Have you noticed how many of these Agencies have the clauses on about the minimum rate ■■ You know the score, oh the rates are blah blah, go in to and if you sign up with them, find this clause on their contract - something like - The employment agency will pay the temporary work the minimum rate of £5.10. This is when the minmum rate they’ve quoted you, verbally, is £8.00 or whatever.
Whats that all about ? A lot of them are doing it, but why ? I tell them there’s no way I’m doing anything for that money. They say - oh we have to have it in there, and you won’t be paid that. I say well change it then, oh we can’t. 
For when you go on holiday thay pay you the lower rate?.
The way it works is this…
When you sign the agency’s temporary worker contract they state the national minimum wage because they use the same contract for van, puddle-jumper, rigid and artic drivers. Obviously rates vary amongst the different types of drivers and the various contracts the agency supplies drivers to.
The national minimum wage has to be quoted by law and its an easy way for them not to have to remember all the different rates - it also covers their backsides…
Lets say the agency arranges work at a company for a full week, on nights - Monday night through to Friday night. The rate is £9.00 per hour with time-and-a-half after 8 hours. You work Monday to Thursday night and average 12 hours per night excluding breaks, you’ll have earnt a little over £500.
On the Friday night you can’t get in to work for whatever reason, your Aunt Nellys been taken sick, the car breaks down, the wife has to go out and you can’t find a babysitter, whatever… As you didn’t turn up for work on that last night, the agency can quite legally pay you the minimum wage for the whole week instead of the previously agreed rate. This is because you’ve broken the verbal contract - there is absolutely nothing you can do about it as you signed the original written contract stating you’re prepared to work for the national minimum wage!
Take it to the small claims court and the agency produces the written contract, you don’t have a leg to stand on. Quite unscrupulous really. I’ve known it happen a couple of times…
DAFMAD:
:? Have you noticed how many of these Agencies have the clauses on about the minimum rate ■■ You know the score, oh the rates are blah blah, go in to and if you sign up with them, find this clause on their contract - something like - The employment agency will pay the temporary work the minimum rate of £5.10.
/quote]Driver Hire are very good in this respect. You get a contract staing in clear terms the hourly rate, O/T rate, Saturday and Sunday rate. What is on that contract is what you get paid whether you’re in a Class 1 or a Ford ■■■■■■ Van. I’ve ended up doing car deliveries for a rental company getting paid Class 1 money driving a Ford Mondeo from Hull to Newcastle.
Brummie:
As you didn’t turn up for work on that last night, the agency can quite legally pay you the minimum wage for the whole week instead of the previously agreed rate. This is because you’ve broken the verbal contract - there is absolutely nothing you can do about it as you signed the original written contract stating you’re prepared to work for the national minimum wage!
Yep, exactly what I thought, another scam by these poxy Agencies.
I had it out with another yesterday, Oh we have to do this bull bull, we’ll never pay you that though don’t worry.
BAN THEM
the agency i work for pays £8 ph time and a half after 8 £12saturdays and£14 sun
if you take a holiday you get 40 hours at £8
so theyre not all bad are they
mezzzz1211:
the agency i work for pays £8 ph time and a half after 8 £12saturdays and£14 sun
if you take a holiday you get 40 hours at £8
so theyre not all bad are they
Time and a half is a rare thing these days. Anyone else getting that ■■
Both the old and the new agency pay time and a half after 8 and saturdays, double bubble on Sundays.
The hard bit is getting saturday and sunday work out of them!!
If no-one worked for them they would soon go out of business, they are all chasing the same work, the only one to suffer is the guy at the end of the line. The Driver
Wheel Nut:
If no-one worked for them they would soon go out of business…
What do you think the chances of that are? Like them or not, they offer flexible working for all different types of driver - from a full week every week, to the odd day once or twice a month. If transport firms were to guarantee prompt payment to self-employed temporary drivers then I think you might see the demise of agency!
The agencies are really desparate at the moment because they called me four times yesterday offering me work. The first phone call went like this:
AGENCY: Bob, need you ASAP to go into Bannisters!
ME: I’m sorry, I can’t.
