Employer refusing to pay notice

Lily78987

I handed in my two week notice to my employer around two weeks ago now. I confirmed this via email and she came back to me confirming that she didn't want me to work my notice period.

I then sent her an email asking her when she would be paying me for my notice period and she came back two days later saying that I could come back and work my notice period if I wanted. By this point, I had already agreed to start working early for my new employer and told her it wouldn't be possible for me to come back after she told me she didn't want me to.

She has now contacted RBS mentor telling them that I've refused to work my notice period. They have replied with an email telling me that due to this I will not be receiving my notice pay.

I want to go back to her and make it clear that this isn't what happened and that she is breaking the law if she does not pay me.

Am I in the right here? Does anyone have any useful links or information on this that I can go back to her with? I also want to let her know that I will be taking further action if she is going to refuse to pay.

agrinnall

I think you should leave it, your employer is within their rights to require you to work your notice, and you have declined to do so. You'll be paid by your new employer for the 2 weeks anyway so you're not out of pocket. Do you really want the stress of taking it to court or an employment tribunal?

getmore4less

You gave notice and they said you did not have to work it.

probably should have clarified if this was garden leave or PILON before taking the next step like accepting an earlier start date.

You could assume they would be paying as they are legally obliged to and you should not need to clarify that bit, but still they could have had you on garden leave so you could not start the new job.


your approach needs to be I resigned, i was offered/told I did not need to work the notice, I accepted that offer and the employer needs to pay the notice and any outstanding accrued unused holidays.

if that is not paid in the final payment then you will need to issue a letter before action for payment in a reasonable time frame(next payroll run would be fine) and if it is still not paid small claims.

Undervalued

getmore4less wrote: »

You gave notice and they said you did not have to work it.

probably should have clarified if this was garden leave or PILON before taking the next step like accepting an earlier start date.

You could assume they would be paying as they are legally obliged to and you should not need to clarify that bit, but still they could have had you on garden leave so you could not start the new job.


your approach needs to be I resigned, i was offered/told I did not need to work the notice, I accepted that offer and the employer needs to pay the notice and any outstanding accrued unused holidays.

if that is not paid in the final payment then you will need to issue a letter before action for payment in a reasonable time frame(next payroll run would be fine) and if it is still not paid small claims.

Yes.

The employer will almost certainly claim it was garden leave. On garden leave you are still employed but not required to work. You can however be called back in at any time. You cannot therefore work for anybody else during that period.

OK, that may not be what your employer said at the time but it almost certainly will be what they claim to have said if you challenge it! Unless you have some evidence that they agreed to PILON I would suggest you let this one go.

Lily78987

Thanks for your reply. Garden leave isn't actually mentioned in my contract, all it states is...

The Company reserves the right to make a payment in lieu of notice for all or any part of your notice period upon the termination of your employment, regardless of whether notice to terminate the contract is given by you or the company.

Surely she should have mentioned if it was garden leave at the time of telling me not coming back? That was around two weeks ago now and she has only just come back to me telling me she won't be paying me for my notice.

I am not really willing to let this go as I haven't started my new job full time, I have just been having training days here and there.

getmore4less

ok do not mention garden leave in your next request to be paid but you could refer to the contract and based on that claim is was reasonable to accept the no need to work as an offer of PILON as per the contract.

email evidence should be sufficient but the exact wording will be important.

Undervalued

Lily78987 wrote: »

Thanks for your reply. Garden leave isn't actually mentioned in my contract, all it states is...

The Company reserves the right to make a payment in lieu of notice for all or any part of your notice period upon the termination of your employment, regardless of whether notice to terminate the contract is given by you or the company.

Surely she should have mentioned if it was garden leave at the time of telling me not coming back? That was around two weeks ago now and she has only just come back to me telling me she won't be paying me for my notice.

I am not really willing to let this go as I haven't started my new job full time, I have just been having training days here and there.

I'm sure she is playing a fast one but you are going to struggle to prove this. Garden leave doesn't have to be mentioned in the contract. Given that you have been working elsewhere on some days you were not available to work.

Ultimately if they won't pay you will have to sue in the small claims court. There are fees to pay up front although they should be added to your award if you win. If it come to it a judge will have to decide, on the balance of probabilities (i.e 51%) who he believes.

Only you can decide if you are willing to take the risk and have the hassle.

Lily78987

Undervalued wrote: »

I'm sure she is playing a fast one but you are going to struggle to prove this. Garden leave doesn't have to be mentioned in the contract. Given that you have been working elsewhere on some days you were not available to work.

Ultimately if they won't pay you will have to sue in the small claims court. There are fees to pay up front although they should be added to your award if you win. If it come to it a judge will have to decide, on the balance of probabilities (i.e 51%) who he believes.

Only you can decide if you are willing to take the risk and have the hassle.

Thank you! Yes, she is pulling a fast one. She had always been like this when it comes to money, I've often been underpaid as have other employees that work there, with some not being paid until two weeks after their pay day. She also does a lot of jobs for cash that don't go through the books but thats another matter in itself.

I would be willing to take it further as I feel she is being very unfair and has made things very difficult during my employment there. I've seen her do this to a lot of people and I think it's about time someone stood up to her!

Again, thanks for your help. I wanted to make sure I got my facts straight.

Undervalued

Lily78987 wrote: »

Thank you! Yes, she is pulling a fast one. She had always been like this when it comes to money, I've often been underpaid as have other employees that work there, with some not being paid until two weeks after their pay day. She also does a lot of jobs for cash that don't go through the books but thats another matter in itself.

I would be willing to take it further as I feel she is being very unfair and has made things very difficult during my employment there. I've seen her do this to a lot of people and I think it's about time someone stood up to her!

Again, thanks for your help. I wanted to make sure I got my facts straight.

Don't let other issues or frustrations colour your judgement on this. If it ends up in court it will be to resolve this issue alone. If you feel you have enough evidence to convince a judge that, on the balance of probabilities, you are owed the money then go for it. But don't do it to teach her a lesson or settle old scores. Judges don't like that!

Masomnia

If it does come down to one person's word against the other over whether what was meant was garden leave or PILON and one is in the contract and the other isn't then I know which I'd believe.

You should forward the original email trail to RBS mentor. I'd be amazed if she has told them about that. Hopefully then they'll revise their advice to her.

I'd do that before considering court action.

getmore4less

Ignore the RBS mentor they are working for the employer and they have used them to intimidate you.

Put you case to the employer.