Any legal eagles about? Recruitment agency not paying up!

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Rumble

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Hello all,

Was wondering if anyone could advise on the following problem.

My wife was working on a temporary job as an occupational therapist through a recruitment agency (she was working as an employee of a limited company, which invoices the recruitment agency that then charges the client she works for, like a contractor).

Anyway, she was on a 5 week contract and was told in writing and via email that she would be paid a rate per hour and also a bonus quote "£x per hour (Ltd) I will also pay an initial bonus of £x and a secondary bonus on completion of the post". Also via email was told she would get a weekly travel bonus.

She worked for 4 weeks out of the 5, the person in charge of her was a junior member of staff as the manager was off ill and was stressed out and took it out on my wife hence only staying for 4 out of the 5 weeks. My wife did give notice of one week before she left. (also just for info she is currently working under the same capacity for another health authority and has no complaints from them).

She invoiced the recruitment agency every week for her hours and travel and bonus. She hasn't been paid the final week nor was she paid 3 weeks travel bonus or the initial bonus, although every time she mentioned it to the agency she was told all would be paid.

We sent a letter out to the agency saying if the full amount is not paid in seven days (this thursday) we will take the matter to a small claims court.

The agency rang my wife saying they wouldn't be paying the initial bonus and they would counter sue for loss of earnings.

Anyone know where we stand legally? By the way there was no contract sent out to my wife or terms of conditions and there were no terms of condition for the initial bonus. We're not claiming the 'secondary bonus'.

Cheers all!!!
 
May not be the right people but . . .

try Trading Standards - visit your local TS website, there is lots of good advice and sample letters to send, or that could be adapted. Its all free and may help before getting involved in costs.

Apart from that it 'sounds' like you have a reasonable claim to be paid for what was promised and done. Next step is to bite the bullet go the small claims route . . .

. . . anyone else ?

edit . . . send them another complete letter by recorded delivery addressed to the 'main person' with a full explanation of your claim and threat of legal action and requesting a response in writing - not by phone.
 
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Cheers will look on the TS website, we did send the letter by special delivery next day before 1pm just to make sure and addressed it to the legal department as the recruitment consultant wouldnt give her managers name. This agency is quite big and operates in most main cities.
 
If you leave work without notice the employer is entitled to recover all reasonable costs incurred by the act, this can not normally be greater then the total pay that would of been due in the notice period. But as your wife was not an employee but a contractor I suspect different aspects of tort law will apply. And yes the defendant is within their rights to counter sue.
 
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This is a little odd, as any contract for the placement should have been between the health authority and the services co/her employer covering the provision of her services, which she should have had visibility of.

When you say she left after 4 weeks, does that mean stopped providing her services to the health authority or terminated her employment with the services company?

In any event it all depends on how the services were terminated, who with and what obligations exist upon termination. You mention there was no contract for the placement, is/was there a contract with the services co?
 
dougal74 said:
This is a little odd, as any contract for the placement should have been between the health authority and the services co/her employer covering the provision of her services, which she should have had visibility of.

When you say she left after 4 weeks, does that mean stopped providing her services to the health authority or terminated her employment with the services company?

In any event it all depends on how the services were terminated, who with and what obligations exist upon termination. You mention there was no contract for the placement, is/was there a contract with the services co?

Indeed. You need to map out the legal relationships in terms of Contracts for Services between the various parties and the obligations/rights created by each.

In particular establish where/if a Contract of Service (i.e an employment) existed and what that meant in context.( If for example your wife "gave notice" only to the stressy manager that might be ineffective because the Health Authoirty had no direct contract with her nor her employing company, just the Agency)
 
As someone said, spell out (in writing) each of your grounds for complaint and ask for their response in writing.

If it looks like you aren't getting anywhere then you can either drop the matter or go see a solicitor about it. Find one who specialises in employment law too.

If you decide to go to court, then make sure you discuss fees with the solicitor up front.
 
Thanks all for your replies.

My wife was offered the temporary contract with the NHS Authority by a recruitment agency. So the rectruitment agency will have a contract with the hospital anf my wife a contract with the recruitment agency. Although in real terms the recruitment agency never issued my wife with any 'contract' or 'terms and conditions' only a letter of engagement, the whole thing was done over the phone, via email and fax as the agency is down south and we're up north. Anyway she gave notice first to the recruitment agency monday morning faxing it and a copy in the mail, also spoke to them over the phone. And told the 'supervisor' at the hospital.

