Employer not paying money owned

youngsaver08

I'm currently working for a company with only a verbal contract concerning hours and wages, and my employer owes me money for work already done; he is not exactly refusing to pay, but being very sketchy about when he will pay the money (i.e. I will on saturday, then I will on monday etc). I plan to quit ASAP; how do I force the money out of him? Will I be able to go through a small claims court? Obviously as a young person I don't have a huge amount of money to chase him up with!

UnlikelyButTrue

The first thing I would suggest (in my experience of work like this) is not to leave until you get the money- if he is a sketchy boss he may well 'forget' to pay you at all. With any luck I would try to avoid a small claims courst altogether- if he is not a completely unreasonable man you could try to explain (gently!) that you need some indication of a date that you will be paid as you have other financial commitments that you need to know dates for.
I have had a few jobs like this, and I know all too well that companies will take advantages of younger worker's naivity but I have found that a firm and polite attitude to wages will often throw them off guard and usually make them pay up!
Just try to be firm, professional, polite and, most importantly, DIRECT. Hope you get your wages back soon.

(Also on another note- you mention you plan to quit ASAP but just as a bit of advice- make sure you resign fairly and work your notice or you could end up with a bad reference, which, believe me, can be VERY hard to shift!)

melvis

I thought it was now illegal to give a bad reference?

richt71

You really need a written contract that sets out your normal working hours, pay and any overtime rates. If your employer continues to avoid fully paying you a written contract will help you if legal action is required.

Clive_Woody

melvis wrote: »

I thought it was now illegal to give a bad reference?

You can still be honest when providing a reference, or simply refuse to provide one which gives the new employer all the information they need to figure out what isn't being said.