Temping agency refusing to pay?

Briant_Gumble

Hi first post.

So in early July I was on a temping placement for an insurer.

I was paid for the first six weeks on time.

I informed them that I was starting a new full time job.

A couple of days before starting the new job I went off ill partly due to the stress of the move.

As such I missed my last couple of days of work.

Of my last week for the insurer I worked the Monday and Tuesday but I didn't get my timesheet signed off because I was ill.

A couple of weeks passed before I chased this up with the temping agency.

I've been chasing them for the payment. They say it will be "very difficult" to find the days I worked because they weren't there themselves.

What can I do about this?

dawyldthing

Id contact the place you were working as they might contact the agency to sort out your wages as I bet they were still billed for your hours

ThemeOne

So you haven't been paid for the final two days with the insurance company, is that right?

I don't understand what the agency mean by saying they "weren't there themselves". Surely the reason you haven't yet been paid is because the agency hasn't yet received a signed timesheet.

They should be able to sort this out very easily by sending a timesheet with your hours on it to the client to sign and return to them.

Briant_Gumble

UPDATE:

I received an e-mail from someone at the agency on Tuesday saying that they have finally processed the payment and I will be paid this Friday.

On Thursday (today) I received a call from someone at the agency saying that was a mistake and I will not be paid tomorrow. I hung up.

What should I do now, this seems outrageous that after a significant delay they said they would pay me only to later retract it.

ThemeOne

I would call the agency one more time, try and speak to someone senior, ask them if they agree they owe you the wages, and if they say yes ask them when you can expect to be paid. If they say they no ask them why not. Try and keep things calm and polite.

If you're still not getting anywhere, I'd suggest contacting your local MP - they can be surprisingly helpful, or Citizens Advice Bureau - they're very under-funded these days but are said to be experts in this sort of thing.

Money_maker

If all else fails, maybe you could do a piece in the local rag about temping agencies and how devious they can be - making sure you name and shame but only tell the truth.

Savvy_Sue

Money_maker wrote: »

but only tell the truth.

And remember, the truth is likely to include that the agency requires a timesheet to be submitted by the OP, signed by the employer where they were placed. Whatever the mechanism is for getting those two signatures to the agency, without both of them then no payment is likely to be made.

They may also have deadlines for submission of said timesheets.

It's possible that the person who emailed to say that payment would be made on Friday hadn't spotted a mistake which needed to be corrected.

It's possible that if the OP hadn't hung up on the second person, but asked what the problem was, they'd know what was going on.

liney

The agency will have to invoice the client for your hours along with a copy of the timesheet/clock card in order to prove the hours worked. They do not have this from you so they can't invoice the client.


Whilst they would have paid you before being paid by the client upon the receipt of the timesheet, at present they have no recourse to reclaim that money, or proof that you actually worked - why should they pay you without this?


You need to provide a signed timesheet, as per your contractural agreement.

Briant_Gumble

1) I did fill in a timesheet and submit it to the agency.

2) according to gov.uk I don't need a timesheet to get paid:



3) I heavily suspect they have had the timesheet signed off by the client and are now withholding the pay illegally.

Briant_Gumble

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

And remember, the truth is likely to include that the agency requires a timesheet to be submitted by the OP, signed by the employer where they were placed. Whatever the mechanism is for getting those two signatures to the agency, without both of them then no payment is likely to be made.

They may also have deadlines for submission of said timesheets.

It's possible that the person who emailed to say that payment would be made on Friday hadn't spotted a mistake which needed to be corrected.

It's possible that if the OP hadn't hung up on the second person, but asked what the problem was, they'd know what was going on.

I did submit a timesheet, not on my final week of work but a couple of weeks later. They have had it for quite some time now and as stated they don't need this to pay me.

sangie595

Briant_Gumble wrote: »

1) I did fill in a timesheet and submit it to the agency.

2) according to gov.uk I don't need a timesheet to get paid:



3) I heavily suspect they have had the timesheet signed off by the client and are now withholding the pay illegally.

You have no basis upon which to claim (3). It is just as possible that, had you not hung up the phone on them, they might have explained what was happening. Whilst it is correct that the agency cannot withhold payment without a (signed) timesheet, there is nothing at all in the legislation that says they cannot delay payment whilst they ascertain that the work has been done - otherwise anyone could submit an unsigned timesheet and demand payment from them. Equally, it is possible that the payment is in the process, but that it did not meet the deadline for the specific pay run that would have resulted in a payment today. It is rather unusual for agencies to actually initiate contact to tell you that the payment won't go through on Friday unless there is a second part to that sentence, such as "... because it didn't hit the payment cycle, so it will be paid next Friday / we have authorised a special payment which will be with you...". But we'll never know because you hung up.

I suggest you phone them up and ask them. Without knowing why they haven't paid today, we can't really advise you what to do. It may just be held up a few days...