Should find out later today if she will be paid the last week's money.

Just frustrating when they say they will pay several times then end up backing out of it because of their incompetence to organise the supervision, signing of timesheets, payroll and bonuses.

Personally i feel we will get what was promised, although it may be a long drawn out process but just wanted to check the legal side of it.
 
Best of luck. In future, if you are using a services company to manage the relationship with the agency (and she is an employee of that services co) then it should be the one to notify the agency of any change to what was agreed rather than a notification of a personal nature.

If I have understood you correctly, the services flow: -
Her -> Services Co -> Agency -> Health Authority

and then the reward (money) should flow

Health Authority -> Agency -> Services Co -> Her

The ideal scenario would be to have visibility of the Ts and Cs of each of those relationships and at the very minimum to have an "employee" status with the service co which should offer a better level of personal protection (see ACAS website for "employee" benefits).

I guess the agency will ultimately pay up as long as they were able to get the money from the HA and that they cannot justifiably withold it from you/your services co.

Just a thought, depending upon the tax position she might be better off as an independent self-employed contractor either direct or via the services co. I would take some advice.

Let us know how you get on.

Thanks, Adam
 
Your wife should have been given a temp workers contract. New legislation came into place last year to give temp workers the same rights as perm workers.

It is irrelevant that if your wife did/didn't complete her contract in full. If she gave sufficient notice then she should be entitled to the pay for the work that has taken place. It could be argued that without the contract she would have no notice period to give.

I would suggest a call/letter to the REC (Recruitment & Employment Confederation) http://www.rec.uk.com/rec/home/index.aspx. They are a recognised body in the recruitment industry without being a governing one. Most agencies worth their salt are members. The REC dont like to hear of members misbehaving as we are have a code of conduct and best practice guidlines to work to. It would be good to notify the agency in question that you are going down this route.

Failing that, most employment lawyers would be happy to give you an initial consultation without charge.

Good Luck
 
As a general rule, you only get paid for the hours you work. Most temp workers - whether on a contract for services under paye with the agency or as an employee of an umbrella/composite/ltd company which in turn is under a contract for services with the agency - have no requirement to give any kind of notice to the agency or end user client and vice versa - thats the whole point of temp work. total flexibilty on both sides.

With regards bonuses and travel etc, these extra items would normally have been detailed to the composite/umbrella /ltd company by the agency without necessarily being copied in to the worker designated to do the actual work as their contract would be with the umbrella/ composite/ltd company.

At the end of the day though, a reputable agency that is an REC member should do the right thing and pay up - but depending on the exact contractual relationships that exist between the parties, they may not in fact be obliged to do so. I agree its worth contacting the REC for advice.

Its sounds to me like sour grapes. A recruitment consultant has probably missed out on a commission payment or suffered a penalty under a service level agreement that hinged around the work being completed over 5 weeks and is looking to take it out (unreasobnably IMHO) on the worker concerned.

Unfortunately these things happen, and some consultants try it on all the time as some sort of punishment. Its wrong and The REC wil def be able to offer advice.

I run my own Recruitment agency and are long standing members of the REC and I cannot abide hearing of this kind of practice. It gives all agencies a bad name.

If you would like me to speak to my contacts at REC please let me know.
 
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I agree with most of Steve's comments. The only quible is the point which relates to the notice. I partly agree, although that as it was a fixed term contract, it could be argued (depending on the contract itself) that SUFFICIENT notice be given to trminate. The point I was making was that, AFAIK, no contract was given, therefore no notice period may be required.

I would definately give them the threat that you will be pursuing this with the REC. This should send shivers down their spine.

Good luck again.
 
Thanks guys, will be contacting the REC next week and see what they have to say! I agree, the recruitment agent was probably docked some money and is being vindictive. Plus the theat of counter suing was out of order in my opinion, they could have reasonably argued their case that they lost out and hoped my wife said ok forget about the bonus but they we totally unreasonable and in my opinion dont have a leg to stand on.

False promises (bonus), lack of organisation (reasonable accomodation and timesheet signing), insults (telling my wife she is incompetent) and threats (of countersuing) are unecessary and very unprofessional, they made the mistake of not attaching conditions to the bonus like they did with the second bonus. Unfortunately the vast number of agencies i've had the displeasure to deal with operate in this manner but they're a necessary evil and luckily i've had the pleasure of dealing with a number of very helpful and enthusiastic agents aswell so we live and learn!

Will keep you all updated of events!
 

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