Self employed, not been paid

Linc67

My partner works for a delivery company, he is technically self employed.

Securetax pay their wages. However this hasn’t happened for 4 months.
For 2 weeks a week ago, he started to get backdated invoices paid into his account, but this has now stopped
He constantly asks management to sort this but nothing happens.
What are his rights and what should he do?

Linc67

Apologies, 3 months *

Mistral001

It looks like he should be an employee rather than self-employed and he is breaking HMRC IR35 rules for self-employment:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-employment-status-for-tax

As for getting late payments? Welcome to self-employment

PS. This post should, perhaps be in the Business sub-forum. It might get more replies as it relates to busuniness rather than employment.

ReadingTim

Firstly check the payment terms - how many days/weeks should invoices have been paid?

Secondly, check whether unpaid invoices have been approved for payment and when the payment date should be. If they have not been approved, chase the person who's meant to give it.

Thirdly, take legal action if any approved invoices have not been paid within the stated payment terms.

Fourthly, consider the extent he wishes to keep supplying services to this company until current invoices are paid, or a payment date has not been given.

Linc67

The invoices are approved as he was paid for two of them.

He has to pay weekly for the delivery van so stopping working is leaving him with less money if he ever gets paid.

What legal action can be taken? Small claims?

Mistral001

He can take them to the small claims court. He will probably win and he will probably get paid, but if the company does refuse, he will have to get the bailiffs in. He will most certainly not be asked to provide any more services to this company with he takes them to court.

If he decides he wants to continue to supply services to this company as a self-employed person, the best policy is to be persistent. I have been self-employed for 22 years and persistence does pay in the long run. I have taken people to the small claims court and got my money that way. One time after winning the case, the defendant did not pay. The amount was not worth calling in the bailiffs for.

Dox

Linc67 wrote: »

The invoices are approved as he was paid for two of them.

He has to pay weekly for the delivery van so stopping working is leaving him with less money if he ever gets paid.

What legal action can be taken? Small claims?

Legal action should be the last resort, not the first one. It almost invariably destroys any chance of a working relationship going forward - and sometimes there's no alternative for the 'wronged' party, so trying to keep things constructive really matters.

His starting point is to claim interest, in the (probably vain) hope that will concentrate a few minds. If it doesn't, then debt recovery sadly becomes the way to go. More info: https://www.gov.uk/late-commercial-payments-interest-debt-recovery

Mistral001

If you do not want to go down the legal route, which almost certainly well result in the OP's partner not getting any further business from this company even though he might get paid, I would do the following:

Contact the person who first commissioned him to do the work. Do not contact the accounts department or other "manager", but the person who said he could get the work as a self-employed person. Failing that contact someone who you know for sure is this person's manager or even the owner of the company.

Do this at least once a month and not more than once a week.

There are likely to be quite a few people in the OP's situation and it will be those people who are persistent who will get paid first. Many companies have a pecking order as far as who gets paid first. The salaried workers, bank, HMRC and the electricity and phone company will come high up the pecking order and other suppliers will come next and even they will have a pecking order.