Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Work

Chat with other users about all things related to working life on our Work forum.

Original poster

Advice please on employee leaving without Notice

32 replies

fucketyfuckwit · 01/07/2022 20:54

I run a small business, a team of 4 people. I have one employee who was taken on 3 days a week (about 16 months). When we took her on we knew she had another self employed position. However, this position was very busy during our quiet time and very quiet during our busy time. Which was perfect.

Up until now it has worked, she hasn't worked her 3 days a week over the past 6/7 months as her other job has been busy and we have been quiet.

Now we come to our really busy time and I need her. She was booked in to work more than her contracted hours over the next 3 months. Holiday cover etc.

Our work is reliant on how many staff I have available to do the work, if there is space in the diary we take the work.

I have 3 months worth of work in the diary for the full team of 4 including her working more or less full time for the next 3 months. This was agreed with her.

She then tells me at the start of the week that a member of the family had passed away and that she was unable to work. Not an immediate member of the family.

I was a bit screwed as I had a member of staff on holiday and she was supposed to be covering. So I did my own and her bookings for the week.

I messaged her at the start of this week to see if she was OK and she said she would be back on Saturday and that she was away (presuming seeing to family issues after bereavement). She was supposed to also work Thursday/Friday this week.

So, I messaged her and said to her that I really needed her on Thursday/Friday and that if there was any way she could work then I really needed her as it is our very busy time and there are not enough hours in the day to do the work that is booked.

She replies with 'I quit' gives me some spiel about having to care for someone in her family and that she is heading for burn out. I was very sympathetic to this. (FWIW I don't believe this to be true - it's never been mentioned).

Then I notice through a friends facebook page that she is in fact on holiday for a week partying abroad.

She has totally and completely left me and my team in the utter shit.

This will cost me thousands and possibly some of our biggest clients because if we can't fulfil their needs they will go elsewhere.

Any advice please? Can I sue for loss of revenue having to turn away the work.

8 weeks notice period in her contract.

OP posts:
prh47bridge · 02/07/2022 08:29

Aprilx · 02/07/2022 08:14

You cannot withhold money she has earned. If you wish to recoup any costs for agency staff (which you say you won’t be able to hire anyway) then you would need to do this via the court, not via a deduction of wages she has already earned. That is illegal and your contract does not make something legal.

In practice employers do not generally pursue employees for this breach in contract as the effort involved in doing so is more trouble than it is worth. You need to move on and maybe plan work better in future. An expectation that an “employee” that you have barely employed for six months seems pretty hopeful anyway and seems to lack contingency.

The first paragraph is wrong. You can deduct money from an employee's wages if their contract says you can, provided the deduction does not take the employee below NMW (although there are some classes of deduction that are allowed to take the employee below NMW).

The courts favour the employee in this situation so, whilst you can sue the employee for breach of contract, it is unlikely to be worth it.

sacklunch · 02/07/2022 09:09

Alphabet1spaghetti2 · 01/07/2022 21:39

So then you are left with -

  1. hire someone and move on from this.
  2. take her to court maybe win, maybe lose. Plus does she even have the ability to pay whatever is awarded? This isn’t immediate - legal recourse takes along time. You are still an employee short and still unable to do the work and still may lose big clients. Also you risk getting known locally as an employer to avoid.
  3. ask her to work the notice - but a) do you want her back b) do you want someone there who doesn’t want to be there. If she does work the notice and does it badly - presumptuous would let her go anyway….?

i can’t see any other option as we don’t have forced slavery as an option (thank god).

Maybe someone here can take the work on. I'm self-employed and do a few different things. I'm so curious what this is.

Alliswells · 02/07/2022 09:20

What type of work is it that takes so long to be trained in?

Alphabet1spaghetti2 · 02/07/2022 12:44

@Alliswells I’m going to guess something in the wedding industry - like fancy cake making.

Original poster
fucketyfuckwit · 02/07/2022 21:08

Aprilx · 02/07/2022 08:14

You cannot withhold money she has earned. If you wish to recoup any costs for agency staff (which you say you won’t be able to hire anyway) then you would need to do this via the court, not via a deduction of wages she has already earned. That is illegal and your contract does not make something legal.

In practice employers do not generally pursue employees for this breach in contract as the effort involved in doing so is more trouble than it is worth. You need to move on and maybe plan work better in future. An expectation that an “employee” that you have barely employed for six months seems pretty hopeful anyway and seems to lack contingency.

She worked last summer for me and had every intention of working this summer too. I had booked the dates in with her and she had confirmed.

It just turns out she would rather go on holiday.

She will get her pay as soon as she returns the equipment.

These things often happen for a reason. Her work wasn't amazing at all, she was convenient because her other work allowed her to work for me during our busy time.

I will train someone to do it much better and will be relived to no longer employ her. It's not the first time she has let me down.

OP posts:
coffeecupsandfairylights · 03/07/2022 08:03

Can an employer withhold pay if staff quits without notice?
An employer withholding pay after quitting would normally count as wage theft in the UK. Employment law still entitles them to payment, just only pay for work they’ve done up to that point.
You may be able to make a court claim against them if you end up with extra costs due to them not working their notice. This doesn’t entitle you to withhold wages by law, you need to claim it back through the court.

From: croner.co.uk/resources/pay-benefits/employer-witholding-pay/

You can't just withhold her pay! It's illegal.

You have to pay her, then pursue her through the legal system for costs and equipment if she refuses to return it or allow you to collect it.

prh47bridge · 03/07/2022 08:19

coffeecupsandfairylights · 03/07/2022 08:03

Can an employer withhold pay if staff quits without notice?
An employer withholding pay after quitting would normally count as wage theft in the UK. Employment law still entitles them to payment, just only pay for work they’ve done up to that point.
You may be able to make a court claim against them if you end up with extra costs due to them not working their notice. This doesn’t entitle you to withhold wages by law, you need to claim it back through the court.

From: croner.co.uk/resources/pay-benefits/employer-witholding-pay/

You can't just withhold her pay! It's illegal.

You have to pay her, then pursue her through the legal system for costs and equipment if she refuses to return it or allow you to collect it.

Most employment contracts do not contain a clause allowing the employer to deduct pay if the employee leaves without notice, so the website linked assumes there is no such clause. If an employment contract does contain such a clause, it is likely to be upheld by the courts.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page