no timesheet, opted-Out...any chance I can get my money?

[jonson]

Hi,

An agency owes me a days work. Basically at the end of the day I said I would not be returning and politely left (I could terminate at any time)..No timesheet was signed.

These days I never ever opt-out, but this was an agency from a long time ago when I got suckered in to opting Out. The agency were rude and claim I told the client 'he could have the day for free', which I never said. They are also generally ratty and unpleasant in their emails.

Is there any legal angles I can play here? The relationship with this agency is already broken down, so court action not a problem for me...but can I win? My son is very ill and we need every penny we can get.

[pmeswani]

Hi,

An agency owes me a days work. Basically at the end of the day I said I would not be returning and politely left (I could terminate at any time)..No timesheet was signed.

These days I never ever opt-out, but this was an agency from a long time ago when I got suckered in to opting Out. The agency were rude and claim I told the client 'he could have the day for free', which I never said. They are also generally ratty and unpleasant in their emails.

Is there any legal angles I can play here? The relationship with this agency is already broken down, so court action not a problem for me...but can I win? My son is very ill and we need every penny we can get.

Did you opt out before or after you were introduced to the client? If you opted out after you were introduced, then you might have a case.

If you need every penny you can get, then going to court over a day's income may cost you more than the recovery of the money, especially if it is for one day (unless the day's income is significant in value).

[psychocandy]

Hi,

An agency owes me a days work. Basically at the end of the day I said I would not be returning and politely left (I could terminate at any time)..No timesheet was signed.

These days I never ever opt-out, but this was an agency from a long time ago when I got suckered in to opting Out. The agency were rude and claim I told the client 'he could have the day for free', which I never said. They are also generally ratty and unpleasant in their emails.

Is there any legal angles I can play here? The relationship with this agency is already broken down, so court action not a problem for me...but can I win? My son is very ill and we need every penny we can get.

Send them a letter before action otherwise they'll keep arguing. Then take them to small claims and see what happens.

[BlasterBates]

A bit strange that you could just terminate with immediate effect. Are you sure?

There are issues here like handover. When you politely said you weren't returning did you handover something, a document or a piece of work that could be signed off?

Without some sort of approval you have weakened hand, and simply upping sticks and leaving wouldn't sound good in a small claims court. If I were to leave suddenly like that, I dare say whatever I'd done would be useless, because no-one would know what I'd done what worked, what didn't etc.

You need some sort of proof that you did some work. You can chase this up by billing for the day, but you need to be clear about what you were agreeing to deliver and how you can demonstrate that.

[jonson]

A bit strange that you could just terminate with immediate effect. Are you sure?

There are issues here like handover. When you politely said you weren't returning did you handover something, a document or a piece of work that could be signed off?

Without some sort of approval you have weakened hand, and simply upping sticks and leaving wouldn't sound good in a small claims court. If I were to leave suddenly like that, I dare say whatever I'd done would be useless, because no-one would know what I'd done what worked, what didn't etc.

You need some sort of proof that you did some work. You can chase this up by billing for the day, but you need to be clear about what you were agreeing to deliver and how you can demonstrate that.

Yes I handed over a fully completed presentation..There were witnessed that can place me there for the whole day, and that the work was done..The boss was away hence no timesheet, no one was there to sign...

no notice had to be given by either party..As for the value, yeah I guess it's just a days work, but I'd rather have it then not..I am also doing other work now so dont care how long it takes, as long as I get it eventually..But I don't want to spend more than £100 on the process..I know a letter from Thomas Higgins is £2, next stage around 30-50 Im guessing

But if it is impossible to win after opting-Out, I'd rather not waste money...Have there been any cases of people getting money after opting-out? any precedents?

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

Being opted out doesn't automatically mean that you couldn't recover payment but not having a signed timesheet will cause you problems - if the company was happy with your work and you worked within the terms of the contract, could you not ask for the timesheet to be signed?

[jonson]

nah client is a cheap tight fisted a-hole, no way will he want to pay...I think it's him who objected, which in turn made the agency not want to pay

What about the initial contract? and booking confirmation emails? Plus emails that acknowledge I was there and did the work? Any use in these?

I mean with direct contracts with no agency, you often never fill out a timesheet then, and you still are bound by the contract no?

Regards

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

The terms of the contract are still binding but I would think that one of the terms of the contract is that they don't have to pay if you do not have a completed timesheet signed by the client

[northernladuk]

no notice had to be given by either party..As for the value, yeah I guess it's just a days work, but I'd rather have it then not..I am also doing other work now so dont care how long it takes, as long as I get it eventually..But I don't want to spend more than £100 on the process..I know a letter from Thomas Higgins is £2, next stage around 30-50 Im guessing

But if it is impossible to win after opting-Out, I'd rather not waste money...Have there been any cases of people getting money after opting-out? any precedents?

Are you sure your contract said no notice had to be given? That doesn't sound right at all. There is a raft of contracts coming out nowadays where the contract can't give notice. That obviously is completely different to no notice. Does it explicitly say that in the contract?

We do get asked a lot about getting money back for a whole host of reasons but I can only think of one case where the OP came back and actually said they stumped up. I would have loved to know what the outcomes were to understand if there is a pecedence.

I do however think that not having a signed timesheet and an absent boss is going to be the crux of this one.

[TheFaQQer]

Unless you correctly opted out, in writing, before being introduced to the client then you are opted in. If you are opted in, then as long as you can prove that the work was done, then you get paid.

Read the advice on payontime.co.uk and chase the invoice as they advise. When it doesn't get paid, then file a small claims court claim (about £35 IIRC). They should pay up on receipt and before having to go to court.

That said, if the sum isn't that great, and the time / stress of chasing the debt isn't going to help (money is great but is there more you could do for your family rather than spending the time chasing?) then you could let it go.

As HMRC are so keep to point out - not getting paid for the work you do proves that you are a business