An agency I have done some work for previously have given me a new contract to sign and there are a couple of things that I’m not sure about.
They are saying that as I would be engaged as a temporary agency worker the contract does not constitute a contract of employment between me and the agency. Can this be right? I was under the impression that if I was working through the agency and being paid PAYE then they were my employer? If they aren’t my employer who is?
Also they have spent some money on uniforms and are now trying to claw this back by making the drivers pay £5 a week out of wages to pay for it. In my mind if they want me to wear a uniform advertising their business then they should pay for it, otherwise I may as well wear jeans and t-shirt.
Thoughts please gents, awaiting the usual limp/bag/bluetooth gags 
£5 a week for a uniform! what’s it made of Gold Thread? Tell 'em to go ■■■■ themselves. That’ll be £260 you’ll be paying them by the end of the year. Of course they are your employer if you are on PAYE. Maybe they don’t like the idea of having to pay for employer’s liability insurance.
If you are being paid by a umbrella company 
then they are your employer not the agency
If you can get them to say they are your employer, or if indeed they are because they are paying your p.a.y.e. then they are responsible for supplying your work wear. failing that you can go self employed, bill them every week, wear what you like, and claim tax back, i have and never will pay for a uniform, can you imagine our service personnel being charged ■■ and another example, when the bag charges came in, we were told that if it has advertising on it, its free…i take my sainsburys bags anyway…regardless of who i shop with…
What contract do they want to replace?
cupidstunt:
Also they have spent some money on uniforms and are now trying to claw this back by making the drivers pay £5 a week out of wages to pay for it.
I absolutely would not be putting up with that. Uniform shouldn’t be coming out of your own pocket!
I gotta admit it …I never fail to be astounded to the depths that agencies will go to to shaft a couple of quid out of the people who actually earn there money
cupidstunt:
They are saying that as I would be engaged as a temporary agency worker the contract does not constitute a contract of employment between me and the agency. Can this be right? I was under the impression that if I was working through the agency
I’ve seen this before, it basically means they give you work (PAYE) IF there is work available. They are after all an intermediary, so if there is no work for you, you don’t get paid. Nor do they make a profit/commission. So it’s in their interest to keep you busy.
Midnight Rambler:
If you are being paid by a umbrella company
Paid direct by agency, although they are “looking into” an umbrella scheme at the moment, something alse I’m not keen on.
I have googled the uniform thing and apperently it is legal for them to deduct wages as long as the net result is that the worker’s pay is above the minimum wage.
truckyboy:
If you can get them to say they are your employer, or if indeed they are because they are paying your p.a.y.e. then they are responsible for supplying your work wear. failing that you can go self employed, bill them every week, wear what you like, and claim tax back, i have and never will pay for a uniform, can you imagine our service personnel being charged ■■ and another example, when the bag charges came in, we were told that if it has advertising on it, its free…i take my sainsburys bags anyway…regardless of who i shop with…
This is what I don’t understand, if they are not my employer then I must be self employed, although I’m not. So where does that leave me? I may well take this advice and go self employed and start billing them for advertising their business by wearing their uniform 
In all my years I have never paid for a uniform and I don’t see why I should start now. Shame really because they started off ok, but slowly slowly they are turning into the usual ■■■■■■■■ agency. 
The only uniform my agency charge for are trousers if you want them to supply them but only when you leave and to be fair you’d be pushed to beat the price and as when I got a couple of pairs of trousers nothing got written down anywhere I get the feeling that the charge gets forgotten about. Tops, hi-viz, boots, gloves etc all supplied free of charge. We’re even told that if our hi-viz get mucky, or our black tops start to go a bit grey (they’re black) or the logo starts to look tatty to get replacements. Every time I go to the office I get new hi-viz and get new tops twice a year. Never been billed.
Are they trying to wriggle out of giving you holiday pay by the wording ?
It stinks whatever !
Uniform… what sort of uniform, they want you to wear it… let them ■■■■■■ pay for it 
3 wheeler:
It stinks whatever !
+1
Bit off topic but I heard 4 cycle couriers are taking the companies they sub contract / work for to court.
They have been pushed in to self employed status and complaining they have no rights to holiday or sick pay by with this setup.
All zero hour contract shenanigans. Passing the cost of employing people on to the people being employed.
3 wheeler:
Are they trying to wriggle out of giving you holiday pay by the wording ?
It stinks whatever !
Holiday pay is another nugget. They have been paying everyone a set amount per day of holiday (not basing it on average of last 12 weeks), I questioned this a few months ago but have let it slide…for now. The new contract states it will be paid as per the regs so they’re not trying to wriggle out of it but I doubt that all the other drivers know that they should have been getting more than they have been.
It used to be fairly common for fitters to be charged a weekly amount for laundry supplied overalls. I can’t say I agreed with it, it was company dirt after all, but at least it kept my own laundry bills down. I no longer use a laundry company, but several years ago when I did as Self Employed I was paying about £10 week, but that was for a clean pair every day, laundered weekly and all repairs and renewals included. I think I had a total of 12 pairs on rota.
cupidstunt:
3 wheeler:
Are they trying to wriggle out of giving you holiday pay by the wording ?
It stinks whatever !Holiday pay is another nugget. They have been paying everyone a set amount per day of holiday (not basing it on average of last 12 weeks), I questioned this a few months ago but have let it slide…for now. The new contract states it will be paid as per the regs so they’re not trying to wriggle out of it but I doubt that all the other drivers know that they should have been getting more than they have been.
They would only be entitled to more than they were getting if the agency was guaranteeing x amount of overtime per day/week and iv’e never seen an agency offer guaranteed overtime, only a guaranteed amount of hours per day like 8 even if you’ve done less, voluntary overtime does not have to be counted for the 12 week average, as in 40 hrs plus 10 guaranteed but only paid 40 holiday.
Also as an agency employee you have very few employment rights.
What rights do agency workers not have
If you’re an agency worker you don’t have the right to:
•claim unfair dismissal if you’re sacked without notice or good cause
•claim statutory redundancy pay
•claim maternity, paternity, adoption and parental leave
•a written statement of main terms and conditions of employment
Basically your screwed and they can ask you to sign anything they like, if you no like they show you the door.
As an agency worker I don’t have any guaranteed hours, but holiday pay should be worked out as an average of the last 12 paid weeks, not a fixed random amount made up by the agency.
For example the agency pay £50 a day holiday pay( they don’t but just for argument’s sake) but the average daily pay over the last 12 weeks is £100/ day, then the worker is being shorted by £50 per day’s holiday taken.
I don’t think anyone else working for them has noticed 
Is your old contract a contract of service? This would mean that you are PAYE but it would not be a contract of employment.
I haven’t looked at the old contract, but this one is a contract of service. Is that different to a contract of employment?