Temping agency refusing to pay?

agrinnall

Briant_Gumble wrote: »

They have had it for quite some time now and as stated they don't need this to pay me.

Has the timesheet been signed by the client, and does the agency have that signed copy? If not then regardless of what you think you have read I can't see that you will be paid as the agency does not have the evidence that it needs that the work was done.

Savvy_Sue

We used to use agency staff occasionally. When they invoiced us, they attached a copy of the timesheet signed by the manager. If there wasn't a signature from the manager, there would always be a delay while I got it signed, and if they weren't in for a few days, then the agency would just have to wait. I don't know if they would pay the worker before I paid them, but I hope not because I sometimes had to correct the hours they were claiming for - hours claimed at the wrong rate etc.

.gov.uk may say you don't need a timesheet to get paid, but if the agency's systems say "no signed timesheet = no pay" then at the very least you can expect a delay.

Joining the ranks of those advising you to take a deep breath and phone the agency again.

sangie595

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

.gov.uk may say you don't need a timesheet to get paid, but if the agency's systems say "no signed timesheet = no pay" then at the very least you can expect a delay.
.

Just to help out, you are correct - one line summaries of legislation say anything and nothing. The relevant legislation is Article 12 of The Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003, which I can find no recent amendments to. That says that the agency cannot make payment conditional upon receipt of a timesheet signed by the client. What it does not say is when payment should be made. So there is nothing to prevent an agency for delaying payment whilst this is verified. If the client refuses to sign it altogether, that is a dispute between the agency and their client, and the agency should pay the agency worker and resolve the matter with their client. But if it is a case of needing time to verify before payment is made, then that is not specifically referred to in the legislation, and no timescale for payment is laid out. So if it came to court, then a judge would have to determine the reasonableness of the delay - which, given the time it would take to get to a court, had it not yet been paid, would probably be unreasonable by that time! But otherwise, unless the agency gave an iron clad contractual undertaking to pay all payments within a certain timescale, the agency is doing nothing wrong yet. And they will almost certainly have a clause that says that they "normally" pay within a certain period if all the relevant paperwork is submitted. That isn't in breach of the regulations.

Briant_Gumble

sangie595 wrote: »

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...

"No basis". I would interpret a Lower rank telling me that my timesheet has been signed off as some kind of basis.

I am not going to phone them up to go round in circles for the fifteenth time with them about the procedure for getting my timesheet signed off by management.

The guidelines state "reasonable delay", 6 weeks is reasonable delay, at 3 months it goes beyond the statute of limitations.

I am beyond the "reasonable delay" stage.

I have filed a complaint via phone with the head office and on Monday I will consult citizens advice bureau.

ThemeOne

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

steampowered

Before going to places like the CAB, wouldn't it be easier and quicker to just phone the agency and ask them the reason why the payment has been delayed?

After all you did hang up on them ... perhaps they would have explained what the situation is.

The guidelines state "reasonable delay", 6 weeks is reasonable delay, at 3 months it goes beyond the statute of limitations.

Just so that you are aware, the statute of limitations for unpaid wages etc. is six years. 3 months is the time you have to bring a claim for unlawful deduction of wages in the Employment Tribunal; but you could still bring a claim in county court after that.

If you were a temp you might not have been treated as a contractor rather than an employee in which case you wouldn't have been entitled to go to an Employment Tribunal in the first place.

Briant_Gumble

steampowered wrote: »

Before going to places like the CAB, wouldn't it be easier and quicker to just phone the agency and ask them the reason why the payment has been delayed?

After all you did hang up on them ... perhaps they would have explained what the situation is.


Just so that you are aware, the statute of limitations for unpaid wages etc. is six years. 3 months is the time you have to bring a claim for unlawful deduction of wages in the Employment Tribunal; but you could still bring a claim in county court after that.

If you were a temp you might not have been treated as a contractor rather than an employee in which case you wouldn't have been entitled to go to an Employment Tribunal in the first place.

Ok thank you for the heads up about the statute of limitations.

To be clear: At the point I hung up I had, had many telephone conversations with them about this matter.

My opening post may have sounded like this was my first conversation but it was far from it.

NeilCr

Briant_Gumble wrote: »

Ok thank you for the heads up about the statute of limitations.

To be clear: At the point I hung up I had, had many telephone conversations with them about this matter.

My opening post may have sounded like this was my first conversation but it was far from it.

I do understand that you have spoken to them a number of times but I'm with the give it one more go team. If you can actually get a reason for the non payment it will be helpful to CAB in deciding the best way forward. Otherwise, they are shooting in the dark a bit

agrinnall

But unless the OP has deliberately withheld the information, it seems pretty clear that the reason for non-payment is that the agency doesn't have a signed timesheet yet. Sort that out and I expect the whole issue will go away. But the OP seems dead set on a confrontation, so don't expect a quick resolution.

NeilCr

agrinnall wrote: »

But unless the OP has deliberately withheld the information, it seems pretty clear that the reason for non-payment is that the agency doesn't have a signed timesheet yet. Sort that out and I expect the whole issue will go away. But the OP seems dead set on a confrontation, so don't expect a quick resolution.

Well yes.

But it really would help CAB if they had a definite reason from the agency for the non payment. Been there too many times when the obvious turns out not to be the case!