[angelbones]

In March I waitressed at Cheltenham during the Gold Cup week with Blue Arrow, a temp agency.
I'd worked with them before in January and got paid for it.

However, it's been 2 months and I haven't received any payment at all for Gold Cup week. I've phoned the company several times and spoken to my boss about it, and every time he's said he'll get onto Payroll and Head Office and speak to them about it, and every time nothing happens.

Is there anything I can legally do to make sure that I get the money I earned?

[livefires]

Did your payslip from the job in January have a phone number for Payroll and contact name on it? If so, give them a call yourself (assuming it's the same company as the one you haven't been paid by this time) and ask them why your pay hasn't come through yet. If not, call your boss again and ask him for the Payroll contact info. It may be that he means to get onto them about things but gets caught up with other work.

If he won't give you the info or if you're still having trouble getting the money out of them then I'd pop into your local CAB office and get some advice from them.

[Fires]

(Original post by angelbones)
In March I waitressed at Cheltenham during the Gold Cup week with Blue Arrow, a temp agency.
I'd worked with them before in January and got paid for it.

However, it's been 2 months and I haven't received any payment at all for Gold Cup week. I've phoned the company several times and spoken to my boss about it, and every time he's said he'll get onto Payroll and Head Office and speak to them about it, and every time nothing happens.

Is there anything I can legally do to make sure that I get the money I earned?

I'm sorry this happened to you. Blue Arrow are notorious for messing around with temps, holding their payments and being slow to cough up.

As long as you have a piece of paper contracting you to work there and some evidence that you did, plus some evidence of the agreed rate of pay and the number of hours/days you work, you have a cast-iron Small Claims court action possibility against them, onto which you could add a measure of compensation and interest.

You should write a letter (not phone) Blue Arrow, state where you worked, the hours, the total they owe you and ask for payment within 7 days, failing which you "have been advised to take further action".

As someone else has said, a good starting point would be to go to CAB and tell them about it.

[angelbones]

(Original post by Fires)
I'm sorry this happened to you. Blue Arrow are notorious for messing around with temps, holding their payments and being slow to cough up.

As long as you have a piece of paper contracting you to work there and some evidence that you did, plus some evidence of the agreed rate of pay and the number of hours/days you work, you have a cast-iron Small Claims court action possibility against them, onto which you could add a measure of compensation and interest.

You should write a letter (not phone) Blue Arrow, state where you worked, the hours, the total they owe you and ask for payment within 7 days, failing which you "have been advised to take further action".

As someone else has said, a good starting point would be to go to CAB and tell them about it.

Oh dear

No, I don't have any documentation of working there as I just got phoned up and asked if I was free. Cheltenham should have my timesheet which would have the days and hours I worked, but I have nothing myself.

Isn't Small Claims court action a bit... expensive and tedious? Don't you need to have legal representation? As far as I can work out I'm owed about £100 after tax, and I doubt that's enough to get a legal representative (or just legal advice).

(Original post by livefires)
Did your payslip from the job in January have a phone number for Payroll and contact name on it? If so, give them a call yourself (assuming it's the same company as the one you haven't been paid by this time) and ask them why your pay hasn't come through yet. If not, call your boss again and ask him for the Payroll contact info. It may be that he means to get onto them about things but gets caught up with other work.

If he won't give you the info or if you're still having trouble getting the money out of them then I'd pop into your local CAB office and get some advice from them.

I will check it, but I don't remember there being phone numbers on there. I don't want to be too arsey on the phone with the boss because he's a nice guy, but perhaps I should.

I might pop into the CAB the next time I'm free/they're open.

[Fires]

(Original post by angelbones)
Oh dear

No, I don't have any documentation of working there as I just got phoned up and asked if I was free. Cheltenham should have my timesheet which would have the days and hours I worked, but I have nothing myself.

Isn't Small Claims court action a bit... expensive and tedious? Don't you need to have legal representation? As far as I can work out I'm owed about £100 after tax, and I doubt that's enough to get a legal representative (or just legal advice).

I will check it, but I don't remember there being phone numbers on there. I don't want to be too arsey on the phone with the boss because he's a nice guy, but perhaps I should.

I might pop into the CAB the next time I'm free/they're open.

I wouldn't be nervous about hassling the guy who hired you because "he's nice", agencies always play on that kind of thing. You have to remember that they deal with hundreds of people like yourself and are not overly interested in you, despite any professional niceness they may use.

These are the fees for Small Claims. It's £35 for yours. You can get that back when you win.
http://www.lawpack.co.uk/business/mo...article970.asp

District Judges who oversee Small Claims are generally really friendly and helpful with small litigants who have been badly treated. You don't need legal help, you just write a letter in with the claim saying exactly what happened and how much they owe you. Ask for the same again in compensation if they don't pay up after your warning letter.

Yes, you need some evidence that you worked there. Are there emails? How did they recruit you, was it via a web ad?

[angelbones]

(Original post by Fires)
I wouldn't be nervous about hassling the guy who hired you because "he's nice", agencies always play on that kind of thing. You have to remember that they deal with hundreds of people like yourself and are not overly interested in you, despite any professional niceness they may use.

