Sub-contractor for Limited Company that went "bust".

Comms69

Gsaver1 said:

Comms69 said:

Gsaver1 said:

Dox said:

Gsaver1 said:

Dox said:

It this was a number of years ago, why raise it now?

It seems that a number of companies are going to go bust. I would just like to share that the person who ran this business was not bust at all. He just said he was and we were to take that as the "truth". I would like to see some transparency in the process. I along with others wanted to see the banking details from the last twelve months. If he had nothing to hide, show it. He didn't which all points to corruption. 

You mean you just accepted his word? A quick check at Companies House would soon have demonstrated whether he was telling the truth. The banking details for the last 12 months wouldn't give you the information you seem to believe; the accounts might - and certainly the appointment of an insolvency practitioner would.

For a father and son to just disappear from site for a number of days and appear back for a few hours then leave us working when we were never going to get paid? I didn't trust him one bit and I still don't. What really annoyed me was he turned up working on a site as a sub-contractor for a big construction firm. I made some noises that I wasn't happy to see him on site. He then went to the site manager saying I was badmouthing him. I had every ******* right to do that. No **** who rips me off is going to get off lightly and when he was the boss in everything but name I was very angry, to see him back repeating the same "trick."   A person with morals would tell you at the earliest point to leave site as you are not going to get paid. This **** didn't let on to anyone and just took our labour to line his pockets.

I was let down by my union. I was a member for over a decade. I spoke to the head guy of Scotland and said I wanted a face to face meeting with him in Dundee. The guy never met me face to face. He just continually changed the subject and that was that. I then spoke to the guy who was the head guy for the UK. He wasn't interested at all. All they were interested in was getting my monthly direct debit into their bank account. I phoned up to cancel my direct debit and I was given the sob story about how they would be sorry to see me go, and I was making a big mistake. Not true, the big mistake was thinking of being in a union they would support me and take this scumbag to the cleaners. I told them in no uncertain terms that they had done ****** all to help me and they were a disgrace. Bogus self-employment was another issue here but again the union didn't give a ****.

Once I started digging I found he did exactly the same thing a number of years ago with another company. You would think my union would have gone to the point of getting an insolvency practitioner appointed but as I said above they couldn't give a toss. So not only was I screwed over by the firm you could include the union for which I paid my fees for over a decade to as well. You wonder why the construction industry struggles for people to go into the industry, this sort of thing is why. In twenty years of being in the trade I am sick of all this.

You weren't an employee. So i dont understand what the issue is? If you want employee protections, then be an employee. 

Unions dont get insolvency practitioners involved. You seem to expect everyone - union, police, courts, son etc. to take responsibility for in effect making a mistake in working for this unscrupulous chap.

It's your mistake. Sorry

The whole point is that he is playing the system and I, unfortunately, was part of it. I did everything possible to show that he wasn't bust but the system just doesn't want to know. 

You say it's my mistake? He did this years ago, before doing the exact same thing again. If a policy was introduced in the first place to stop this crook I would not have been in this situation. My only mistake was going out to earn a living. 

Well, the court found in my favour for a lot of good it did me. Using my labour to line his pockets, I would say that's a fraud? Getting paid by the main contractor and then saying the companies bust. Then to see him working for his son, who is a front for this next company, with more self-employed workers working for him. 
I'm only trying to highlight this situation but then it is the people of power in the construction industry that should be doing things to prevent this but they do not give a stuff.

He wasnt your employer. He can have £1bn in the bank. Your employer was a company he was a director of. That company had £nil in the bank. 

Your mistake was not doing your research. Which is you are self employed / sub contracting you must do. 

The court found in your favour against X ltd. - X ltd. had no money. 

No-one is forcing you to carry on working like this. Find a position as an employee and your wages are protected by the state.