Ex employees- help/advice

From my old job, they owe me a weeks wages for the week i worked before i left, got the cheque 23rd dec, paid it in the 24th, got it back yesterday as theyve had it stopped
I know they cant do this, and they are also witholding my p45
Any got any advice/help??
Ive already had someone from there come in so check up where im working etc!! They dont like the fact that i left without working any notice but i never signed a contract saying i had to, plus there wqs no job as such to give notice to.

Quick update, had a pretty snotty letter from them in reply to mine (all i said was that my pay check had been bounced and that they still had my p45, and that my aprtner would be in to collect them)

Dear Miss Boswell
Further to your letter regarding the delay in fowarding your p45 and final pay check, this as well as you can well know is due partly to your untimely departure without warning and the question of the 3 days work left outstanding and NOT 2 as you mentioned in your letter. As for teh matter of your attendance throughout your time here in terms of lateness for both work in the mornings and on returning from dinnertimes i am yet to ponder on thses matters.
Accept my apologies for the delay and the aforementioned final pay and p45 will be following as soon as possible, however i would like to point out that i am unable nor willing to deal with a third party on this matter so i respectfully suggest that you not ask your partner to vist these premises at your request as this will not resolve the matter".

Well it looks like they arent gonna give me any pay of what im owned!, i had 2 days off sick, NOT 3 and i was late a couple of times, yes, but can i help what the traffic is doing???-what they fail to say is i quite often stayed behind to make up for those 5-10mins i was late!!
And tris dropped the letter in etc as its on his way to work!

Im guessing that you guys think i should take it as a lesson learnt or try and take them small claims court??

[fizzwheel]

Citizens Advice or talk to somebody like Ed.. get proper advice from somebody who knows what they are talking about.. coz I dont.

Good luck how you get it sorted.

Ditto comments of Fizz but also I don't believe they can withold your P45 but in any case you don't really need it. I had one sent on to me 12 months after I had left and started work with someone else. My new employer said i should keep it or bin it, they didn't need it (that was 6 years ago).

on the notice front, that is a difficult one as you don't need a written contract of employment to be bound by expected rules. The law (Ed is best at this I suspect) requires minimum notice from an employer (except gross misconduct etc) and I would have thought that an employee will be expected to provide equivalent - written down or not.

They certainly should not be raising a grievance now - that should have been at the time if they thought it was an issue - red herring?

Claiming the money, yes, I would suggest same old story, you have to weigh up the economics of the claim and bear in mind the notice issue. Citizens Advice are very good, they may even write to the employer on your behalf.

Good luck

Did you leave to start up your new modelling career?

I implement payroll systems and have worked in the business for over 20 years.
By law they must provide you with a P45 even if it takes a couple of weeks. You do not need it to start a new job as a new employer will fill out a P46 for you. A P45 is only valid for 6 weeks from the leave date. As I presume you are not a "professional" ie Doctor Lawer etc, if you have no contract then you did not have to give notice it was just bad form. Your ex employer cannot with hold any monies owed to you and a letter from the CAB is the cheapest and best bet. Hope this helps.

Cheers guy, tbh this whole situ has really got me down , the letter just topped it off.

Any chance that you were within a probationary type period? It's typical for required notice to be very short in that case.

[Stu]

IIRC since they gave you a cheque but bounced it, you can sue them for that amount, they cannot later say they do not owe you it. i.e. the cheque is a promise to pay.
Please make sure you get what you're entitled to - don't roll over.

As said above - they should have raised any time keeping issues at the time, not relevant now.

Good luck

[Red ones]

According to CAB,

"If your contract does not say how much notice you must give your employer then, if you have worked for one month or more, the minimum notice you should give is one week. If you have worked for less than one month, the notice period should be reasonable."

They also say,

"If you leave your job without giving proper notice, your employer may try to withhold part or all of the money owed to you. In general, employers are not legally entitled to withhold money owed.

If this happens, you should consult an experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens Advice Bureau."

Also

You have left your job and are still owed pay
When you leave your job, you might be owed pay. This could include:
• basic pay (including money owed because you were paid a 'week in hand')
• redundancy pay
• pay in lieu of notice.
If your employer refuses to pay you money you are owed, they are breaking the law.
You should write to your employer explaining what money is owed, and why it is owing. The letter should also include details of the period for which the money is owed. This letter will count as a written grievance, if you need to take the matter further. You should sign and date the letter and keep a copy. An experienced adviser could help you to write this letter (see below).
If writing to your employer does not work, you may need to make a complaint to an employment tribunal for breach of (employment) contract. An experienced adviser can help you do this. There are strict time limits for complaining to an employment tribunal which you must make sure that you do not miss.

You will find some advice here, CAB

and also here Guidance Sheet

IIRC (I had to go through a fairly similar case about 2 years ago) CAB will guide you through the process, but getting to see anyone at CAB is pretty difficult - they are severely under resourced and very popular ( because they are so good!). There a number of useful guides from CAB too.

You need to follow your letter up pronto - do not miss the time period to lodge a grievance - it is the best tool for you! I would :
Write a second letter, referring to the first and acknowledging their reply
State that you are raising a grievance on the grounds of illegal deduction of wages by the stopping of a pay cheque and incorrect deductions from sick absence.
Request a grievance hearing to address the above matter

At a hearing you are entitled to representation by a union rep, or a work colleague (the employer can refuse any other representation). The employer is legally bound to respond and defend the accusation. It is not sufficient for the employer to just sit there and tell you where to go - they need evidence! Prepare for a fairly nasty meeting, but remember you are making the accusation that they need to defend (ball is in your court). The key points to bear in mind for the letter and the subsequent meeting are:
It is an illegal deduction of wage - they can defend if they like, but an appeal will tell them what to do (pay up and pay the fine too!)
You need dates for the sick absence (and try to remember what you did on the day they dispute - is there anyone who can back you up? Is there any proof you were there?)
If they play dirty and throw the late attendance thing at you - was it raised with you at the time, were you disciplined, or was it "Fine, make up the time" Did they take the matter any further, or were you given the impression that it was all sorted? State that if it was an issue then it should have been part of performance management and should have been brought to your attention so that you could make the appropriate improvement to your performance.

Send the next letter now! I would be willing to bet that they send you the cheque and will sit in the meeting arguing the toss over the 1 sick day. You will then be arguing for the 1 days pay and, of course, getting them to commit in the meeting (that you will, of course, minute) that they will give you a good reference (this stops them from writing or saying anything nasty about you to anyone!)[/quote]

Originally Posted by Paws

And tris dropped the letter in etc as its on his way to work!

I did? I wonder how I managed that, I thought I worked in Lincoln. Dementia is creeping up on me faster than I thought! :P :P

Hope you get everything you're entitled to soon

lol, my other half is a Tris (Tristan, but prefers Tris).