These are the fees for Small Claims. It's £35 for yours. You can get that back when you win.
http://www.lawpack.co.uk/business/mo...article970.asp

District Judges who oversee Small Claims are generally really friendly and helpful with small litigants who have been badly treated. You don't need legal help, you just write a letter in with the claim saying exactly what happened and how much they owe you. Ask for the same again in compensation if they don't pay up after your warning letter.

Yes, you need some evidence that you worked there. Are there emails? How did they recruit you, was it via a web ad?

No, there was an advert in the window, I walked past it in town and went in and basically got hired there and then. I do have the contract I signed when I joined the agency, and the payslip from January.

[Fires]

(Original post by angelbones)
No, there was an advert in the window, I walked past it in town and went in and basically got hired there and then. I do have the contract I signed when I joined the agency, and the payslip from January.

OK, you have enough to write a letter to them demanding payment.

In your letter, state the total they owe you, how it was broken down, the days you did and the start date and finish date. Sign it and date the letter.

Deliver it Recorded Delivery and keep the proof of posting.

How did they originally promise to pay? Did they take your bank account details?

[angelbones]

(Original post by Fires)
OK, you have enough to write a letter to them demanding payment.

In your letter, state the total they owe you, how it was broken down, the days you did and the start date and finish date. Sign it and date the letter.

Deliver it Recorded Delivery and keep the proof of posting.

How did they originally promise to pay? Did they take your bank account details?

Yes, and the pay in January went straight in.

I'll get cracking on a letter. As they'd presumably need to send it over to their Head Office/Payroll, it would be better to give a fortnight for the money to be paid rather than a week, wouldn't it?

[Fires]

(Original post by angelbones)
Yes, and the pay in January went straight in.

I'll get cracking on a letter. As they'd presumably need to send it over to their Head Office/Payroll, it would be better to give a fortnight for the money to be paid rather than a week, wouldn't it?

As you haven't chased them in writing before, then probably yes, you should give reasonable time to pay. Have you texted them or emailed them to ask them for the money before now?

[angelbones]

(Original post by Fires)
As you haven't chased them in writing before, then probably yes, you should give reasonable time to pay. Have you texted them or emailed them to ask them for the money before now?

No, but I have phoned 3 or 4 times.

[Fires]

(Original post by angelbones)
No, but I have phoned 3 or 4 times.

OK. The fact that they paid you before with no difficulty makes me wonder if there has been some glitch in the paperwork, have you checked with the payroll team by phoning them directly? Sometimes, when you leave an agency position, the end employer you were actually signing timesheets with neglects to send them in as an effort to avoid the last payment. Have you checked with Blue Arrow payroll that the Racecourse people sent them your final timesheet?

[angelbones]

(Original post by Fires)
OK. The fact that they paid you before with no difficulty makes me wonder if there has been some glitch in the paperwork, have you checked with the payroll team by phoning them directly? Sometimes, when you leave an agency position, the end employer you were actually signing timesheets with neglects to send them in as an effort to avoid the last payment. Have you checked with Blue Arrow payroll that the Racecourse people sent them your final timesheet?

No, I don't have a direct phone number for Payroll.
I assume it was sent because two people from our branch of Blue Arrow that I worked with in the same part of the venue got paid on time.
They did tell me the second time that I phoned that the payslip had been received by Payroll and the money had gone out, but it hadn't got to my account (for whatever reason).

[Fires]

(Original post by angelbones)
No, I don't have a direct phone number for Payroll.
I assume it was sent because two people from our branch of Blue Arrow that I worked with in the same part of the venue got paid on time.
They did tell me the second time that I phoned that the payslip had been received by Payroll and the money had gone out, but it hadn't got to my account (for whatever reason).

Oh right, it does sound like you need to send in the letter and also make an attempt to get hold of their payroll to ask them why you've not had it. Call their main published number and ask for payroll. If they won't put you through ask why not. They should do.

[angelbones]

(Original post by Fires)
Oh right, it does sound like you need to send in the letter and also make an attempt to get hold of their payroll to ask them why you've not had it. Call their main published number and ask for payroll. If they won't put you through ask why not. They should do.

Would it be better to phone payroll directly and then send the letter, or to do both at the same time?

[Fires]

(Original post by angelbones)
Would it be better to phone payroll directly and then send the letter, or to do both at the same time?

Well, if it was me, I would do both, because if they tell you they are paying you and they still don't, you are back to square one.

I don't think they will hold out on you indefinitely, as they have no basis for not paying you.

Once you've sent the letter and made the call, come back here and tell us how you are getting on.

[angelbones]

(Original post by Fires)
Well, if it was me, I would do both, because if they tell you they are paying you and they still don't, you are back to square one.

I don't think they will hold out on you indefinitely, as they have no basis for not paying you.

Once you've sent the letter and made the call, come back here and tell us how you are getting on.

Will do

Thanks for all your help, I really appreciate it!