Employee rights ... can I do this?

[CadenceAlex]

To cut a very long story short.. after having the misfortune to come across the stupidest employee EVER.... who did not open our salon one Thursday (we didn't know until 4pm)... then when I phoned to see why.. she said she 'didn't know she had to'...

Anyways, I phoned her a few days later to tell her (as she is immensely thick and to save double booking staff) and she hung up on me when I rang - sooooo I called back and got her mother who informed me that her daughter would no longer be working for me as she has got a job in another salon. FINE, I couldn't care less... BUT then demanded I send her daughter a cheque for the few hours she DID DO, the week before.

Now, I had initially given this girl a weeks trial... but anyways... the Mother rang me today insisting I told her stupid daughter that she would be on £3.45 an hour ...... and where was the cheque as she hadn't recieved it!!!

I told her that there was no cheque and in fact, I would be billing her for the money she caused US to lose... (I wouldn't but I was fuming with this woman)

I would not ordinarily have done this, but after so much stress and being talked down to by her mother (who was nothing to do with it as the girl is 20 years old)... I was just as snotty as she was. I am SICK of being a MUG. She ended the call with .... 'I work in mysterious ways and I will get that money'

Anyway, there is no way that girl is getting a cheque out of me.

What would you do? I will contact the FSB on Monday to see, but am I obliged to give this girl anything in light of what she has done?

 

[BABSann]

Tricky one Caroline,I see where you're coming from and 100% agree with why you think you shouldn't pay her.

I would check your position though as employees are covered in so many ways nowadays that you may find yourself in trouble.

If I were you I would check your EXACT position with CAB or similar.Cover your back as if you dont you may find yourself in trouble chuck.:hug:

 

[Scratchers]

She can demand all she wants but maybe you should take up a grievence procedure with the girl for what she did i don't know the ins and outs but you have 3 months to do this, this way if she keeps threatening you, you have something to fight back with!!

Just an idea but do cheak it out with citizens advice.

I hate it when the mums get involve!!

Personally i think the girl knows she has done wrong thats why her mum has confronted you and not her IMO

HTH

 

[Sassy Hassy]

Whether it's right and whether it's legal are two different things - if she turned up for work then I think you have a legal obligation to pay her ... no matter how grating it is and even she is on trial.

 

[CadenceAlex]

I know BABS, it is all for employees and there seems little protection for Employers.

As for the rot about me telling her she would be working for £3.45 an hour - like I would break the Law for a few quid... grrrr... this has made me so mad!

I reckon her Mother will be legging it to the CAB which is why I am going to get the FSB involved...

They get involved but you are supposed to ring them before doing anything - in this case, I have not done anything and anything I have said... well there is no proof!

 

[BABSann]

I know BABS, it is all for employees and there seems little protection for Employers.

As for the rot about me telling her she would be working for £3.45 an hour - like I would break the Law for a few quid... grrrr... this has made me so mad!

I reckon her Mother will be legging it to the CAB which is why I am going to get the FSB involved...

They get involved but you are supposed to ring them before doing anything - in this case, I have not done anything and anything I have said... well there is no proof!

Well in all honesty if you did tell this girl she would be getting £3.45 an hour then more fool her for agreeing to this and working for that.Surely this is nothing to do with the mother.Goodness,I have been tempted to step in over things concerning my daughter but she would kill me if I did:irked:

I would get all the advice you can before making any decisions,it's not worth getting into any trouble over a few quid.

Go to the FSB,they are there for people like you and can give you accurate up to date info which is what you need.Good luck.

 

[CadenceAlex]

Well in all honesty if you did tell this girl she would be getting £3.45 an hour then more fool her for agreeing to this and working for that.Surely this is nothing to do with the mother.Goodness,I have been tempted to step in over things concerning my daughter but she would kill me if I did:irked:

I would get all the advice you can before making any decisions,it's not worth getting into any trouble over a few quid.

Go to the FSB,they are there for people like you and can give you accurate up to date info which is what you need.Good luck.

Yes I'm going to .. any court cases or issues are covered by them extensively providing I follow their instructions and don't act - I haven't 'acted' as the girl quit without telling us, did not come to work and any phone conversations with the mother could be fabricated!

Mothers getting involved is absolutely ridiculous - at the age of 20 (a young adult) people should be tending to their own affairs.

I am not the Ogre in this situation at all.

 

[jax]

Staff can be the biggest nightmare cant they!!!

Presuming she has a written contract........I think its important to pinpoint exactly when her contract was 'terminated',this will help you decide if you are due her any money, (it sounds like it was on the day she didnt open up the shop as was expected of her - which sounds like grounds for gross misconduct to me?).

If she worked some hours before the gross misconduct incident then you are probably due her the money for those hours.......(sorry I know thats got to hurt!), but technically she had not had a 'gross misconduct' incident at that point so was still in paid employment by you.

If she didnt have a written statement/contract of employment I think it leaves you a bit exposed and in that case I dont know what the legal position is.

I know that it is a legal requirement for an employer to supply any employee a statement of employment within 2 months of the employment starting (even if employment ends within that time) - you may still have time to organise that.

If you dont feel confident that you have met all of the above legal requirements, I would get rid of this problem ASAP - pay her the money is my advice.

Anyway the mother sounds like a nut, best off breaking ties quickly if you can.

xx

 

[Nailsinlondon1]

Whether it's right and whether it's legal are two different things - if she turned up for work then I think you have a legal obligation to pay her ... no matter how grating it is and even she is on trial.

If you do not pay her, she can claim for 'unlawful deduction of wages'. you can not legally claim losses by with holding her salary. This would have to be done by bringing a claim to the County Court, so you can counter claim for any losses arising from the breach of terms of her employment.
She is entitled to be paid as she worked the hours and until her not showing up did nothing wrong, but you are entitled to make a claim against her for breach of contract so to speak. Even if she didn't have a written contract and was on trial, she and you are still legally bound to certain rules of play by law.

