Company Cant pay me rest of staff..

[SPURSN17]

Hi,

Been in my current role since August 2011. Its a small company with one owner.

Its a perm role. Previous to this i have contracted for 5 years..


I have always had issues being paid on time. Normally two or three days late.

This month im struggling to get fully paid at all.

I have been partially paid today.a week late.

Just wondering where i stand legally in claiming the rest.....

[stek]

Hi,

Been in my current role since August 2011. Its a small company with one owner.

Its a perm role. Previous to this i have contracted for 5 years..


I have always had issues being paid on time. Normally two or three days late.

This month im struggling to get fully paid at all.

I have been partially paid today.a week late.

Just wondering where i stand legally in claiming the rest.....

Get out quick, if the Co has no money I doubt you'll see any.

[kingcook]

Hi,

Been in my current role since August 2011. Its a small company with one owner.

Its a perm role. Previous to this i have contracted for 5 years..


I have always had issues being paid on time. Normally two or three days late.

This month im struggling to get fully paid at all.

I have been partially paid today.a week late.

Just wondering where i stand legally in claiming the rest.....

You do realise that this is a forum for contractors, don't you?

[blinko]

get out

[Wanderer]

This month im struggling to get fully paid at all.

The company could easily go bust and you won't get paid at all. Don't stick around, get a new job.

[wim121]

Hi,

Been in my current role since August 2011. Its a small company with one owner.

Its a perm role. Previous to this i have contracted for 5 years..

I have always had issues being paid on time. Normally two or three days late.

This month im struggling to get fully paid at all.

I have been partially paid today.a week late.

Just wondering where i stand legally in claiming the rest.....

As others said, get a new job ASAP. If they can't afford to pay everyone, it will get worse.

Legally, it can be difficult to get money out of an employer that has the cash, sometimes nigh on impossible when they don't.

What I would do first of all is sit down with your boss and tell him you havent been paid on time. Ask him if it is just cashflow or something more serious. Gauge from the conversation whether he feels badly and intends to pay you or is going to fold over the weekend without making any effort to reimburse staff.

If the worst happens, you have to weigh up is how much you value a good reference and leaving with grace, while trying to friendly negotiate your remaining pay in installments instead of taking them to court. That can be done with a reasonable company as even if they know they cant pay you straight away, a court case is a waste of time and money for some.


However, if you arent too bothered about a good reference and like to walk on the wild side, with being paid the be all and end all, you can on your last day seize IT equipment (so long as it is owned by the company and not rented) as well as other equipment. A bit dodgy, but you can threaten them and tell them they will get their property back when you get paid. Some may threaten to call the police but you can threaten court or beating the money out of them. Or another method I've had to use with a pay dodger (who had the cash) before is turning up at the office with several other guys and "insisting" on payment there and then. Dont use any of these methods though if you dont have the stones to do it properly otherwise you will get burnt and make things even worse for yourself.

It doesnt sound like you need to be that extreme though, well yet.

[Contreras]

Been in my current role since August 2011. Its a small company with one owner.

Its a perm role. Previous to this i have contracted for 5 years..


I have always had issues being paid on time. Normally two or three days late.

This month im struggling to get fully paid at all.

I have been partially paid today.a week late.

Just wondering where i stand legally in claiming the rest.....

Been there, done that, even got the T-shirt... one reason why I turned contract.

My advice, fwiw:

If the company is struggling to pay salary then you probably don't even know the half of its troubles.

Suppliers will not have been paid and are threatening to sue, HMRC may be making more serious threats over unpaid PAYE, the bank may have cancelled any company credit cards and put a block on certain transactions, the accountant will be looking after his/her own back and may even have withdrawn services, the owner will be in personal debt with credit cards maxed out...

Get your CV uploaded to the job sites pronto, speak to agents, your network, old employers, etc. When speaking to people focus on your skills and valuable experience gained in the current role and not the dire position of the company's finances.

Also re notice period, you are available immediately (don't worry about what your contract says, they are already in breach). It's usually a dilemma for anyone looking to go contracting from permie, so you are in a strong position here.

To answer the actual question re unpaid salary: Employment Tribunals Claim Form (ET1). Submit it online. Keep it factual and to the point. Your claim: Salary arrears from d/m/y to d/m/y. Amount £x. Remedy sought: payment of arrears as stated.

The employer gets sent a copy and must respond with ET3 within a certain no. of days. They muse deal with the court, not you. If they fail to respond, or indicate that your claim is not resisted (i.e. they agree you are owed salary but are unable to pay), then the Judge should declare a default judgement and it won't go to a hearing.

Check your house insurance for legal cover and if you have it then make a claim now for legal representation on the assumption that it will go to a tribunal hearing even though it might not.

Once you have the judgement speak direct to the court enforcement officer and/or a debt recovery agency about pursuing the debt, in order to keep up the pressure - at this point it's up to you to make things happen.

Hopefully the company will just pay up when they receive the claim. They may let it go to judgement and then pay up. If they are really in dire straights they may (as in my case) wait until a High Court Enforcement Officer turns up at the door and makes a tour of the premises. This all takes time and they may go into liquidation in the meantime but the sooner you set the ball rolling the more chance of receiving your money.

IANAL, the above is based on personal experience. HTH.