Withholding pay because I didn't complete my notice period

[Webonion]

Basically I had some issues at work which basically put me in a position where I wanted to leave, so I handed my notice in. During the week I handed my notice in I worked from home, which had been considered acceptable previously and I responded to emails and completed work.

I was suppose to then go back into work on the Tuesday of the following week, but found out the night earlier a friend had committed suicide, so I ended up not going back into work on that day and I didn't contact them either (which I know was bad on my part and I should have done). The following day they blocked all my accounts from the system so I could no longer do any work, in effect terminating my contract.

I don't really care about that,, but I didn't take over a week of holiday while I was there. When I asked when they would pay this, they basically said that they won't and if I try and get it off them they will sue me for breach of contract. They also claim that I was working for another company while serving my notice, which is not true, but has no real impact on how much holiday I am owed.

Curious as to where I stand legally and what people think I should do?

Can they actually sue me for breach of contract and what are they chances they would win?

Thanks in advance and if you need any more info, just let me know.

[Tools]

Re: Withholding pay because I didn't complete my notice period

Firstly, sorry to hear about your friend, I am sure the extra hassle created by your employer is probably the last thing you need right now.

By not going into work on the Tuesday (your last day to work off your notice?) and not informing them of your absence, you did in fact breach your contract. If your notice period was supposed to extend beyond the Tuesday then they have terminated your employment early and need a valid reason, which must be communicated to you. If this is the case then it is classed as summary dismissal. Depending on your previous employment record you may have a case for unfair dismissal.

As for entitlement to outstanding holiday pay, you are entitled to anything up until your last day if it has been accrued previously in the year, unless you were taking part in a strike or industrial action during your notice period, which you obviously weren`t.

Speak to ACAS to clarify things and possibly a solicitor in Employment Law, they are very good.

Let us know the outcome and I hope things work out for you and the friends/family of your friend.

[Webonion]

Re: Withholding pay because I didn't complete my notice period

Frstly thank you for replying and your kind words.

Basically I was a week into my notice and had informed them I planned to use my holiday in my notice which they had confirmed how many days I was owed. Taking away my holiday I still had 9 more days off work to complete my notice.

They did not inform or notify me, they just blocked all my access, email, etc. I had worked for the company for 11 months.

[Tools]

Re: Withholding pay because I didn't complete my notice period

off work, or of work ?

If you had 9 days remaining but were taking them as holidays then their removal of access to their systems is irrelevant really as you would not need to use them.

If you had 9 days left to actually work and needed access then they may have been taking a precautionary measure to ensure you did not gather information for use in the alleged "other company", this would be reasonable and good business practice.

[Webonion]

Re: Withholding pay because I didn't complete my notice period

off work, or of work ?

If you had 9 days left to actually work and needed access then they may have been taking a precautionary measure to ensure you did not gather information for use in the alleged "other company", this would be reasonable and good business practice.

Sorry, my mistake, 9 days of work.

So 9 days + my holiday.

I don't have any issues with my contract ending, nor them taking away access and don't expect them to pay me beyond when I was doing work for them. I think the biggest issues is the fact that they are saying, if I try to get them to pay my holiday, they will take legal action against me.

Thanks for you replies so far :-)

[Tools]

Re: Withholding pay because I didn't complete my notice period

Sorry for all the questions as I needed to get the full picture so as to advise you accurately.

So in summary

• You handed in your notice during an authorised period of you working from home, presumably by email, agreeing to work your full notice.
• You were instructed to return into the office on the Tuesday, however on the Monday night you found about about your friend, leaving you unable to attend as agreed on the Tuesday. You did not inform them on that Tuesday, when did you inform them?
• You discovered your access to the systems had been removed. Did you just assume that terminated your employment or did they inform you that they had terminated it in writing/email.
• At that point you still had 9 days working and ? days holiday left to take you up to your initially agreed finishing date.
• Since then they have refused pay up to the agreed end date and also 9 days of accrued holiday entitlement and threatened that if you pursue any further payment they will sue you for breach of contract.

Is that an accurate summary? Can you fill in any blanks.

Do you have access to a copy of your employment contract and associated information/policy documents. If so can you please check the procedure for notifying them of an absence from work. Usually it will say something such as

You must inform us before your normal starting time or as soon as is reasonably possible. In any event this must be within 24hrs

Can you check that for me please if possible.

[charitynjw]

Re: Withholding pay because I didn't complete my notice period

I had worked for the company for 11 months.

Depending on your previous employment record you may have a case for unfair dismissal.

