TUPE...wages deduction please help!

lexi

Hello,
I posted around a month ago & was advised to see things out regarding tax deductions. Well things have changed since that post. My company was sold & the new owners agreed to my existing contract with TUPE coming into force.
Due to work conditions changing I gave notice on my job on 1st August & as I had 8.5 holidays due to me I asked if I could leave on the 18 th august ( I do not work weekends).
My new employer agreed I could go on the 18 th & use the holidays as requested.
However I have been paid £415 less than my wage after deductions. After querying this, I was told that they wanted my old employer to pay the holidays as they feel they were due whilst in his employ. I have had no correspondence from my old employer to say he has agreed this & will be paying me. In my opinion, as in the terms of TUPE it should be the new employers who pay me what I am due, but I don't pretend to know everything about TUPE.
Is there anyone who can advise, as £400 is a lot to lose!
Furthermore if I am due the money from my new employer( now former!) how do I go about getting my wages paid?

SecondRow

AFAIK, and unless your contract says otherwise, your holidays are a contractual entitlement. As the new employer agrees from the date of transfer, to honour your contract as was but subject to new terms, I believe they are liable.

Were you/are you in a union?

You are possibly looking at an unlawful deduction of pay claim here.

jobbingmusician

This is a very interesting situation! I'm sorry I don't know the answer. I imagine that your new employer is responsible, since TUPE information tells the new employer how much leave you are entitled to each year, but I can see that natural justice suggests that you have 'earned' this holiday during your past employment. But I do think that TUPE means that the new employer takes on the business with the employees and all normal liabilities.

I'm also slightly confused by your post. Do you mean that you TUPE'd and have now resigned following TUPE?

What I suspect happens is that if the new employer doesn't pay you, you make a small claims court claim against them for non-payment of wages. It is then their responsibility to claim this from the old employers. But I would get on to ACAS to ask their advice about this, unless anyone on here can come back with an authoritative answer.

Do keep us updated - I would like to know!

lexi

Hello again,
Sorry I wasn't clear.
I had 6 days holiday carried from last years entitlement due to my manager being sick after an operation, so I couldn't take them without leaving the office seriously short.
When we knew of the office being sold...we were told by the new owners everything would be as we were used to due to TUPE. They were told at that time of my holiday entitlement plus what I had carried over.
As things were not as I planned I found it unbearable for so many reasons to stay & gave 1 mth notice on 1 st as stated. My manager forwarded my email to my new employer & within this email was the request due to 8.5 days hol entitlement I wished to leave on the 18th. They did not reply by email but verbally agreed with both my manager & myself this was ok.
It wasn't until today after I asked my manager ( still is until 31 st) why I hadn't been paid correctly.
She then told me my new employer was arguing with my old one about my hols & that they had got my old employer to pay half the hols with them...
Obviously my wages being 400 short suggested otherwise, so I emailed my new employer.
I am very very angry & upset as I received an email saying that they had a written note from my old employer saying there were no holidays due to me & that they believed he was telling me just that! They 'suggest' if I do not agree to take it up with him!
Now I can't think this is right? Surely...no one has mentioned anything about a problem to me...do they honestly think I would have just left without being paid? Plus they took me on said they would be paying fuel etc as they had to honour TUPE....
How can I go to my old employer & say you owe me £. 400... I am not his employee....there must be something I can do. I have done nothing wrong...absolutely nothing & this is how they have treated me.does a verbal confirmation from an email count? I just need to know whether I have a case as I will fight this...as long as I know I am in the right!

getmore4less

The new company should have been informed/due diligence of all liabilities due with the transfer.

tell them they are liable if not happy they need to go back and renegotiate.

cazziebo

getmore4less wrote: »

The new company should have been informed/due diligence of all liabilities due with the transfer.

tell them they are liable if not happy they need to go back and renegotiate.

If these six days are carried over holiday, with a verbal agreement to carry over, then this wouldn't have been picked up by due diligence.

Sounds as if the OP is in a very difficult position. The new employer will calculate outstanding requirement as per the employment contract. The OP will have to prove there was a formal agreement to carry over holiday.

lexi

Further update...just been on the phone to ACAS...they said if the new employers were aware of my holidays that I carried over then they should honour them through TUPE...I have an email stating my intention & he suggested that I send a note stating they were aware of my hols due & that they verbally agreed to it. If they don't respond after 7 days then I need to tell them I will be going to ACAS to get the matter resolved!
Will update if I have anything further...thanks for the helpful replies!

SecondRow

As I indicated previously, this is a potential unlawful deduction of wage scenario, so tell them that and at the same time present them with a letter asking for a post employment grievance to be heard around this very issue, making it quite clear that consideration is being given to the unlawful deduction of salary.

In truth, it'll be cheaper for them to pay you what you are owed than have their solicitors look at it.