Issue with agency pay

agencyguy191 · 19 May 2019 at 5:26PM

Hi all,

I have an issue with my employer who is a recruitment agency.

The agency employs me as a member of staff and provides us with an app to accept shifts at various events.

I had applied to work on an event, and it was 2 hours travel time. The app stated the shift was 11:00 - 21:00, 10 hours, total pay £77.00. I applied and was accepted.

We had to meet at the agency office at 11. The agency then got a coach for us and transported to the event. We arrived at 1am and by the time we clocked in etc at the event it was 13:30.

There were around 20 members of staff from our agency there, all split at different sites around the event. At 9pm I finished my shift, clocked out and went back to the coach, however, there was nobody else from our agency there. After investigating I found out that the event staff believed that all agency staff were contracted until 12am, as there were other agencies there. Therefore a lot of the event staff was not letting our staff leave, and we couldn't leave without some people. There was no supervisor there from my agency. I rang my supervisor and she advised I will just have to wait until midnight, so 3 hours. I wasn't even allowed back into the event as I had clocked out, so I was left waiting with 3 other members of staff until 11 when 75% returned, and then at 12 the final person got on the coach and we returned home.

So.... I am expecting to be paid for 13 hours work, 11am-12am. My event timesheet which the event uses to pay my agency, will say I worked 13:30-21:00, so 7 hours.

I emailed the manager of my agency asking her to confirm I will be paid 13 hours work and she replied saying 'your shift didn't start until 13:30 so all staff will be paid from 13:30 anyway. You can come into the office to see me tomorrow'.

This is so unfair for many reasons, and I feel like I am only going to be paid for 7.5 hours of work when in reality, I gave the agency 15 hours of my time. Leaving at 11:00am and returning at 2am the following morning.

Am I right to feel so aggrieved? How long should I be expected to be paid for? I fully intend to take this further if needed, can anybody provide any guidance? I know I can take it to an employment tribunal.

Is there anything specific I should say when I go in to see her tomorrow?

Savvy_Sue · 19 May 2019 at 6:21PM

agencyguy191 wrote: »

So.... I am expecting to be paid for 13 hours work, 11am-12am. My event timesheet which the event uses to pay my agency, will say I worked 13:30-21:00, so 7 hours.

I emailed the manager of my agency asking her to confirm I will be paid 13 hours work and she replied saying 'your shift didn't start until 13:30 so all staff will be paid from 13:30 anyway. You can come into the office to see me tomorrow'.

This is so unfair for many reasons, and I feel like I am only going to be paid for 7.5 hours of work when in reality, I gave the agency 15 hours of my time. Leaving at 11:00am and returning at 2am the following morning.

Unless there was an agreement to pay you for travel time, then I'm afraid I'd expect you to be paid for the hours the event timesheet shows.

agencyguy191 wrote: »

Am I right to feel so aggrieved?

can't comment. You should feel aggrieved if you are not paid what was agreed, but it is not clear to me what was agreed.

agencyguy191 wrote: »

I fully intend to take this further if needed, can anybody provide any guidance? I know I can take it to an employment tribunal.

Your confidence is touching, but may be misplaced. Are you an employee of the agency, or a worker? For how long have you used their services?

agencyguy191 wrote: »

Is there anything specific I should say when I go in to see her tomorrow?

If you want them to keep finding you work, be polite, factual and point out that you (and nearly everyone else on that coach) were at the venue for more hours than you expected to be, and the fact that you couldn't work for all of those hours wasn't your fault.

It strikes me as unlikely that they'll be able to claim extra hours from the venue to cover the hours people were there but not working, so the only possibility is a goodwill payment by the agency. I wouldn't hold my breath for that.

Actually, even if you never want to use this agency again, I'd be polite and factual. You never know when you'll need a reference.

agencyguy191 · 19 May 2019 at 6:37PM

Thank you for your response, to answer some of your queries;

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

Unless there was an agreement to pay you for travel time, then I'm afraid I'd expect you to be paid for the hours the event timesheet shows.

We apply for shifts on an app provided to us by the agency where the agency posts shifts and accepts us. The shift has details such as shift, pay, and then notes. This particular shift it said the shift was 11am-9pm. 10 hours at £7.70, and total pay £77. In the notes, it said to meet at the office for 11 to get transported to the event.

can't comment. You should feel aggrieved if you are not paid what was agreed, but it is not clear to me what was agreed.

Please see above. I accepted £77 on the app, which is 10 hours pay. I knew we had to meet at 11am, and I knew the shift was meant to finish at 9pm, so I would be home for approximately 11:30pm. I was happy to accept this. However, what I fear may happen is I actually got back to the office 2.5 hours later, and may get paid 2.5 hours less, due to the event timesheet stating 13:30 start time.

Your confidence is touching, but may be misplaced. Are you an employee of the agency, or a worker? For how long have you used their services?

I believe I am a worker, not at employee. I don't have to accept any work from the agency. I have used their services for around 6 months.

If you want them to keep finding you work, be polite, factual and point out that you (and nearly everyone else on that coach) were at the venue for more hours than you expected to be, and the fact that you couldn't work for all of those hours wasn't your fault.

Thank you, and I do intend to be polite and factual. I wondered whether the fact that I was obviously held at the event for a lot longer than anticipated, that this could be breaching national minimum wage?

It strikes me as unlikely that they'll be able to claim extra hours from the venue to cover the hours people were there but not working, so the only possibility is a goodwill payment by the agency. I wouldn't hold my breath for that.

This is a key issue for me. I thought that my contact is with my agency. The agency has a contract for service with the event provider. I believe I am entitled to fair pay from my agency, regardless of what they receive from the provider, and that it up to them to resolve with the provider?

Actually, even if you never want to use this agency again, I'd be polite and factual. You never know when you'll need a reference.

Noted, thank you and I do intend to be factual and polite.

I appreciate you responding to me. To clarify, our agreement with the agency is as follows. The agency posts shifts for different events on the app. We can then accept or decline these shifts. They tend to be different events and usually aren't fixed shifts. Think festivals etc.

I hope this makes sense and if you need any more information, please let me know.

Savvy_Sue · 20 May 2019 at 1:26PM

Worker not employee, six months working with them - unlikely to be able to do much via employment tribunal.

Breach of NMW, possibly, I'm not sure. From what you've said, you should be paid from 11 am because that is what you agreed, but the agency say the shift started at 1.30 pm and doesn't look as if they expect to pay for travel time - have they ever done so in the past?

How did the meeting go, anyway?

agencyguy191 · 20 May 2019 at 3:20PM

In the past we haven't been paid for travel time, no. But in the past, the shift time on the app was the actual time the shift started, then in the notes it would tell you what time you had to meet at the office, so this was clear.

I exchanged emails with the manager yesterday and made my points as made above and she was stood by that we were only going to be paid from 13:30 onwards.

I then emailed asking what time I would be paid until, would it be 9pm or 12am? I said I would be willing to compromise and let the first issue go if I was paid until 12am as I thought this was fair.

I then went into the office today and had a brief chat, she apologised for the mishaps at the event and told me I would be paid until midnight. I told her my event timesheet will say I clocked out at 9, will that be a problem? And she said no, she will just add on the remainder manually.

All in all an ok result. Thank you for your views.

Issue with agency pay

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