The Unfair Dismissal and Statement of Reasons for Dismissal (Variation of Qualifying Period) Order 2012

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2.../contents/made

[Webonion]

Re: Withholding pay because I didn't complete my notice period

Sorry for all the questions as I needed to get the full picture so as to advise you accurately.

So in summary

• You handed in your notice during an authorised period of you working from home, presumably by email, agreeing to work your full notice.
• You were instructed to return into the office on the Tuesday, however on the Monday night you found about about your friend, leaving you unable to attend as agreed on the Tuesday. You did not inform them on that Tuesday, when did you inform them?
• You discovered your access to the systems had been removed. Did you just assume that terminated your employment or did they inform you that they had terminated it in writing/email.
• At that point you still had 9 days working and ? days holiday left to take you up to your initially agreed finishing date.
• Since then they have refused pay up to the agreed end date and also 9 days of accrued holiday entitlement and threatened that if you pursue any further payment they will sue you for breach of contract.

Is that an accurate summary? Can you fill in any blanks.

Yes that seems pretty close, they didn't inform me they had terminated my employment either via email or writing, but having no access and blocking me from access to anything was a good indication and an assumption I made as without access would have made it impossible to do any work.

The only thing I really wanted is payment up until I stopped working for them + holiday. In fact I would be happy enough just to be paid my owed holiday. I know I haven't been working there long enough to make claims of unfair dismissal and being that I handed my notice anyway.

My boss did ask if I wanted to retract my notice, which I said no. He also basically said to me to come back to work and pretend nothing happened with regards to issues I was having.

They are threatening to sue me for the difference between the notice I served and the time in my contract and the cost of hiring a freelancer to do my work for this period, which was 9 days (so just under two weeks).

I will see if I can find any paper work, although I don't have access to a lot of the documents as these are stored on their system and I know they changed procedures during the time I worked there so my original contract is likely to be different.

Thanks :-)

[Tools]

Re: Withholding pay because I didn't complete my notice period

Thanks Charity, must have skimmed over the 11 months.

You say they didn`t communicate termination to you, you just assumed. Did you contact them when you found out your access had been removed?

If not then this puts a different spin on things really, basically you broke your contract by not working your notice and they would be entitled to sue you for breach of contract. However, unless they have paid you for the time you didn`t attend, I`m not sure they can sue you for having to hire in a freelancer unless there is something in your contract.

[charitynjw]

Re: Withholding pay because I didn't complete my notice period

Have you ever received a Statement of Employment Particulars from the employer? (ie details of payment, holidays, disciplinary/grievance procedures, or where to access them, etc.)

[Webonion]

Re: Withholding pay because I didn't complete my notice period

Have you ever received a Statement of Employment Particulars from the employer? (ie details of payment, holidays, disciplinary/grievance procedures, or where to access them, etc.)

No I was never told about any of those and just given an employment contract states pay, hoidays, etc.., but that is about it. I was made aware of some documentation regarding holidays after I followed what it said in my contract but not what it said in a new document they created regarding it, but that was about 7 months into my employment.

Also in my contract it states for absence, let management know as soon as possible. That's as far as it goes.

They always handled this in a fairly slap dash way and people often worked from home or left early to work from home. It was seen as acceptable and I was even given a laptop knowing that sometimes I might work from home.

Is it reasonable to go back to them saying I expect to be paid for my accrued holiday. That is in fact all I originally asked for and amounts to about £500.

[charitynjw]

Re: Withholding pay because I didn't complete my notice period

Although you haven't been employed there long enough to make a claim for unfair dismissal via an Employment Tribunal, as you are complaining about withheld monies due for work/holidays, it is a breach of contract claim & so can be actioned through County Court.
Technically it is known as wrongful dismissal.
There is no 2-year qualifying period of employment required, & the time limit for a claim is 6 years (though obviously the sooner the better).

Have you submitted a formal grievance?

[Webonion]

Re: Withholding pay because I didn't complete my notice period

I have only requested they pay me it, which they refused. So I guess the next step is to submit a formal grievance. Is there any letter templates for things like this or should I just create my own. Also do you know what should be included in something like this?

Thanks

[charitynjw]

Re: Withholding pay because I didn't complete my notice period

In your own words is best, though I would head it Formal Grievance or somesuch.

Make sure you have proof of sending it. (Email, or free certificate of postage/recorded delivery if by land mail.)

You can also (ie, as well as, not instead of) contact ACAS; they have a good mediation service.

http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1680