Employer won't pay what was agreed

heidi279

Hi all

I wonder if you can help.

My brother is a heating engineer/multi tradesman with a company that maintains Military housing.

When he started the job he was told he would be temporary for 13 weeks and then would likely be taken on permanently. He started in July 2013 and there is no sign of the role becoming permanent. He has worked hard and has improved target times and customer satisfaction for his area but this doesn't seem to matter to the company.

He is paid weekly and has a company van to carry his tools. He is paid per job, so whilst travelling, ordering parts etc he is not earning any money. He was employed to work in the Chelmsford area but was asked if he would travel 2.5 hours away to cover another area when the tradesman from there resigned as he wasn't being paid! This is five hours a day travelling and during this time he isn't paid.

My brother agreed he was happy to do this temporarily if he was paid travelling time. This was verbally agreed. He has covered the other area for six weeks now and has only received the first two weeks travel payments. He has asked them weekly what the hold up is but everyone is ignoring his calls.

He told the area manager two weeks go that if he isn't paid his travelling then he won't be able to cover the other area. The manager was very unhelpful and said he was refusing to work and risking his employment. He eventually said he would look into the pay issues if my brother returned to work. My brother continued to cover the area and travel five hours a day, but still hasn't been paid.

He enjoys his job, is good at it, and is a hard worker, but he is now starting to feel that the company are taking him for granted.

Does anyone have any advice for him as he is not permanently employed and seems to be banging his head against a brick wall.

We would be most grateful for any advice.

many thanks

Affynity

The company must have a probationary period that your brother has exceeded. He needs to get a copy of his contract and read it
The terms and conditions should be the same as any other employee with the exception of the clause for the last date of agreed employment.

heidi279

I don't think he has a contract - should he ask for one then?

I think it was said that after 13 weeks if all was well he would be offered a perm contract.

They owe him thousands in travel costs now x

heidi279

I don't think he has a contract - should he ask for one then?

I think it was said that after 13 weeks if all was well he would be offered a perm contract.

They owe him thousands in travel costs now x

Affynity

Well your brother has worked long beyond the probation period of 13 weeks.
It's common practise for the employer to draw up a contract and, where applicable, specify the last date of employment if employment isn't ongoing.

The thing is, when employers make changes to an employee's work that would otherwise require an amendment to a contract, the changes can be considered 'agreed upon' via fulfilment without objection.
I'm not sure whether this works in reverse, but I would only imagine that your brother's employer in their failure to provide a date of termination and their continued reliance on your brother's work, could be assumed to be contractual employment by fulfilment.

You'd be better off asking a legally minded person for the true bottom line but I personally can't see how a person can work so long out of probation without proper contractual guidelines.
Your brother will be earning holidays and possibly other benefits that the employer is not disclosing because they want to be dodgy.

getmore4less

It is not going to change they are a cowboy outfit plan to move on.

The clue was the guy resigned for not getting paid!

It might be worth investigating a complaint to the government org. that gives out the contracts

heidi279

It is not going to change they are a cowboy outfit plan to move on.

You are quite right getmore4less, a cowboy outfit for sure. The problem is he loves the work, and has the opportunity to work hard and make decent money. It's just that they constantly mess him about with pay and tow not paying his traveling money.

I think we need to get proper advice as said above, and get him to chase a contract, and then put it in writing that he expects the arrears to be paid or he won't carry on with the travelling.

Thanks for all your help x

getmore4less

I think

They will keep fobbing him off until he leaves.

If he stop the travel until the back log is paid they will say no more work and they may not keep him on.

The only way you will get the money will be if you take them to court OR you can get the contract giver to make them pay because they might lose the contract, or they have no one else they can use to keep the minimum work done so they may pay a bit to keep him working and as soon as they get someone else they can mug wil go back to not paying.


Make sure he is taking and getting paid for his holiday I don't think he will see that money if he leaves.

Aquamania

heidi279 wrote: »

Hi all

I wonder if you can help.

My brother is a heating engineer/multi tradesman with a company that maintains Military housing.

When he started the job he was told he would be temporary for 13 weeks and then would likely be taken on permanently. He started in July 2013 and there is no sign of the role becoming permanent. He has worked hard and has improved target times and customer satisfaction for his area but this doesn't seem to matter to the company.

He is paid weekly and has a company van to carry his tools. He is paid per job, so whilst travelling, ordering parts etc he is not earning any money. He was employed to work in the Chelmsford area but was asked if he would travel 2.5 hours away to cover another area when the tradesman from there resigned as he wasn't being paid! This is five hours a day travelling and during this time he isn't paid.

My brother agreed he was happy to do this temporarily if he was paid travelling time. This was verbally agreed. He has covered the other area for six weeks now and has only received the first two weeks travel payments. He has asked them weekly what the hold up is but everyone is ignoring his calls.

He told the area manager two weeks go that if he isn't paid his travelling then he won't be able to cover the other area. The manager was very unhelpful and said he was refusing to work and risking his employment. He eventually said he would look into the pay issues if my brother returned to work. My brother continued to cover the area and travel five hours a day, but still hasn't been paid.

He enjoys his job, is good at it, and is a hard worker, but he is now starting to feel that the company are taking him for granted.

Does anyone have any advice for him as he is not permanently employed and seems to be banging his head against a brick wall.

We would be most grateful for any advice.

many thanks

What military housing exists in Chelmsford?

There's a large garrison in Colchester, but I don't know of any military housing in Chelmsford. Colchester is about 30 minutes drive away from Chelmsford.

:huh:

There may be the odd military building in Chelmsford, but it's not housing, and together no way would it need a full time heating engineer/multi tradesman.

zzzLazyDaisy

The issues of whether the employer labels the work 'temporary' or 'permanent'. or even whether he has completed a probation period or not, are irrelevant.

Assuming he is in fact an employee (and not self employed, which is a whole different ball game) then his employment runs from the date he started work with the company, and continues until he either leaves, or the company terminates his employment.

You should note that within the first two years of employment, the employer can essentially dismiss him for any reason or no reason at all, as long as the reason does not amount to unlawful discrimination. This is because an employee needs a minimum of two years service to make a claim to an employment tribunal for unfair dismissal.

He could make a claim for 'unlawful deduction of wages' for unpaid wages while still in employment, however unpaid expenses are not 'wages' for this purposes.

The company *should* have given him a written contract of employment after 8 weeks, but the law is toothless on this point as there is no viable way of enforcing this for someone in his position.

That id a very long winded way of telling you that the employer holds all the cards, and your OH should be looking for another job, as the future with this company does not look good.