Unlawful Deduction in Wages and Discrimination

user230

[DELETED]

Thanks for your help

HappyMJ

If there is a union covering your work then there is nothing stopping you from joining it now.

You do not get free legal aid. The legal costs if you win will be covered by the other side. If you lose then you never had a good enough case and you pay. You can use a no win no fee solicitor who will take a cut out of any settlement to pay the legal costs and if you lose they won't charge you. They will only take the case on if you have a 90% or more chance of winning. They have to weigh up the risks of losing against getting paid for the work.

Undervalued

HappyMJ wrote: »

If there is a union covering your work then there is nothing stopping you from joining it now.

You do not get free legal aid. The legal costs if you win will be covered by the other side. If you lose then you never had a good enough case and you pay. You can use a no win no fee solicitor who will take a cut out of any settlement to pay the legal costs and if you lose they won't charge you. They will only take the case on if you have a 90% or more chance of winning. They have to weigh up the risks of losing against getting paid for the work.

Very unlikely. It is rare for a tribunal to award costs against the losing party.

user230

I did look into this but I was told they wouldn't assist for any issues that had arisen prior to joining.

Guest101

user230 wrote: »

Hello,

I was wondering if someone could help.

I have been employed by the same company for 17 months but recently they have informed me (for no apparent reason) that my commission structure will be changing. I will be earning less money for the same amount of work and I've done the calculations which show that I will be earning a maxmimum of 3% in comparison to everyone else's minimum of 7%. In addition I will be earning 22.4% of what I should be earning so I am missing out greatly. I have presented these facts and figures to them in an email and they never addressed these issues. - How can you know what others are on?

I have never been given any poor performance reviews, nor have I failed to meet any KPIs. I have tried to resolve this informally but they refuse to reason with me. Trying to get a reason to explain or 'justify' this change in structure has been like trying to get blood out of a stone in all honesty. I have tried so hard to resolve this informally but they keep trying to intimidate or brush me off.

They have given me so many flaky reasons one of which being the fact I haven't brought on any clients however I bill one highest hours within the company and I have developed and expanded on existing clients. I have excellent feedback from my candidates and my clients so this doesn't make sense.

I haven't been given a contract despite numerous requests for this. However they have been paying me at the agreed commission structure for the majority of my time here (I initally was here on a different structure but they agreed that once I proved myself it would change- and I did prove myself and progressed to the standard structure as everyone else). I believe that not only is this unlawful deductions in wages but that I am being discriminated against as I am the only person within the team and the company whom this is being forced on. I believe that I am being treated unfairly because of my age and my gender. I am not the only female who feels as though their male counterparts are given more opportunities and rewards however I obviously cannot speak on their behalf. One of the directors during another issue did state that because of my religion I should 'turn the other cheek as [my] religion teaches patience and forgiveness'. Unfortunately this wasn't written down as they don't have formal grievance procedures but can I still use this example as I do feel that because of my religion I'm expected to be a lot more tolerant and patient? - I don't see the discrimination though, it's a off-hand comment, and it's based upon religion, whereas you've suggested it's based upon age and gender?

To give an example of how I believe I am being discriminated against, there was another colleague (male) within my team(whom has now left) whom was underperforming and on performance reviews yet he was not subject to a commission structure change. Furthermore, a client was taken off me and given to him for reasons that were not made apparent to me. - That doesn't sound like discrimination. A colleague was struggling and the company tried to assist, he is no longer there. Presumably he was 'let go'.

This same colleague almost physically assaulted me and had it not been for a manager physically stopping him he would have punched me. - And? The manager did make this clear in his statement however they found him to have not been threatening or intimidating so I believe they've been treating me unfairly for some time now. - Sorry what? That's not to do with you, did you report to police? No? Why not?

I am not the only person in the company who hasn't brought on a client however I am one of the youngest within my team and the other female within my team feels as though she too is judged unfairly/harshly in comparison to her male team member. - Any proof?

Do I have a case here? If so what is the best thing for me to do? I am in the midst of drafting up a grievance email to send but I am not sure what to include. I am absolutely furious as I work hard and have earned my commission fair and square. I know that an employer isn't allowed to make any deductions and this includes commission. I haven't destroyed any property or undertaken any training for which they need to recoup their costs. The billings I make pay for my salary in less than one month and the rest of the 11 months is pure profit.

Foolishly I didn't join a union and I can't afford legal costs but is there any way I could get subsidised or free legal aid in case this does go to tribunal?

Not that I can see based on what you've written, but stranger things have happened.

Undervalued

To answer the OP's other points......

First keep in mind that as you have been employed for less than two years you can be dismissed for no reason at all or any reason except for unlawful discrimination. Therefore it is only because of the possible sex discrimination aspect that you may have any recourse at all.

What anybody else, be they male or female, is getting or is being paid is totally irrelevant unless you can show it is simply because of gender. It would be very easy for the employer to argue that there were other perfectly lawful reasons. Can you prove otherwise.

