, by PM for example, and I will gladly seek to offer pro bono legal assistance back to forum.

paulfromskeg

getmore4less wrote: »

what legislation says you are entitled to interest

I see no grounds for constructive dismissal.

Why are they getting the pay wrong?

might fall under illegal deductions if they are not paying for the contracted hours at the contracted rate

Hi getmore4less


Thanks for the response...

I am trying to find out what the law is that says I am entitled to interest - have heard about this on a BBC radio programme in the past - the money would be worth less when paid three years late due to inflation, so it would be reasonable to expect this difference to be made up.

As for the grounds for constructive dismissal, these are the grounds that may be used...

Grounds
Constructive dismissal is typically caused by:-
•unilateral contract changes by the employer such as: ◦deliberatecuts in pay or status (even temporary),
◦persistent delayed wages,
◦refusal of holiday
◦withdrawal of car
◦suspension without pay (or even on full pay)
◦dramatic changes to duties, hours or location (beyond reasonable daily travelling distance), or
•breach of contract in the form of bullying, e.g.: ◦ignoring complaints,
◦persistent unwanted amorous advances,
◦bullying and swearing,
◦verbal abuse (typically referring to gender, size or incompetence),
◦singling out for no pay rise,
◦criticising in front of subordinates,
◦lack of support (e.g. forcing to do two peoples' jobs),
◦failure to notify a woman on maternity leave of a vacancy which she would have applied for if she had been made aware of it,
◦refusal to confirm continuity on TUPE transfer,
◦revealing secret complaints in a reference (even ones required by a regulator), or
•breaches such as: ◦behaviour which is arbitrary, capricious, inequitable, intolerable or outside good industrial practice,
◦conduct that undermined trust and confidence (i.e. offering an incentive to resign to avoid performance managing capability),
◦refusal to look for an alternative role due to workplace stress,
◦disproportionate disciplinary penalty,
◦employer cons employee into resigning.


Several of the bullying points would apply in this case also - but I would rather just get paid correctly.

The reason that they are getting the pay wrong is that there have been repeated errors when they are calculating pay due. The way of calculating pay is on an annualised contract which is overcomplicate. Also things like enhancement of time and a third have been paid at 1.3 times hourly rate. Also on a number of occasions I have been deducted sick pay when I have not been sick. These underpayments have happened almost every month for the past 6 years, but I am still waiting for the underpayments from 2008 - 2011 to be calculated (though these are substantially smaller than the under payments from 2011 onwards).

Many thanks

Paul

getmore4less

The problem with CD is you have let this go on for a long time so have indirectly accepted that the issues are not so bad you have to leave.

paulfromskeg

getmore4less wrote: »

The problem with CD is you have let this go on for a long time so have indirectly accepted that the issues are not so bad you have to leave.

Hi,

I have been complaining about the issues for years and it has taken this long to get this part (the pay from 2011 - October 2013) sorted (even though they still have not paid the full amount). These issues are still going on (every month since the payment in October 2013 has been underpaid).

Anyway, I really would not want to take the route of Constructive Dismissal, I just want to get paid what I am entitled to, and these issues (along with other issues at work which I will not go into here) are just making the job unbearable.

Many thanks

Paul

Mersey_2

OP - I have sued successfully and cited that act in my County Court claim.

Admittedly I was a self-employed contractor and not an emploee, however.

I obtained a CCJ against the firm and they paid it after chasing.

Was your claim dismissed, or has someone merely advised you of the above? If not that act, I'm sure the Court can simply award damages as appropriate to your case, ie it is usually 8% on debts.

Hope this gives you some hope!

somethingcorporate

If you want to remain an employee you should probably be careful in whatever path you choose to pursue.

paulfromskeg

Mersey wrote: »

OP - I have sued successfully and cited that act in my County Court claim.

Admittedly I was a self-employed contractor and not an emploee, however.

I obtained a CCJ against the firm and they paid it after chasing.

Was your claim dismissed, or has someone merely advised you of the above? If not that act, I'm sure the Court can simply award damages as appropriate to your case, ie it is usually 8% on debts.

Hope this gives you some hope!

Thanks for the information above, but unfortunately this legislation only seems to apply to business to business transactions. I guess that as a self employed worker the late money was not actually classed as "wages" but as a business to business transaction.


Please wold someone correct me if this is not the case, but I have been trawling the internet to find this out but cannot find a definitive answer, but many "suggestions" that this is the case.


Thanks again


Paul

paulfromskeg

somethingcorporate wrote: »

If you want to remain an employee you should probably be careful in whatever path you choose to pursue.

Thanks for your comment, but this (and other issues at work) has been causing me so much stress that I am not really bothered about keeping my job.


A good point though for others reading this forum to consider...

paulfromskeg

Mersey wrote: »

OP - I have sued successfully and cited that act in my County Court claim.

Admittedly I was a self-employed contractor and not an emploee, however.

I obtained a CCJ against the firm and they paid it after chasing.

Was your claim dismissed, or has someone merely advised you of the above? If not that act, I'm sure the Court can simply award damages as appropriate to your case, ie it is usually 8% on debts.

Hope this gives you some hope!

To complete my earlier reply to your post, yes I have been rejected under "section 2" of this legislation, but I do not have the full wording of the Act to clarify what this section says...