AGENCY: Why not?
ME: I had a heart attack six weeks ago and released from hospital four weeks ago. I’m not allowed to drive the car for another fortnight and DVLA, in their wisdom, have taken my LGV license off me! I won’t get that back until the end of October at the earliest.
AGENCY: Oh, then you can’t do it?
ME: What do you think?
Anyway, there were another three calls after that…!
Having worked for three different agencies as a Consultant I can understand what they’re trying to do. Whats likely to have happened is one of their drivers has dropped them in the brown stuff or, a new client can’t get a driver from their preferred agency and the agency wants to impress them. They’ve probably tried the usual by trying to swap driver’s shifts and that hasn’t worked because the drivers concerned have probably threatened to go to another agency if they start swapping their shifts around. They then attempt to talk one of their part-time or weekend drivers into doing it but they get told to go forth. The next step is digging out the lists of recently departed or totally unreliable drivers. The final step is badgering coffin-dodgers like me into doing the job for them.
You have to understand that their working environment is highly competitive, each are paid commission on the number of drivers they get out - the more they get out, the more money they get.
For example, when I worked for Protemp Worcester, I had to make £2500 profit per week before I got any commission whatsoever. The commission was 8% (I think) on anything over the £2500 - not 8% of £2500! If I made £2600 profit for the company, I would get a mere £8.00 commission. And its the drivers who think they’re getting ripped off!
DAFMAD:
:? Have you noticed how many of these Agencies have the clauses on about the minimum rate ■■ You know the score, oh the rates are blah blah, go in to and if you sign up with them, find this clause on their contract - something like - The employment agency will pay the temporary work the minimum rate of £5.10.
Whats that all about ? A lot of them are doing it, but why ? I tell them there’s no way I’m doing anything for that money. They say - oh we have to have it in there, and you won’t be paid that. I say well change it then, oh we can’t.
that allowes them to employ Easter European drivers for £5.10,as British Law doesn’t allowes to employ them for less Pay then a British Driver 
DAFMAD:
Yep. Not had a job without it. I also want it after 8 hours per day and not the 40 a week that some try to get away with.
brummie:
Wheel Nut:
If no-one worked for them they would soon go out of business…What do you think the chances of that are?
Quite possible. Anyone who is half decent is more than capable enough of “going it alone” especially if they regularly get companies asking for them.
I’ve done that. I set my hourly rate at the midpoint between what I was getting paid per hour and what the agency was charging me out at. The companies I approached jumped at the opportunity as some were even not doing runs as it wasn’t even breaking even once they were paying the thick end of £20/hr to an agency.
Very unlikely!
Take the large distribution companies who’re using several temporary drivers a day - some can use 50+. If each driver were self-employed consider the amount of time it would take to process each driver’s account. The company would have to employ extra accounts staff to cope, therefore making self-employed drivers less cost effective.
Have you considered the blokes who’ll invoice a company for work and not pay income tax. If Inland Revenue can’t find them then they go looking for the money from the company - it then becomes the company’s responsibility to recover any outstanding income tax. How many companies would stand for that?
SMEs would be the lost likely to use self-employed drivers. Most of these types of companies are constantly cutting costs to compete with the larger companies which could mean 30, 60 or 90 day terms. Most drivers could stand non-payment for 30 days, what about 60 or 90 days delay? Are they going to get paid anyway, transport companies are notorious non-payers!
Most drivers don’t want the hassle of keeping accounts, invoicing customers, submitting tax returns and so on. They prefer to get their timesheet signed at the end of the week and get paid the following week - simple!
Agencies won’t go out of business because they are guaranteed method for providing drivers. Some offer insurance against their drivers damaging vehicles and equipment. Most ‘vet’ the drivers who work for them so companies will get a certain standard of driver. There are many more advantages to using agency drivers over self-employed drivers.
For example, if a company uses 20 agency drivers a day for 12 months they’re going to get 20 agency drivers a day for 12 months. If those 20 drivers were self-employed could you guarantee those 20 drivers turning up for work every day for 12 months, you can’t, but an agency can!
Thats why its very unlikely agencies will go out of business!