Basically the mrs has started working a couple of evenings due to a few money difficulties, she has been doing it about 3 weeks and keeps going into work at 5 and scheduled until 10 on quite a few occasions she is sent home after an hour or 2 as its quiet! Is this legal? If so how are you supposed to pay bills and plan ahead if you are treated like this? Also it means we tell people we can't do things as she's working and turns out we may as well just gone. Any advice appreciated Thanks in advance
Does she have a contract for the hours she is supposed to work if she has then yes it's illegal ,as they are in breach of there contract a verbal contract is as good as a written contract its just more difficult to prove ,my advise would be go to the citizens advise as they have very good people there who can advise you the best way forward . She is also entitled to holiday pay whether it be part time or full time and this starts from day 1,there used to be a minimum period until you were entitled to it but that changed . If this is cash in hand then nothing you can do . Hope this helps a bit but part time staff do have pretty much the same rights now as full time staff.
Thanks Jason, she gets paid with cash but he company claim they register it all with HMRC and pay tax etc on her behalf No contract unfortunately
If they are then a wage slip should be produced if taxes are been paid,I pay all my drivers tax/insurance but I still produce a wage slip to them .I personally would check up on this as if they aren't paying her tax/insurance like they say there are HMRC could come knocking for back dated tax,both the company and your mrs could be investigated,best nip it in the bud ASAP than ignore it.
dont know about you guys in the UK but here in australia its a two hour minimum - if they send you home under 2 hours then they still have to pay you for no less than 2 hours (even if you didnt work the whole 2 hrs).
I think they have until around 13wks to issue a contract. The contract will list the agreed hours then you can raise breaches of it but without a contract and early days is very hard to do anything at all sadly
Hi Martin ..Google ACAS lots of good advice and a free person to person helpline .. And although this is not really helpful device I would be kicking it into touch and looking elsewhere .
Martin, It basically depends on the contract of employment which should state some basics such as hours of work. As has already been alluded to there is now a requirement and entitlement to an element of holiday pay which due to recent case law can be paid as part of the hourly rate. It certainly sounds a little odd if no pay advice has been received stating the allowances and deductions for your wife. Under the Employment Rights Act 1996 (oooohhhh check me out) a pay advice is a legal requirement and should show itemized deductions such as Paye (tax) and NI etc. I'm sure HMRC would love to perform a compliance audit in this company if pushed I'm a Payroll Manager by trade which is why I know all this boring stuff, I only ride a blade to try and make myself more interesting lol
Totally agree, well that's if Mrs Mart is actually employed by this firm and not signed up as self employed in some form. Even then, the mrs could have signed up for a flexible/zero hours contract in which case the employer, to my understanding is doing nothing wrong. Also worth noting and btw I don't necessarily agree, employee rights are massively reduced prior to twelve months of employment. The terms of the contract are key mate.