But is it really worth all the costs that may be involved? I would just pay her and say good bye .....

 

[jnail]

If you do not pay her, she can claim for 'unlawful deduction of wages'. you can not legally claim losses by with holding her salary. This would have to be done by bringing a claim to the County Court, so you can counter claim for any losses arising from the breach of terms of her employment.
She is entitled to be paid as she worked the hours and until her not showing up did nothing wrong, but you are entitled to make a claim against her for breach of contract so to speak. Even if she didn't have a written contract and was on trial, she and you are still legally bound to certain rules of play by law.

But is it really worth all the costs that may be involved? I would just pay her and say good bye .....

Agreed.
Pay her.
ONLY the hours she has worked @ the Rate you agreed upon.
Then you can wash your hands of it & put it down to experience.


XX J XX

 

[Posh Paws]

I would just pay her hun and put it down to a bad experience .....

Even though you really dont want to :hug:

 

[thenailista]

I would pay the £3.45 p/h her mum thinks you should pay her and pity the salon that has taken her on. Looks like they'll learn soon enough. Obviously she's a few plates short of a dinner service if her mum has to conduct her affairs at the age of 20!
Good luck anyway and keep us posted.

 

[Rosey]

As already said, you should pay her for the hours that she has actually worked. Any action you want to take against her is a seperate matter. Its damn annoying, but you don't want to end up on the wrong side of the law because of her. If you pay her, make sure it is recorded for proof. I think min wage at 20 is £4.45? so don't be tempted to give her what her mum said as she could then report you for paying less than NMW.
You have my sympathy - it is really difficult sometimes to be an employer. There are days when i could tear my hair out! :hug:

 

[CadenceAlex]

As already said, you should pay her for the hours that she has actually worked. Any action you want to take against her is a seperate matter. Its damn annoying, but you don't want to end up on the wrong side of the law because of her. If you pay her, make sure it is recorded for proof. I think min wage at 20 is £4.45? so don't be tempted to give her what her mum said as she could then report you for paying less than NMW.
You have my sympathy - it is really difficult sometimes to be an employer. There are days when i could tear my hair out! :hug:

I know, it's worth the money to get rid of the hassle.

I've calmed down alot since I posted and annoying isn't the word. Got too much else to sort out that this really isn't a big issue.

Thanks for all the advice :hug:

 

[bombini]

Whether it's right and whether it's legal are two different things - if she turned up for work then I think you have a legal obligation to pay her ... no matter how grating it is and even she is on trial.

If you do not pay her, she can claim for 'unlawful deduction of wages'. you can not legally claim losses by with holding her salary. This would have to be done by bringing a claim to the County Court, so you can counter claim for any losses arising from the breach of terms of her employment.
She is entitled to be paid as she worked the hours and until her not showing up did nothing wrong, but you are entitled to make a claim against her for breach of contract so to speak. Even if she didn't have a written contract and was on trial, she and you are still legally bound to certain rules of play by law.

But is it really worth all the costs that may be involved? I would just pay her and say good bye .....

Agreed !

It is a legal obligation to pay for hours worked. The previous salon I worked for witheld approx £300 of my wages for hours id worked, luckily I had proof of everything and it very nearly went to court, but managed to get it all sorted about a week before the hearing. Probably as they were a big hotel chain & didn't want to be in the local paper for the wrong reasons !

 

[Little Angel]

Hi

Is it really worth all the aggravation??

Just pay her and let that be the end of it.

 

[Nailtrix]

I understand you maybe frustrated, buy if you have a verble contract with her to work a trial week on pay, then why not pay her for that and cut your loses.

 

[blossom]

Sorry, I'm a bit late reading this thread and I'm sure you've probably made your decision by now, but I would pay her the minimum wage for hours worked and be done with it, as much as it goes against the grain. You don't want any comeback from her about anything do you. :hug: I can't believe her mum is muscling in, she must be feeling very silly. Hope you are smiling again by now! xx

 

[Kim Lawless]

To cut a very long story short.. after having the misfortune to come across the stupidest employee EVER.... who did not open our salon one Thursday (we didn't know until 4pm)... then when I phoned to see why.. she said she 'didn't know she had to'...

If she was so 'stupid', then why did you keep her on?
If she was on a trial, then what were you doing leaving her to open the salon?
How come nobody knew until 4pm? Where was the manager if the owner wasn't checking in to see that their business was being looked after?
If she turned up for work, then you owe her the money




Now, I had initially given this girl a weeks trial... but anyways... the Mother rang me today insisting I told her stupid daughter that she would be on £3.45 an hour ...... and where was the cheque as she hadn't recieved it!!!

I told her that there was no cheque and in fact, I would be billing her for the money she caused US to lose... (I wouldn't but I was fuming with this woman)

I would not ordinarily have done this, but after so much stress and being talked down to by her mother (who was nothing to do with it as the girl is 20 years old)... I was just as snotty as she was. I am SICK of being a MUG. She ended the call with .... 'I work in mysterious ways and I will get that money'

Anyway, there is no way that girl is getting a cheque out of me.

What would you do? I will contact the FSB on Monday to see, but am I obliged to give this girl anything in light of what she has done?

..............................

 

[Minipig007]

I must admit that i agree with Brow Queen. My first question was why did the employee not know she was required to open up the salon. My second question was why did no-one check on her sooner to make sure she was okay, especially as she is a new member of staff?

However, that is all pretty much trying to close the stable door after the horse has bolted. if the girl has left your employment i would pay the wages she is due and start recruitment.