Help please,
I have recently passed my class II which was paid for by an agency I’ve been working for as a 7.5t driver(over a year in total) They have just told me that they have no work for me and as I singed a contract to work only for them for a year that if I go and find work somewhere else thay will charge me £700 hundred pounds to cover the costs. They owe me £300 in wages and £250 in accrued holiday money , they say thay can take this and send me a bill for the rest. Am I now a slave for the next year or are they trying it on ? Do’s any one know where I stand legally.
Honestly can’t help on the legal side and the details you’ve provided are sketchy. Hopefully someone can advise.
Good luck 
Welcome to TruckNetUK Vmaxarh…
Mmm, sound like your in a bit of a state there mate. Unfortunatly, I cant offer any advice either, but There are some guys and gurls on here that do a bit about the legal sides of a few things…
Hope you get the answers that you need soon mate…
And welcome again buddy…
Pop into your local job center,they will point you in the derection of someone who might be able to help.
Did you sigh a contract?
If you have then its a hard dam thing to sort.
I hope this helps you.
What a pickle!! If it were me, I’d book a free hour with a solicitor to let him take a good look over the contract you signed. But you might find that, as you havn’t held the class 2 for very long, they might just have you where you don’t want to be! Good luck with sorting it chuck. x
Having said that, if your really want to get up their nose, be very nice to them, get the money off them then do a runner - if they want to arse you about, do the same to them. A case in point. Yesterday my agency rang me at 08-30 telling me they wouldn’t be paying me for last weeks work because the timesheet didn’t get their on time because of the bank holiday. I rang them at 11-45 (start 12-00) telling them that if they didn’t pay me, then the clients lorry I was sitting in wouldn’t be going out until the money went into my account. Funnily enough they paid me Thursday afternoon 
.
My take on agencies is that if they pay for you to take any courses then they by rights can either bill for it or deduct it weekly from your money. It should however have been made clear to you at the time. If you were under contract are you not entitled to flat rate pay whilst the agency has no work for you?
Welcome to TruckNetUK VMax.
That type of thing is quite normal, but usualy you would expect to sign a loyalty clause (when its attached to paying for a course) seperately. It would tell you how long you were expected to work for them so they get the value from your training costs back. That was how it was done with most companies I’ve worked for.
They say you can’t work for anyone else but you need some income and they can’t get you the work? Something sounds a bit odd there■■?
It would also be useful getting info on what rights you have from one of the union help lines or the C.A.B. or similar.
Unless they pay you a retainer when they have no work for you, I would just go and work for another agency. If you explain the circumstances to the other agency and point out that your first agency has priority, you should have no problem. (Even if you don’t, simply dropping the job if your first agency calls).
Vmaxarh:
Help please,
I have recently passed my class II which was paid for by an agency I’ve been working for as a 7.5t driver(over a year in total) They have just told me that they have no work for me and as I singed a contract to work only for them for a year that if I go and find work somewhere else thay will charge me £700 hundred pounds to cover the costs. They owe me £300 in wages and £250 in accrued holiday money , they say thay can take this and send me a bill for the rest. Am I now a slave for the next year or are they trying it on ? Do’s any one know where I stand legally.
It is illegal for any Employer to remove any part of your wage without 1st you agreeing! that also includes your holiday pay!
Depending on your agreement, remembering that an agreement must also be in line with UK law.
If an employer has told you that they is no work for you and they are not going to pay you & you have not refused to work for them then you are quite rightly entitled to find gainfull employment elsewhere without loss of either employment rights or legal address.
this company is taking the ■■■■!!! you need to speak to your local C.A.B. and you will get free legal advice 1st to demand payment of work done and holiday pay then either paid work for 12 months as per agreement or freeing from your contract!
Agencies have a controling body you may also wish to contact them
Yes it is totally illegal for an employer to withold any wages for any reason (even if you are at fault & cost them) with out your written permission. dont sign anything, go to a employment solicitor (an ordinary solicitor will not know the intracacies - loopholes in employment law) & show them everyting you have signed with the agency. As they paid for your training you probably signed something agreeing to stick with them for a year afterwards or pay back a portion of the cost. (I think they do it as a loan)
They may be well in their right to hold you to this, however if they do a solicitor should advise you to go to court for breach of contract for your wages & a judge should force the agency to drop the claim for your training.
Vmaxarh:
Help please,
I have recently passed my class II which was paid for by an agency I’ve been working for as a 7.5t driver(over a year in total) They have just told me that they have no work for me and as I singed a contract to work only for them for a year that if I go and find work somewhere else thay will charge me £700 hundred pounds to cover the costs. They owe me £300 in wages and £250 in accrued holiday money , they say thay can take this and send me a bill for the rest. Am I now a slave for the next year or are they trying it on ? Do’s any one know where I stand legally.
Canute put me through my class 1, I had to sign a scrap of paper saying that if I left within 2 years I would repay the cost of training & test in full, 2 months later I was sacked (did me a favour & they were actually in the wrong before anyone starts !! )
They told me they were going to withold the £632 they owed me in wages to cover training etc, I said that I had no intention of leaving but they were making me leave.
I lodged an action with the employment tribunal the very same day (did it online, www.employmenttribunals.gov.uk ) & got every penny they owed me without having to go to tribunal, ACAS sorted it out.
If you feel you need to take it to tribunal I suggest you let the agency know you are going to do it, they have no legal right whatsoever to withold any of your earnings & you WILL win if it gets as far as tribunal.
Incidentally, it took me 10 weeks to finally get a cheque out of Canute but my current employer was made fully aware of what had happened (I told them during interview) & was supported fully by them, its about time employers learned that they cannot hang on to peoples wages legally.
Go chase your money, they cannot hang onto it NO MATTER what they say.
Hope that helps
Dose all this leagal stuff cover bonus payments?
Please exuse me,I dont mean to change the subject
Simon:
I would just go and work for another agency. If you explain the circumstances to the other agency and point out that your first agency has priority, you should have no problem. (Even if you don’t, simply dropping the job if your first agency calls).
That’s your best course of action to remain working.
Under the “Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977”, there is “Liability arising in contract”. Section 2b states:
“… to render contractual performance substantially different from that which is reasonably expected of him, or in respect of the whole or any part of his contractual obligation, to render no performance at all…”
If the Agency have stipulated in their contract that you have to work for them for a given period, it is reasonable to assume that they will give you the work for that period. If, however, they have no work for you then they’re “rendering no performance at all…” and thus, are in breach of contract.
Furthermore, anybody will understand that you need to work to fulfil any financial commitments you may have. The Agency are in breach of contract because they’ve stated that you must work for them for a given period to pay for your license, how are you going to pay for the license if they don’t give you any work ? Therefore, the Agency are “rendering contractual performance substantially different from that which is reasonably expected of you”. You don’t provide the work, they do !
Finally, the Human Rights Act says something about contracts that restrict employment freedom. My copy of “Blackstone’s Statutes on Contract, Tort and Restitution” is slightly out-of-date and doesn’t cover later Acts of Parliament.
I’m no expert but they cannot withhold your wages. If it was me I would get another job, take them to a tribunal for the wages they owe and tell them to take me to court for the training money - they won’t because they haven’t got a leg to stand on.
If they have no work for you why are you with them? Time to move on.As for the legality of what they are doing,it depends what you have signed but they sound like a bunch of [insert appropriate swear word] go and find something else!