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Help needed! made redundant (though not officially)
Lou_Rocha
Forumite 2 Posts
Hi there, I'm here on behalf of a friend of mine. She has been working for a security company as a security guard/Steward since July 2017 and was under the impression that she was contracted and on the payroll.
After a while of working for the company her common law partner and the owner of the security firm started another business as a joint venture and she then became head of promotions for this new business (this was even indicated in a profile of her on their website), and fulfilled this role without pay in order to help the company find its feet and start growing.
At the same time she was still performing the security/stewarding roles for the other business.
She has also gathered and recruited a large number of employees for both companies and has represented both of these companies for acquiring contracts, clients etc.
July this year she had to undergo a spinal operation and had enquired about sick pay, the original business owner informed her that she had no right to sick pay, whilst recuperating from her operation her common law partner ended their relationship and now with his business partner has been slandering her and creating a hostile environment at her place of work to ensure that she cannot go back to her roles after recovery.
She has since found out that the owner had never put her on the payroll and had never arranged a contract of employment despite the fact that he had told her not to worry and that it was "all sorted" after she filled in two application forms (due to the owner apparently losing one of them) and possibly the most important fact is that she has been receiving pay directly from the companies bank account into her bank account monthly .
After an inspection from the CQC in August of this year, the owner of the original company is now requesting that she provide him with her National Insurance number.
She then asked the original business owner what she is expected to do for money as he is refusing to pay her sick pay and his response was "go to the Jobcentre", when she asked her ex partner the same question he also replied that she should "go to the Jobcentre and claim that you have been a housewife for the past year".
Naturally she is very confused and doesn't fully understand her rights in these circumstances, she now finds herself without a job or source of income, is temporarily unfit for work and she has 2 children living with her and naturally has bills to pay, she is also concerned that she has done something wrong since finding out that the owner didn't put her on the payroll and is not sure how to proceed with the situation.
Thank you for your responses in advance
After a while of working for the company her common law partner and the owner of the security firm started another business as a joint venture and she then became head of promotions for this new business (this was even indicated in a profile of her on their website), and fulfilled this role without pay in order to help the company find its feet and start growing.
At the same time she was still performing the security/stewarding roles for the other business.
She has also gathered and recruited a large number of employees for both companies and has represented both of these companies for acquiring contracts, clients etc.
July this year she had to undergo a spinal operation and had enquired about sick pay, the original business owner informed her that she had no right to sick pay, whilst recuperating from her operation her common law partner ended their relationship and now with his business partner has been slandering her and creating a hostile environment at her place of work to ensure that she cannot go back to her roles after recovery.
She has since found out that the owner had never put her on the payroll and had never arranged a contract of employment despite the fact that he had told her not to worry and that it was "all sorted" after she filled in two application forms (due to the owner apparently losing one of them) and possibly the most important fact is that she has been receiving pay directly from the companies bank account into her bank account monthly .
After an inspection from the CQC in August of this year, the owner of the original company is now requesting that she provide him with her National Insurance number.
She then asked the original business owner what she is expected to do for money as he is refusing to pay her sick pay and his response was "go to the Jobcentre", when she asked her ex partner the same question he also replied that she should "go to the Jobcentre and claim that you have been a housewife for the past year".
Naturally she is very confused and doesn't fully understand her rights in these circumstances, she now finds herself without a job or source of income, is temporarily unfit for work and she has 2 children living with her and naturally has bills to pay, she is also concerned that she has done something wrong since finding out that the owner didn't put her on the payroll and is not sure how to proceed with the situation.
Thank you for your responses in advance
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Replies
What did her wageslips say? i.e. who paid her, was tax deducted, NI, pension contributions, etc etc. Who gave her the P60 for last year's earning etc?
I would have thought she would be entitled to SSP assuming she was employed through a company and not self employed/ joint owner of a company or working cash in hand and claiming out of work benefits.
"Contact the Ministry of Fairness....If sufficient evidence of unfairness is discovered you’ll get an apology, a permanent contract with backdated benefits, a ‘Let’s Make it Fair!’ tshirt and mug, and those guilty of unfairness will be sent on a Fairness Awareness course."
At best, she can report them to HMRC. It won't get her any money though.
Why is the care quality commission scrutinizing a security company?
Immediately, she needs to seek benefits advice from an advice centre.
Longer term, both she and you need to join a union, get better informed about what employment is, or, preferably, both. Whilst the employers here appear to be on thin ice, you are both woefully naive about your rights as employees, and that simply isn't a good position to be in.
Start with Citizens Advice. Your friend will not be the only one in this so called business with a problem.
These sound like very nasty people, and it also sounds like the relationship between them and your friend has become abusive. And something looks very wrong here. A security company, paying into her bank account, and being investigated by the quality care commission?!
I think your best course of action is to encourage your friend to completely cut ties with them. Taking this further is unlikely to come to good conclusions for her, and I would bet that they will become more difficult and potentially more abusive if she tries.
Abuse does not have to be physical.
As I said others in this business may well have no employment rights, and that is also abuse.
The friend wasn't forced into unpaid labour, she chose to work for the new company, unpaid, whilst still being in paid employment with the original company. The slander was abuse, but not the type of abuse given to someone who wants to leave employment which the friend doesn't.
She has no employment rights because she didn't work there for the qualifying 2 year period. Her employment was in no way modern day slavery.
This is slavery:
https://www.antislavery.org/slavery-today/slavery-uk/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40885353
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/modern-slavery-uk-british-children-sexual-labour-exploitation-5000-record-nca-a8271331.html