ACAS - early conciliation and tribunal. WWYD

[pud1]

i am looking for some advice regarding a problem i have with my previous employer.

when i left i was owed £1470 holiday pay. after his refusal to pay i have had to go down the ACAS early conciliation route. He has finally agreed to pay me but he has offered me monthly instalments of £200. i refused this and he has come back with £300 per month. He has stated that since i have left he has lost a full floors worth of tenants ( business complex) and as such turn over has dropped. now i am fully aware of what has happened. he has agreed to let a further floor out to a customer that has 2 other floors and has given notice to all the tenants on the floor. he has then proceeded to try and go back on his agreement with the new tenant on the floor and tried to double the rent. the new tenant has told him to shove it. this is typical of his business practice and one of the reasons why i left in the first place.

Anyway, my question is should i agree to the £300 per month. i would much prefer to get it in one go and i know for a fact that he has the money to do this ( his book keeping was part of my role.) Or do i hold out for the full amount which will inevitably end up with me having to take this to tribunal. i am thinking that it will take ages to go through the tribunal process so i may as well start getting paid. My concern is though that he may very well just agree to the £300 and not pay it ( i have seen him do this with other issues). do i have any comeback if this happens.

I am supposed to get back to ACAS today. has anyone been through this process and got any wise words for me.

Have you discussed with ACAS what would be your recourse if you made an agreement and he broke it?

They have just said that I would have to go through the small claims court.

I would take it to tribunal, it will cost you nothing and gets it officially agreed so if he doesn’t pay there is something you can do about it. How long ago did you leave as you only have 3 months to put in a claim, and it can only be backdated for 2 years.

I left on the 1st December but as I have done early conciliation the clock has stopped within 3 months. I am claiming for the past 2 years. I actually worked there fir 5 years and he never paid holidays.

I would go for the whole lot in one as if he doesn't pay then you have only one lot of collection to do - installments you might have to wait till the end of when they are all due to take action to get the full amount.

What a tightwad.

I would be clear on your reasons as well. ie he has a rep for not paying and will try to avoid and play silly, you have had first hand experience given your role. I would also be clear with the court why he has reduced overall income too

I am bothered that I could go through tribuneral and he could end up making a payment agreement with the court for a smaller amount per month and I would have no control over it. You hear stories of people only having to pay pounds per week for years and years. I think I need to find out what powers the tribuneral have regarding payment. I have been told that the ACas agreement is Legally binding and I can go to small claims for the full amount if he defaults on just one months payments. It’s madness that this is going to end up costing me money if I have to go down tribuneral route or small claims court for default.

” i am thinking that it will take ages to go through the tribunal process so i may as well start getting paid.”

Exactly. He’s agreed he owes you the amount so the quicker you start getting it the better. I would suggest 4 equal instalments of £367.50. You’ll have the money in 4 months.

It's good you've got ACAS Early Conciliation in the bag.

Keep the Tribunal claim process in place until he starts paying. It will be a sword of Damocles over him to show you mean business. If the ET date isn't for some time, that will play in your favour to keep the pressure up.