Copied and pasted from another topic - 'Where to go and who to see when your company is totally screwing you over'

[LadyOfWaffle]

I am so so so so so so mad right now - DH is working for the most fucked up company in the world (excuse language, am so pissed off) and already trying to get out but he can't up and leave because we just cannot afford it. In a nutshell this month, DH (a chauffeur driver) has worked 6 sometimes 7 days a week about 18 hours a day 'self employed' (they told him last month anyway) but did what they said because we cannot afford to argue. So, how in the fucking world does that equal £815 pay?????? He has kept track and has earned over £2,000 in jobs, of which he wsa told he gets 75% not including about the 30-40% of jobs that have no price (they are on account direct with the companies, DH has asked for a price list to keep track but they won't give him one). Where can we go? They have no payroll, just The Boss which you have to go through his arsehole middle man to communicate which takes forever. DH also worked 6 weeks before he was paid, but was paid for 4 weeks and that 2 weeks has just gone - the way he is payed 14th of the month to the 14th of the month means he shouldn't have really been in arrears as he is 'caught up' now. Our mortgage alone is £750 this month, we cannot survive on £75, especially when they are running DH into the ground. To top it off I don't think (due to forms we were given by The Monkey the other day) he even has a licence to do this job so now I am scared we should have checked this all out ourselves before he started working there. When he got the job it was just a normal job, now they are pulling all sorts of strings. Once DHs vehicle wasn't even licenced but they made him use it still... say anything and he just would lose all his pay. Being so small there is no union, or any protection - I really don't know what to do. He can't quit when the owe him so much money and he needs a good reference for any other job, plus The Boss is very mafia ish by the sounds of it and I am scared repercussions if we kick up a fuss.

LoW we've discussed this before haven't we?

Your DH has lots of reasons for a good legal case against his employer, health and safety issues, non-payment of monies owed, denial of basic employment rights, all sorts of things.

Really your best bet is to go and see the CAB and talk through it all with someone - there's quite a lot to pick through in terms of different laws they are breaking/responsibilites they have.

So there should be minimum difficulty bringing a case against them, but the trouble is if he doesn't want to leave the employment and is scared of repercussions if he kicks up a fuss about any of this, that makes it very tricky as I am sure you appreciate.

If his boss has made threats or anything of that kind which makes you concerned about 'repercussions', is it something you would consider going to the police about?

It's difficult for me to advise given what you've said about not wanting to leave/make a fuss, but I would strongly recommend you both go down to the CAB and see if you can have a chat with someone about all of this and discuss your options.

Regardless of money/references I really think his best option is to leave. I don't know anything about benefits but it sounds as though he is not going to get much money out of this company anyway, at least in the short term, so wouldn't it be better to leave and go on jobseekers allowance or whatever benefits he could get while looking for something else? I'm not convinced he'd get a decent reference either so it might be best to write off both those things and just get out of such a horrendous situation.

Do consider having a chat with CAB about all this and about what action your DH could take. There is no doubt this company is behaving atrociously and illegally and your DH needs to work out whether he is prepared to take any action, or whether he wants to walk away.

Good luck to you both, sorry you're in such an awful situation.

Yeah, think it was about working out if DH was self employed or not (still no idea!). He is definatly getting out, The Monkey is at his daily meeting with The Organ Grinder at the moment, and depending on the outcome of that (ie. where all his wages have gone) DH will possibly leave (ie. now) or not. He was supposed to hear about a job today but they won't know until later or tomorrow if he has got it. The only thing is I doubt he will get JSA if he has quit, And JSA won't be as much as the £800 a month he is earning now. I have just reported his company for tax evasion though, probably cutting my nose off to spite my face if it backfires on DH but it makes me so angry. I will ring CAB, IR etc. when DH goes to work, he is on the phone trying to juggle all our bills again.

I'm sorry it if wasn't clear after the other threads LoW, but your DH is definitely not self-employed. Whether he's self-employed or not is not something his employer gets to decide. It's not up to them. His employment status depends on the nature of the relationship he has with the people who pay him, and he is employed.

The JSA thing is one of the reasons you should see CAB. I would say your DH's position is completely untenable where he is and he shouldn't be denied JSA for leaving this employment - these are not usual circumstances - he's not just deciding to leave for no reason, he is essentially being forced to quit because he is not being paid and is being denied his rights. JSA shouldn't be denied him on that basis.

Have an appointment with CAB on Thursday, more really to see what we can do about the fact the "self employed" him and try and gain back his employment status, and sort out who is responsable for his licence etc. I know he isn't really self employed, but if the company is denying he is employed then really he is unemployed. Oh I can't wait until he can leave.