How to find out from charity if a freelancer got paid for 'voluntary' work I did?

nicechap

SpaceisthePlace wrote: »

It was known that he works for the charity doing various projects on a paid freelance basis. However, like I said, usually freelancers invoice after work done. Not before. No work, no pay. At least that's how it usually works. I'm not sure how I would have been expected to know without being told that on this one occasion, he'd been paid in advance.

As I've said several times, I'm not jumping to conclusions, I've been very clear that I want the full information. This was the exact reason for my OP. But I'm just repeating myself now and wasting my time. Have a nice evening.

Did you know & accept that you were doing for free what the charity would have "otherwise" paid for?

There's lots of things people want but accept they cannot have. Have you accepted that you are not entitled to it?

hyubh

ReadingTim wrote: »

Given you admit as much yourself ....
...I think I'll leave it as it is.

Er? I'm not the OP. When you say the following, you are being a nasty bully: 'you've been exposed as being as dishonest and money-grubbing ... you're beyond help'.

NewShadow

SpaceisthePlace wrote: »

Thanks for both your comments. So he is not entitled to be paid for work he didn't do. Thank you for confirming this. I have no idea whether there was a timescale for completion and if so, what it was. If the payment did happen, it was several months in advance of the project being done.

I feel compelled to point out that at no point did I say I was going to legally pursue the charity to get payment for this work. My query was initally about whether I could get proof that what I suspect occurred actually did. And yes I have read and understood the many comments saying that I cannot get it.

To be clear - he may be entitled to claim for work he didn't do.

It would depend on the exact wording of his contract. And no - before you ask - you don't have a right to see it.

Having read the whole thread - I've also noted that this person apparently works for the charity on a semi-regular basis. It's entirely possible the hour's he's been paid for will be allocated to another project.

jobbingmusician

SpaceisthePlace wrote: »

He hadn't already done it. The project was completed, from scratch, by me. He was on holiday when the project was being done, having already invoiced and been paid for the work. He knew that the project deadline was coming up and went on holiday anyway rather than stick around and do the work he'd been paid to do.

The question I originally asked was can I get proof of him being paid for my work. That's been answered.

My concern is the unfairness of recruiting a volunteer and then paying someone else for that volunteer's work. Yes I feel personally wronged. I have been volunteering here for years and trusted and made friends with all the people involved in this situation. They have withheld information and that has personally hurt, but it also is part of a lack of transparency in the charity that could affect other volunteers, and points to behaviour in the freelancer and manager which is unethical and bad for the charity.

Just hoping that the OP might pop back.

I am the CEO of a small charity, and can relate to this situation. And here is my guess as to what's happened. (The scenario below is from my imagination but I have been in very similar situations - or situations which might look similar from the outside even without a mistake being made.)

We engaged a freelancer, and for some reason s/he was paid in advance for the project. There are likely to be internal concerns about this, given the fact that FL b*ggered off on holiday before the closing date of the project, without finishing it. (Yes, this was a serious mistake, and we are learning from it. Of course, mistakes like this never happen in other sectors, do they? )

We're not sure whether we can reclaim any money from the FL. We are worried about employment tribunals and the like, especially as the FL is from an ethnic minority/disabled/elderly/any other protected characteristic. Even the raising of an ET would cost us far more than the payment for the work this FL didn't do on the project, so we (may) have decided to write the money off.

Along came the OP, and it was like manna from heaven. The OP saw us out of a very sticky situation and finished the project. Hurrah! Our other options were to pay someone else to complete the work (money the OP has saved us) or to abandon the project.

We are now upset that the OP has found out about the FL being paid in advance, for work they ended up doing. We can't tell the OP much because of the risks of things like adverse publicity for the charity (we know we made a mistake but we are scared it could be twisted to impact on a lot of our work if it hit the press) and our worries about the employment status of the FL.

However, we feel that the OP has actually donated to the charity - their work really was invaluable.

OP, does that help? It's genuinely how I would feel if I was the person running the charity in that situation.

agrinnall

jobbingmusician wrote: »

We are worried about employment tribunals and the like, especially as the FL is from an ethnic minority/disabled/elderly/any other protected characteristic. Even the raising of an ET would cost us far more than the payment for the work this FL didn't do on the project, so we (may) have decided to write the money off.

In this situation there could be no concern about ET as the contractor is, by definition, not an employee.

jobbingmusician

agrinnall wrote: »

In this situation there could be no concern about ET as the contractor is, by definition, not an employee.

Whilst this is true, non-employees can still cause chaos by threatening an ET and claiming they are an employee. Defending this still wastes time and energy. Been there, got the t-shirt (and of course had the ET thrown out of court. It still cost management time though....)

theoretica

You can find out quite a bit about charity finances from their records on the Charity Commission website. Not usually down to individual invoices, but if this was a big piece of work for them it may be identifiable from their accounts. However, you will have to wait quite a while after the end of their accounting year for their report to be made. But you might find it interesting to look at past years accounts.