Company holding payment in lieu of IT equipment

GingerTim

xyz111 said:

they are not interested in taking back the IT equipment.
They are just not interested in paying up as IT equipment is cheaper than the monies they are holding.

this what they said within their letter:
Please can you arrange for all your equipment to be delivered back to the <city name> office location (address at the top of this letter). For now we will deduct the cost of the equipment from your final salary. I will seek a cost for this equipment and inform you of it in due course.

But the part of the letter you have quoted says they are very much interested in taking back the IT equipment and have told you where to send it. Why haven't you done so? With respect, this seems to be a problem of your own making.

Dakta

Exodi said:

Hoenir said:

Dakta said:

That said you shouldn't, unless contracted to, go out of your way to give the equipment back especially if at an expense. 

There's no reason for the courier cost not to be reimbursed. Perhaps it's your attitude that has resulted in your ex employer deciding to do nothing further. Presumably the balance is in their favour. 

To be clear, Dakta is not the OP, though they are clearly looking at it through the lens of a fully remote worker who may have never visited an office, or might be hundreds of miles from one. Despite fully remote workers making up 10% of the population, they have concluded their equipment return arrangements are likely the status quo.

As you say, if is acceptable for the goods to be posted, there are steps that can be taken to remove the obstacle. "Id make it clear the it equipment is available to be collected" just perpetuates the situation the OP is in: "At the moment you have a back and forth matter of 'we wont engage whilst you hold our equipment' which is not ideal, so break that deadlock and you can progress.".

Dakta said:

From conversations with my contracting friends, this seems pretty much the norm

Well who would have expected that? By the by, one day I asked everyone in my gym whether they consumed a protein shake at any point during the day, and was shocked to learn that most said they did. I think we can extrapolate this to the general public and conclude that drinking protein shakes is pretty much the norm.

Well i did say check the contract, you will get advice from me from my perspective. Generally how a forum that provides community feedback works. 

Contractually speaking, I am a hybrid worker, and I live 30 miles from the office, but it wouldn't matter it it were 3, the process is the same - whatever lens you're looking at my post in, it's broken.

Friendly Tip: untwist those panties! 

My advice to OP remains the same - solve the IT issue (but don't go to unnecessary expense) , then solve the money issue. 

If you try and withhold the gear and solve the money issue, it will be complicated and won't be a good look if it escalates.