Court Action - I Won!

[Neal]

I attended court today to claim back my wages etc. from a company I used to work for some time ago who stated that my final wage was used to pay for a training course they sent me on. Then then also had the cheek to state that I still owed them money to cover costs my wage did not cover.

I worked for this company for 3 months and worked well over 14 hours at times resulting in me not have 11 consecutive hours rest before I was back in work. I did everything that was asked and even designed and made new paperwork to help keep things in order in the control room and make it easier for staff to do their job. They started to use this paperwork as well as other ideas I had.

In my third month, I received a phone call from my manager asking me to come into work for a meeting. In this meeting I was told that I couldn't work in the control room anymore and I had to work at another location some distance away. When I asked if I would receive fuel allowance or other benefits as otherwise I couldn't afford to travel that far, I was told that in that case there was nothing else for me and my employment would be terminated. I was then told the meeting was over.

When I got home, I wrote an appeal letter asking for another meeting with their reasons for removing me from my duties. On the same day they received their letter by recorded delivery, I received a letter back stating that "My performance in the control room was not up to acceptable standards and as I had refused to work at another location, my employment would be terminated giving me one weeks notice". A few days later, a reply from my first letter arrived stating that, "As you walked out of a discussion and have not returned since that date, we assumed you had resigned from the company on that day, your final pay and P45 will be sent to you shortly". There is no offer of another meeting nor did this comply with their contract which states I should have been sent a letter before attending any meeting giving reasons for the meeting, etc. They then failed to follow their appeal procedure. I did not walk out of any meeting and this contradicts the first letter they sent me. They did not give me any reasons for removing me from the control room, although I know it was because I was the only one who was available to drive to another site as I had my own transport and a member of staff had resigned from this job they wanted me to move to. They breached Government Legislation.

A month passed and no final wage, or wage slip or P45 arrived. I sent letters but was eventually they replied with a letter stating I owed money for a training course they had sent me on (Short notice as another person had dropped out). This was a SIA training course which is covered under the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 etc. and the Security Industry Act 2001. Therefore, they could not force me to pay for this training. In my contract I did agree that should I leave the company I will pay for training, that is, training that is not compulsory. However, I did not leave the company either. They also had no right to take this money, they had to pay me then try to claim it back which they can't do.

I won my claim for unpaid wages and now i'm taking this matter to the new Governmental Employment Tribunal Body as now i'm claiming for holidays earned that i'm entitled to by law plus a basic wage for the one weeks notice. I also want additional costs for the breach of contract. I may also be able to claim for the hours I worked as many times I worked over 14 hours resulting in me not having 11 hours consecutive rest before coming back into work. This is against the European Time Directive.

People need to start sticking up for their rights and stand up against cowboy outfits such as these. I've never worked for a shambles of a company, my own business when operational was more professional than them and I only had two contracts and I did all the work!

Anyhow, I claimed my unpaid wages back, court fee's and other costs for dealing with the claim. I'll see what the Employment Tribunal say to my feedback form.

Best thing to do for anyone wanting to take action is by using and speaking to the following people:

http://www.employmenttribunals.gov.uk : Employment Matters
http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk : Court Action
http://www.clsdirect.org.uk : Community Legal Services Direct

To my ex-employer, don't think you can treat people like dirt and that we are all as dumb as your staff. I suggest you remove certain people from their jobs and get the right staff in and treat people fairly.

[Jason]

Nice one Neal,damn bourgeosie think they can do what they like!!!!
Come on you proletarians down let the fascists get away with it......stand up for your rights and don't take any cr*p.

[Neal]

And the best thing, it only cost me £50 to do it! I didn't use a solicitor but instead spoke to others and looked online. May use a solicitor soon though in relation to the Employment Tribunal as it will be a nice amount I want.

[Jason]

If you have won one case then surely there will be another one to win.
Some employers couldn't run a pi$$ up in a brewery.

I think we should start naming and shaming!!

[Neal]

Sounds like a good idea, but don't want anything to do with them or give them any much needed advertising. Plus, can't be bothered with a legal battle again. ;-) I could mention the company as it's not against US policies, as this site is hosted in the good old USA.

You can view cases heard online, just search for me. It's freely available to the public as far as i'm aware.

[Sweetpea]

Good for you Neal. I love to hear these stories. Yesss!

You are a man after my own heart!

[milly]

good on you neal I have been saying for a long time people need to stand up to these companys...........and stand up for there rights in general..............
twice now I have stopped to hear a traffic warden asking someone with no blue badges to move from a diabled parking slot...........as I am in need of a wheelchair I have stoped and said to the people I can not park at times due to people parking in the disability bays............
both times the people have said sorry and moved on...........so see it does work speaking up for your rights...................

[Neal]

And the best thing, there will always be a recorded court judgement against their company which will effect customer views of them. That is not good news when you operate a company in the Security Industry. They should have just paid up.

[wayneyboy1942]

Well done Neal!:thumbsup: It makes me mad when firms treat their staff like this! I just hope they pay up!!

[Poppy]

I am so pleased about this. The workers get dumped on from a great height all the time it is great to see the tables turned

[steven]

well done mr

[burnley0]

well done.......any compensation you get--- can be given to all of us on here as an early chrissy present.......beer, wine, vodka, steak, mushrooms, chips,....,,,,,,,,............

[Neal]

I'm pleased to say that my claim has now been accepted by the Employment Tribunal service for Unfair Dismissal, Breach of Contract and Unauthorised Deductions from Wages so i'll see what happens.

[Poppy]

Best of luck Neal, if you win and are awarded compensation make sure he pays up. We have found from personal experience it is harder to get the money awarded to you than winning the case. I shall keep every crossed for you but here is some extra luck just in case.
:leprechaun: