Advert for class 1 drivers in Yorkshire Post today;
" Do you want to earn £500 bonus before Christmas?
Do you want a 40 hr week contract for the next 5 months ?"
Small print … " payable in five instalments after every 200 hours completed"
200 hours = 5x40 hrs = £100 bonus
Therefore you got to work 25 x40 hrs to get your £500 , before Christmas ?
Only16 weeks to Christmas
Confused ? So am I, overtime must count but it says 40 hrs.
Rapier 0800 number.
Jim
I’m out.
+1 ^
I’m already out. Was told £12-£18, so there’s me thinking “£480 for 40 hours will just about do”, only to find that it’s actually only £12ph for nights, when the 40 hours on offer was actually 8am-5pm monday to friday, meaning I’d have to commute through rush hour traffic (£10 so-called “expenses”) and the rate? - £7.33ph because the first day “induction day” was only paid a flat £50…
I never did get a night shift, let alone an £18ph sunday run! I think the gaffer’s son must have picked that one up on a 13 week rolling contract, 'cos it always seemed to be the same bloke doing it. 
What is it about being contracted to DHL-run places, only to find out the headline rates never seem to apply to muggins?
Had a similar problem at a different DHL depot when put in there by a different agency, and on the run-up to Christmas 2011 doing bulk hamper carrying to another depot… Ok, straight forward enough… Still no promised £12-£14 though, as these rates were only for sundays and weekends, which of course I’d specifically asked for on signing up. FFS. They didn’t ever give me any weekend work, but managed to palm me off with a much lower weekday rate thinking I wouldn’t be upset, and “would do it again for £8.50ph” (C+E)… Nope, walked away after getting my payslip, and realising I’d been right royally shafted. 
Had some trouble getting any closedown paperwork out of them if memory serves…
When offered a different day you see, you ask “is the hourly rate any lower for weekedays?” only to get the reply “Oh, I’m not sure. I’ll look into it for you” (but not before you’ve done the damned shift!)
I was pretty naive back then I guess. Two years is a long time trying out different agencies on a trial and error basis I’ve learned.
The big objection I had here was the total LIE that £12-£14 represents, implying that the LOWEST PAY YOU CAN GET is “£12ph”. Not "The lowest pay on shifts you’ll not actually get, whilst we never advertise or pretend not to know the really crappy rates for the bulk of work at all other normal times!" 
I knew it was a LIE Winseer just wanted to find out how much of a dirty black lie it was !
Jim
Surely when given a shift by an agency or when “applying” your best served asking something like “How much will I actually be paid an hour?”
I keep reading these posts moaning about agencies ripping people off, but is it not a case of I was stupid and didn’t check now I’m moaning because it’s dawned on me that I was stupid?
Having said that, I’ve always said I day I have to drive for an agency is the day I stop driving lorries.
Cheers
BB
I think during anyone’s naive stage when starting out with agencies, we actually allowed people to “Oooh I don’t know I’ll get back to you” when asking awkward questions.
Since then, I find asking the question, not being answered means I’ll halt the start-up process. The open-ended nature of agency shifts all paying different amounts means that they are merely being “evasive” rather than outright lying to people when they say they have work in the £12-£18ph for example. That job is done by an insider, leaving all the bread & butter £7-£9ph work for those who just want work, and don’t care about the rate. FFS There must be a lot of pushovers out there if so many agencies persist in this kind of evasive behaviour eh?
New Guy: “I need some work. Anything will do.”
Consultant: “Ok, here’s some work taking ABP to the recycling works”
New Guy: “How much per hour is that?”
Consultant: “I thought you just wanted some work, any work? - £8ph anyways.”
(Next day)
Consultant: “Sorry bud, your shift is cancelled, but I’ve got another one for you, same job, but in a 7.5. Hourly rate £6.50”
New Guy: “It’ll do.”
(turns up at depot, to see guy originally standing behind in line at the agency doing the original 17t version of the job!)
If you say you’ll work for less, you’ll be given work for less, even if it means taking you off work for more. 