After a little bit of advice really, the girlfriend is back from uni for the summer. Took her CV around various local businesses asking for summer work.

One woman at a very expensive independent woman’s clothing store offered her a bit of work here and there, with agreed times of 10-5 (shop hours) at £50 a day. Which seemed fairly reasonable.

So my missus works for this woman doing afternoons/mornings/ few odd hours etc.. It then comes to the stage where she’s wanting payment, so she’s ringing the store owner who’s reluctant at best to answer the phone, and calls into the shop to find out what’s happening.. The owner then says you’ll be paid on the 25th, of last month, which she was, but upon payment found she was short of what she was actually owe by almost half.

At this point she’s already done a bit more work for this woman, she they have a discussion where the owner promptly says – you’re on £5something an hour which is minimum wage, which we agreed on, (this is a complete lie), as this is not what was agreed verbally to begin with.

Now there’s another girl that works in the shop that gets paid the full £50 a day because ‘she’s experienced’, which is a bit odd to say the least, as 90% of the time the shop is completely dead.

So basically my other half is down quite a considerable amount of money due to underpayment, which it looks like she will not be getting paid, the phonecalls about any-more hours from the woman have stopped and it’s all a little suspect whether she’s getting paid what she’s owed.

I’m tempted to go in myself and make a bit of a scene an demand what she’s owed as my other half is a lot softer than me, especially when it comes to money, and it doesn’t look like she’ll be getting any more work/ paid t the min.

Basically I think the woman who employed my gf is taking the piss. What would you do?

Sorry for the massive story, over to the wisdom of STW for some opinions and advice please!

She is taking the piss but i doubt you will ever be able to show it

I would negotiate to get more than what she has so far by suggesting you will happily spend the summer outside her shop letting customers know what she is like or leave for the amount owed??

Perhaps not as blatant as that but I doubt legal redress will work as it is one persons word v anothers and there is no proof

it sucks but always get it writing with an employer

Thanks Junkyard. Think I may go ‘discuss’ with this woman RE; payment. In behalf of my partner.

Small claims court? Would it be cheaper for the owner to pay up rather than fight it?

Take clothes to the value of your dispute and tell the owner to take the matter further if she wants to dispute it.

It’s not theft, it’s contract law.

You need to look at what agreed hourly rate was and what the national minimum wage legislation says. If she is being paid less than the NMW report the owner to HMRC – they can fine people up to £1000 per person under NMW

Was a verbal ‘summer/casual work’ type job. No real contract or employment ‘rights’ as far as I can gather..

It’s not theft, it’s contract law.

Good luck with that “defence”

I would just try and get the best you can which will involve them deciding on a “pay off” between hassle and what they think they can get away with

Threaten legal if you really want but you have no actual proof of anything as their is no contract.

Can she even prove she worked the hours she claimed?

She has a diary of hours worked for this woman, yes.

Get her to stand outside the shop with a big sign saying what happened. She’ll soon get her money.

“five something an hour which is minimum wage” – is this what the woman said? Assuming you gf is 18-20 then min wage is £4.98 or £6.19 if over.

I assume the woman is paying by PAYE and doing it all above board?

You need to insist that it is all done above board (not cash in hand) and that your gf gets the verbally agreed (that does count as a contract) £50 which is obviously subject to tax and NI deductions but she will be able to claim back the tax part at the end of the tax year assuming she doesnt go past her allowance of £6k or something. (not an account btw just going my experience).

If the woman is trying to get away with cash in hand then put a stop to it immediately as your gf could get in trouble for accepting it and sorting out any problems is going to be impossible without getting questions asked. I think the woman is relying on getting away with it as you won’t want to kick up any fuss.

although by saying the 25th of the month that does sound like it’s going through the books properly. Did she get a pay slip?

She has a diary of hours worked for this woman, yes.

What signed by the woman – ie that would convince someone neutral

As an aside she is also entitled to pro rata holiday pay, again a legal requirement…..oh and do you have a payslip as there could be the issue of emergency tax, nat ins contributions etc

AFAIK she pays her by bank transfer, so not entirely sure if it’s all legitimate or not. The record of hours isn’t signed by anyone, no, I’m afraid.

Went to the shop this afternoon to argue a case with this owner but it wasn’t open.

the minute your gf walked through the door and started her first shift she has the same employment rights as anyone else whether full or part time etc. a verbal agreement is that until she starts work then its a contract of employment.

tax should be paid and is reclaimable if the gf will earn just less tan 10k this year ( the lib dems did do something positive this parliament)

the gf might also be keen to learn shes entitled to sick pay and holiday pay pro rata so if she works for a month she should get circa a days holiday paid.

Student walks into shop asks for job, owner agrees offers a set amount per day, student then works those hours, and shop owner forgets what she said/promised, and refuses to pay,nothing in writing or signed.

Student gets a free lesson in employment laws and being treated poorly,realises not every shop owner
is nice or honest and even has a good memory.

Stand outside with type written details of the problem and hand to all customers, it will work.

Cheers for the friendly advice, will have ‘a word’ with the owner when I catch her in/open.

It’s basically not acceptable that she’s forgotten what she agreed verbally, I’ll mention that she entered into a contract from that point, whether recorded or not, or will threaten to make sure everyone knows what she’s like, hopefully she’ll turn over the moneys!

90% of the time the shop is completely dead.

Went to the shop this afternoon to argue a case with this owner but it wasn’t open.

So dead most of the time and not even open on a saturday. Their clothes can be as expensive as they like but if they’re not selling them it might explain why they’re being funny with money.