Employer claiming I am on a 0 hour contract

hardworkingorhardlyworking

Hi,
So I've been made redundant by my employer. I've been employed since September 2019 and my employer has said that my last working day will be 13th May 2020.

My employer said that since I'm on a 0 hour contract and a casual worker, they're putting me on 0 hours for the remaining time. 

I was taken on to work 24 hours a week. I had initially asked to work less but they said that 24 was the minimum. The difficulty is that I've never received a written contract with the hours on them.

I do have text messages between me and my boss discussing that I was to work a couple of days a week and I'd asked to up my hours, so have this over message. I've also never went a week without working and other people who were taken on at that time and he has claimed everyone is on 0 hours yet all recieved holiday pay previously. Any help would be most appreciated.

This is just I've accrued holiday to date!

General_Grant

hardworkingorhardlyworking said:

Hi,
So I've been made redundant by my employer. I've been employed since September 2019 and my employer has said that my last working day will be 13th May 2020.

My employer said that since I'm on a 0 hour contract and a casual worker, they're putting me on 0 hours for the remaining time. 

I was taken on to work 24 hours a week. I had initially asked to work less but they said that 24 was the minimum. The difficulty is that I've never received a written contract with the hours on them.

I do have text messages between me and my boss discussing that I was to work a couple of days a week and I'd asked to up my hours, so have this over message. I've also never went a week without working and other people who were taken on at that time and he has claimed everyone is on 0 hours yet all recieved holiday pay previously. Any help would be most appreciated.

This is just I've accrued holiday to date!

Even on a zero hours contract you accrue paid leave entitlement.  So receiving holiday pay does not prove that they weren't on zero hours.

es5595

Send a message (preferably email!) simply stating that this is the first you’ve heard of a 0 hours contract, and at this time you don’t agree with a change of contract from 24 hours to zero hours. As such, as the redundancy notice stands, you expect XX as pay in lieu of notice and XX as redundancy payment. 

Have a google and a look to see what you should get/be entitled to.
Let us know if/what you get as a response. 

General_Grant

es5595 said:

Send a message (preferably email!) simply stating that this is the first you’ve heard of a 0 hours contract, and at this time you don’t agree with a change of contract from 24 hours to zero hours. As such, as the redundancy notice stands, you expect XX as pay in lieu of notice and XX as redundancy payment. 

Have a google and a look to see what you should get/be entitled to.
Let us know if/what you get as a response. 

No entitlement to statutory redundancy pay as employed only since September last year.

sharpe106

Ask for a copy of the contract now then? So you can see what it actually says and you may be able to get some better advice.

dacouch

Ask for your holiday pay

jonnygee2

I do have text messages between me and my boss discussing that I was to work a couple of days a week and I'd asked to up my hours, so have this over message. 

What do these messages actually say? Do they establish that each day is 12 hours, therefore 24 hours a week? Was this mentioned at interview (oral agreements are still binding, albeit much harder to prove).

It seems possible that you have a solid case for establishing that you are owed 24 hours a weeks pay. I think, if that's what you've always done, and there's no contract that says you've agreed otherwise, it's going to be difficult or impossible for your employer to show that you were in fact on a 'zero hour contract'. Increased written evidence would help, of course.

You might have to consider now if you are willing to take this to tribunal to try and recover the money. At the very least, you should continue to ask your employer for the payment and then threaten them with tribunal action to see if that helps.

Ask for a copy of the contract now then? So you can see what it actually says and you may be able to get some better advice.

If there has been no written agreement shared so far, then one produced now would really have no relevance until both parties agreed to it.

steampowered

Why doesn't the employer put you on furlough?

If you've had fairly consistent hours since September 2019 you'd have a good case to say those are your working hours.

MinuteNoodles

steampowered said:

Why doesn't the employer put you on furlough?

If you've had fairly consistent hours since September 2019 you'd have a good case to say those are your working hours.

It doesn't even matter if they aren't. If you're on a ZHC and you're furloughed your pay is based on what you earned in February or the average of the previous 12 months, whichever is the greater.

ACG

If you have worked 24 hours or more every week (except where taking holidays) in conjunction with any text messages saying you work 24 hours - I would be asking them to pay you for 24 hours for the remainder of your contract. 

I would as suggested put an email stating you are on a 24 hour a week contract not a 0 hours contract and so you disagree with the payments they will be making to you. 

If they stop paying, then you need to look at a tribunal or failing that a letter before action and small claims court but you cant really do that until they owe you your money so it could be 6 months before you have a chance of getting your money which doesnt help in the short term.