Wages

[BoredTrish83]

Hey 👋
I'm after some advice please

My husband came back from work Sunday night (starts early monday) as felt awful mentally.
He emailed work on Tuesday no response
He is self certified for 7 days ends next Monday
The thing is he hasn't got paid today for last week's wage can they do that?
Thankyou in advance

Also, is he an employee or a sub-contractor?

if he doesnt have a set of terms and conditions its actually the employer breaking the law https://www.gov.uk/employment-contracts-and-conditions/written-statement-of-employment-particulars

Yes he's definitely entitled to be paid for work already done. Has he actually asked them about it?

Just speculating here, but if they haven't read his email for whatever reason, and given that this seems like an extremely casual working environment, it's possible they think he's just cleared off.

If he's supposed to give say, a week's notice, they may be entitled to withhold his pay in lieu of that.

It's the kind of thing that would be resolved quite easily with a phonecall 🤷🏻‍♂️

As pp have said, employer might be withholding pay in lieu of notice. He could also have taken more paid holidays than he had accrued, so if going home sick has made them think he isn't coming back, again they could be withholding his pay.
But they should have explained that eg by email, not just not paid him. That and the fact you say he doesn't have a contract, sounds dodgy.
Email is fine if your DH isn't feeling up to phone calls.

Assuming he is back at work on Monday he will find out then I guess if something's going on with his job. If he has been there for two years (excluding holidays), he's entitled to fair dismissal and they should follow proper process. And regardless of how long he's been there, they should pay his wages!

Emailed work 2days after he went sick? We have to phone in sick before the start of the first shift we miss. If we dont follow their procedure they can stop our sick pay. Could it be the same? Why didnt he ring in the first day he wasnt attending work?

Email is fine if your DH isn't feeling up to phone calls.

Hard disagree. Unless the company has a sickness inbox for that purpose that multiple people can access. What happens if the person he's emailed is off?

I do find it odd that they've not contacted him either, unless OP hasn't given us all the details 👀

Is he working cash in hand OP.
It sounds awfully like he is given you say he has no contract and describe it as them 'saving themselves a bit of money'
If that's the case, there's a lesson to be learned here. We pay Tax and NI for a reason, being properly employed gives rights and a safety net.

Also as others have said, you don't self certify yourself off for a whole week on day 1 of feeling unwell whether your illness is mental or physical. You can't know on day 1 whether by day 3 you might feel well enough to attend work - especially as so early on he can't even have popped to the doctors yet.
Making an assumption from the off that you definitely won't be is taking liberties.

For mental health absence I think email or text are ok, I'm happy to communicate in writing with staff when they have mental ill health. Any other reason to be off they have to ring. This does depend on having a reliable email address as you say

Not having a contract is illegal surely.
Sorry but without a contract he doesn't have a leg to stand on.
Do they deduct tax and NI from his wages?
It's really tough as SRP is low and I think may only kick in from day 3, a quick Google would confirm.
But he needs to ask for a contract. If they refuse I would report, not sure who to though-Hmrc??
Ucas offer good advice-Google them.
I hope he feels better soon, maybe going to his GP would be a good idea? A combination of medication and therapy would help if this is an ongoing thing.

He does have a contract. Offer (he usually turns up for work) and acceptance (he usually gets paid) and in such circumstances the statutory minimum terms would apply, which (as far as I remember) is first 3 days unpaid and then SSP.

He should be paid for work already done (up to Sunday) but Mon/Tue/Wed are likely unpaid. Without knowing the ins and outs it’s hard to say, it reads as if both parties aren’t following the rules.

Any issues he should speak to ACAS

I would just call on his behalf. Emails can go awry. Just make a note of the time, date and who you spoke to when you make the call and keep a record of any other calls after that. Try and ensure you get to speak to the right person. Also let them know that an email was sent and give them a time and date when it was sent.
They may be withholding his wages as they haven’t heard from him and he may be in debt with holiday accrued for example. Ask them when you call. There could be a simple explanation.

He hasn't followed the sickness policy which is problematic. You can't just not turn up for work one day. All companies insist you call personally so an email won't suffice. Could they be withholding wages (which is illegal) to force him to contact them? He will need to contact himself or get a GP letter. He likely won't be paid for his time off.

Whether or not he has a contract is irrelevant if he is employed directly with the company (so is not a sub-contractor for example).

Firstly, the employer is breaking the law by not providing one.

Secondly, employees are covered by “implied terms” of a contract. For example, if you contract states that you work Monday - Friday but have been working Sunday - Thursday for a sustained period, this would be an implied contract as it has been what has happened for some time. Based on what you’ve said, in the absence of a contract it wouldn’t be unreasonable to assume that the terms of his contract are exactly what has been agreed/ has previously happened.

I feel this situation can be resolved by just contacting the workplace to enquire why he hasn’t been paid - it could just be a simple mistake where the payroll have processed his sick period in the incorrect week, and won’t have noticed if this hasn’t been pointed out.

Most likely, he wasn't paid as he didn't submit a timesheet on time, as he wasn't in, and then on Monday, nobody knew where he was.

Turnaround times are very tight for weekly payrolls, realistically for paying on Friday payroll info was probably due in on Monday, payroll prepared and finalised Tuesday, bacs payment set up on Wednesday for receipt on Friday. Monday, he didn't turn up to work, Tuesday he sent an email which wasn't acknowledged so may not have been read/received by the intended recipient who is probably the same person who would have sorted his wages in the absence of a timesheet.

I hope your husband is feeling better now is getting the help he needs and his wages/SSP have been paid.

Those are our exact turnaround times!!!!

timesheets are due to be sent or emailed by Monday morning. They are processed on Tuesday (taking into account vehicle trackers have to be checked & hours checked with contract managers. Inputted into payroll software on Wednesday & bacs payments set up on Thursday for receipt Friday.

if someone doesn’t hand in a timesheet it delays the whole process for everyone.