Your suspicions may be perfectly valid however proving it will be an uphill battle.

There are also fees to pay to bring a tribunal and that will cost about £1200 even if you represent yourself. Again it is very rare indeed for that cost to be awarded even if you win.

Unless a solicitor feels there is a good enough case here to take it on no win no fee I suspect your are stuck. Even if they do, make very, very sure you fully understand the no win no fee agreement. Although it will protect you should you lose, it is sometimes possible to "win" and still be out of pocket.

pmlindyloo

Based on what you are saying you need to raise a formal grievance with your employer. Once they have responded with the reason for changing your pay structure then you will have the basis on which you may have the potential to take this further.

Personally I would go to CAB (try to choose one with an employment specialist) for help to write the formal grievance.

Before you go try (again) to get a copy of your contract.

Also, before you go make a list of your concerns - try to be entirely factual and, if possible, back up with evidence.

Then be guided by CAB as to what you should say in your grievance.

Return to CAB once you have the answer to your grievance.

If, later, you do have grounds for going to an employment tribunal then you may want to see if you have legal cover on your home insurance for such a situation.

user230

Thank you for your help

Undervalued

user230 wrote: »

Undervalued- I believe it is because of gender because both my other colleagues (one male and one female) are on different pay scales despite doing the same job. She asked for a pay increase which she said they had agreed beforehand but they didn’t give her the full amount and instead gave her another review. Whilst our male colleague is on a higher salary than both of us. They claim he is a senior consultant but he does nothing different to the work we do and in fact I’ve had to assist him several times.

For me it’s not necessarily about winning a settlement. I just want what I deserve; to be paid accordingly for my work and on the same level as my peers.

You may well be right but proving it is another matter.

A tribunal, even if you win, cannot force them to continue to employ you. At best all you will get is some compensation. As I said earlier with less than two years employment you can be sacked any non discriminatory reason or no reason at all.

Get a free half hour with an employment solicitor and see what they say but you face an uphill battle.

Guest101

user230 wrote: »

Guest 101- I know what others are on as I have spoken with them and there is a standardised commission structure which all the consultants are on. I am the only one being moved from it to a new lower structure.
The do believe its about age and gender; my comment about the religious remarks made were just intended to show the behaviour I’ve had to endure and to ask whether I could claim religious discrimination too. - I suspect your contract prevents you from discussing wages?

With regards to my colleague he wasn’t ‘let go’. He resigned despite their many efforts to coddle and support him. I believe it is discrimination as they made many allowances for him and his poor performance whilst I have not been found to be underperforming yet I am being judged more harshly and unfairly. Why was he given numerous chances whilst (if like they claim is the reason my structure is changing) I haven’t been given the chance to improve on the fact Ihaven’t brought on clients. - But you don't know the reason for the new structure?

The example about physical aggression is supposed to show that they make allowances for him and not for me. I have been treated unfairly because of my age and my gender. - You cannot make that presumption, has anyone accused you of a similar offence? The company may react the same.

Undervalued- I believe it is because of gender because both my other colleagues (one male and one female) are on different pay scales despite doing the same job. - Perfectly legal She asked for a pay increase which she said they had agreed beforehand but they didn’t give her the full amount and instead gave her another review. Whilst our male colleague is on a higher salary than both of us. - That's perfectly legal. They claim he is a senior consultant but he does nothing different to the work we do and in fact I’ve had to assist him several times. - That's part of your job if he's the senior consultant.

For me it’s not necessarily about winning a settlement. I just want what I deserve; to be paid accordingly for my work and on the same level as my peers.

You are looking at this purely on a gender basis, have you considered length of service, qualifications, career pathways ? There's a huge amount of reasons why people are paid differently, negotiation being one of them

makeyourdaddyproud

First of all, targets can and do change for a variety of reasons. Retrograde modifications to the target structure can typically happen if it is seen that they are being met with seemingly little effort from the sales team. Companies do this to keep sales staff on their "toes" so to speak, and to weed out any underperforming staff who may be relying on low picked fruit to keep their basic salary to survive on. It could also be a measure to see you resign.

This has the implicit effect of putting the less capable staff at risk of not meeting the new targets - so this way they could be summarily dismissed in favour of "hungrier" sales people who could meet the targets and more.

It's not great news but that is the brutal nature of sales targets. It was the path you chose (or wanted to try in the absence of anything else suitable).

Being upset I can understand, but wanting to sue an employer that holds the cards against you is pure folly. Don't do it as you will lose. Will you need to rely on a reference from this company in the future? Can you afford to stump up that £1200? What if the case if protracted?

Looking into your dilemma, it would appear that something or someone in your work environment invoked that drop in commission. As stated above, regularly meeting KPI's targets could also be sign of underutility, or, you may have upset someone that might want you out.