No payment from festival job - how do I proceed?

ivoryandgold

Hi there,
I was wondering if anyone could help me - I haven’t been paid for some work I did in June and I'm not sure where to go from here.
I worked for a major music festival at the beginning of June - I was on site for 10 days for a flat fee of £810. I did the work and invoiced them (as instructed) on 20/6/17 for the full amount. No one got back to me so I chased this up on 13/7/17.

I then got instructed that I needed to be registered as self-employed (which I am not). I phoned the tax office to enquire about this and they said that because it was such a low amount, they would take the money-owed off my taxable allowance rather than have me register as self-employed. I got back in touch with the company on 17/7/17 to explain what the HMRC said – and I then sent them a copy of my new letter from HMRC which proved that I had accounted for their payment on 21/7/17.

On 25/7/17 I was e-mailed to say they will put me on payroll. I replied to the e-mail asking if there was anything I needed to do/anymore information they needed and I didn’t get a reply. On 8/8/17 I e-mailed asking for an update and got no reply. On 14/8/17 I asked for an update and got no reply. On 16/8/17 I managed to find a phone number and rang them. They said they needed more information to put me on payroll which I sent over in an e-mail that afternoon. I also asked whether I could be paid before the end of the month and they said that would be fine.

I asked for an update on 24/8/17 and got no reply. I asked for an update on 29/4/17 and again got no reply.

Does anyone know what rights I have in this scenario? I don’t believe they’re avoiding paying me – they’re just lazy and unorganised but this is causing me to have massive financial strain.

I’ve seen that I would have rights as a freelance self-employed worker, but as I am now going on payroll, I’m not sure what I can really say to them to make them take me seriously – or who I can contact to get this sorted out.

Any thoughts on this scenario would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks 

Guest101

basically either wait or take court action.


Whether your registered as self employed was never their concern anyway.

comeandgo

I think they are stalling and you won't get paid. The questions they have asked are irrelevant. What does the hourly rate work out as. Is it under the national minimum rate? You may be able to complain to HMRC about low wage rate and get them investigated.

Guest101

comeandgo wrote: »

I think they are stalling and you won't get paid. The questions they have asked are irrelevant. What does the hourly rate work out as. Is it under the national minimum rate? You may be able to complain to HMRC about low wage rate and get them investigated.

Well it's £81 a day, which is fairly decent, would be working over 11 hours a day to fall under LW

Undervalued

comeandgo wrote: »

I think they are stalling and you won't get paid. The questions they have asked are irrelevant. What does the hourly rate work out as. Is it under the national minimum rate? You may be able to complain to HMRC about low wage rate and get them investigated.

He may but that won't help with getting paid!

OP, send a "letter before action" setting out what is due and giving them a short but reasonable time in which to pay (name a specific date in say three weeks time) failing which you will take legal action without further notice.

If need be file a small claims court action via MoneyClaim Online.

Kayalana99

If you have their phone number I would ring them everyday until it's sorted. Appreciate they are busy but sounds like you are not going to get anywhere until you start harrasing them. If they say they are going to pay on X day, I'd ring back the day after and just ask to confirm they are going to pay on X day, and if they say yes we said that, well say yes but you said that last month so I wanted to check it was set up...etc. Next day just ring back with another question like is there anyway to get it done by bank transfer because you've waited long enough...4th day Ring back and say I apprecaite you said it would go in on X day, but I've waited 3 months now and someone said I should send a letter before action...etc....just be super annoying.

jobbingmusician

How big are the company? Are they listed at companies house? (doesn't cost anything to check online) Did you have any paperwork relating to how much you would be paid, and when? If they said when they'd pay you, and have breached this, they are also responsible for any contingent losses (such as OD charges) - although you have a responsibility to minimise these.

ivoryandgold

Thankyou so much for your replies - I'll answer a few of the questions.

- I worked 12 hours a day so it works out exactly minimum wage, so I have no grounds there.
- I've checked the contract I signed which said 'Fees: We will pay you the fee as agreed in the purchase order. Fees are payable within 14 days of submission of your invoice following the completion of an assignment'. Because there was a bit of confusion to start with I can get over this not being the case for the first 8 weeks really, but I feel like now it is going much too far.

I'm going to have a look at via MoneyClaim Online thanks, I think its more the threat of it (hopefully!) than actually doing it.

bizwax

OP

They are obviously being delinquent about the whole affair. If I were you I would find out the formal owner/operator of the business. i.e. The person if sole trader business or a director if it's a company.

As stated above I would just say you are owed money etc and threaten a claim in County Court if they don't pay within 10 business days.

Did they say they would employ you as self employed in the contract and that you were responsible for your own tax affairs? If so I would instruct them that you want to be paid the amount in full without any deductions.

If not file a claim with the small claims court. I personally would not use MoneyClaim or any similar service online as they are likely to take a significant cut. It's easy enough to file your own claim.

Write the letter in a formal manner and ensure it looks very professional. I would send it via email if you can and ensure receipt is acknowledged.

Best of luck with it and don't give up

Undervalued

c-j-h wrote: »

OP

They are obviously being delinquent about the whole affair. If I were you I would find out the formal owner/operator of the business. i.e. The person if sole trader business or a director if it's a company.

As stated above I would just say you are owed money etc and threaten a claim in County Court if they don't pay within 10 business days.

Did they say they would employ you as self employed in the contract and that you were responsible for your own tax affairs? If so I would instruct them that you want to be paid the amount in full without any deductions.

If not file a claim with the small claims court. I personally would not use MoneyClaim or any similar service online as they are likely to take a significant cut. It's easy enough to file your own claim.

Write the letter in a formal manner and ensure it looks very professional. I would send it via email if you can and ensure receipt is acknowledged.

Best of luck with it and don't give up

Moneyclaim Online IS the small claims court!

https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/ - Note the .gov.uk address

ThemeOne

You may also be able to claim late payment interest:
https://www.lovetts.co.uk/late-payment-law