peirre:
When I 1st read the OP I did wonder if there’s maybe an issue other than £/hr errors.
Surely nobody can go through that many agencies before settling down and having a working relationship with a couple of them ?
My working relationship with the agency ends after the first job I am underpaid for. As already stated, I will not be exploited in this way.
One needs to find an agency that are actually desperate for “drivers to sit behind steering wheels” - rather than just increase the size of their current “mug pool”.
When the work is plentiful, and the “Mug pool” has gotten low - the “bad” agencies start to struggle as the “good” ones then find the “once bitten, twice shy” drivers migrating over to them.
This was how I ended up going through 9 agencies myself, most of whom I never got a single shift at - to SMS that ended up giving me regular work for the four years I was with them.
I now have a full time job at one of their clients - but we’ve parted on good terms I believe. I’ve even been offered “There’s a place for you back here, if you find you don’t like the new regime you’re signing up for!”. 
Of the 9 agencies I had already gone through - only three of them (Extrastaff, Blue Arrow, and Rapier) had given me any work. The other six either offered me no work at all, only offered me unsuitable work, or only had “contract work” for which I was obliged to sign up for their umbrella, which I’d already refused point-blank to do. That didn’t stop them bothering me with offers of work they knew I’d turn down though. 
“Unsuitable work” to me means “miles away at too short notice” or “too low paid for the commute” or “not actual driving work”. I’ve been offered jobs as Debt Collector, Debt Collector’s driver, and Debt Collector’s enforcer all whilst “on the books” for agencies I eventually ended up never doing any work for at all. I did do a single shift as “Night Porter” on one occasion, but that was at £12.75ph and was for my current agency - so I wasn’t complaining. Most of the work offered was for multidropping around London, which in itself I had no objections to doing - but I wanted a premium hourly rate to compensate me for commuting into London, and some minimum hours guaranteed. This was where I eventually fell foul of Rapier, who got me to go into a DHL-contract held Boots depot delivering stuff to branches of Boots around London: The hourly rate offered was £12ph days, £18ph nights - for rigid driving which seemed quite attractive at the time. I did two afternoon/evening shifts for them, and thought the lowest I could possibly get paid here was 2x8hrsx£12ph - but I was sadly mistaken. When the payslip arrived, I’d been paid £50 for the first day, and £7.75ph for the second day, which seemed like a van driver’s rate, and certainly not worth me commuting 40 miles to London for! I had nothing in writing about the £12 and £18 rates though, so I had to take this one on the chin - lesson learned. Now I’m reluctant not only to ever work for Rapier again, but any depot contracted out to DHL (such as Sainsbury’s Dartford where I also had a bad experience with another agency - driver hire) and I only ever did one shift involving London after that, albeit running out of Crossways into London, which at least was upheld on the hourly rate promised me. I only ever got that single shift though, so they just must have been desperate on that occasion.
The “Bad Experience” I refered to at Sainsbury’s Dartford for Driver Hire agency via the DHL contract at Dartford went wrong for three reasons:
(1) Unpaid assessment expected of me - I refused
(2) Arrived for a shift (which I was surprised to be offered, after I’d refused to do the assessment!) only to have them keep me sitting in their waiting room for around 90 minutes… Then it was licence checks, etc for another half an hour… Then they offered me a run, but wanted to sign me on at THAT TIME THEN as the “Start time” for the shift. I didn’t fancy doing 12 hours work for eight hours pay, not when it was only £10.00 anyways, so I abandoned it - and walked away.
(3) Driver hire showed an interest in getting me on some kind of “7 hours contract” I think it was… Hmm. I thought that would be better than a zero hours contract… WRONG! - If you accept a seven hour contract then you HAVE to do the first shift each week effectively that they demand of you. You won’t get anything else of course, but they need you to do that one shift - so you’ve earned enough to pay their damned £27 per payslip umbrella fee… Whhaaat! - you couldn’t see me for dust after that… Never had anything to do with DHL, Sainsburys, or Driver hire again after THAT!
Or just avoid agencies and go direct to companies
I have found that a yard clinet’s “try before you buy” way of handing out the jobs - works better for someone like myself. It isn’t really in my culture down south here to go banging on doors, only to get knocked back over and over again because they either have no vacancies, or do have some - but they want you to apply through the normal “line up behind everyone else coming via the jobcentre” type system.
I have never been offered a job in my life after attending an interview where I had to “beat the rabble” to get that job. It’s always been via a “connections” and “temp to perm” channel instead. Not “what you know” but rather “who you know” then. 
I hear it is more favourable to knock on gates “up north” - but when you’ve got towns quite scattered out - that’s gonna be quite expensive to do, even with your own wheels!
And story’s like this is why I wouldn’t sign up for agencies when I passed my class 1… although I was in a job at the time so it’s easy for me to say
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk
If the OP wants to take the agency to the small claims…
I’ll gladly help them do it, free of charge. All my time and expense for nowt.(no, I’m not a solicitor)
That’s how much I hate these parasites.
Captain Caveman 76:
Conor:
I’ve been doing agency work since 1994 and never had that happen to me.If you’re working for Billy and Adam at THAT agency, you’re the only driver they’ve never screwed over!
Believe me it isn’t for want of trying on their behalf but I’ve been around the block too many times so I’ve heard pretty much every ruse agencies have, am on top of employment law and as you know from my posting history I’m not afraid to fight my corner as they’ve both found out on several occasions when they’ve tried it on. They tried to screw me over with my holiday pay only including basic hours so I sent them a link to the ACAS information page which explained a court ruling there was over a year ago and that if your overtime isn’t voluntary it has to be included and I send that every time I put in holiday pay just to remind them I’ve not forgotten.
The only thing I let them off with is not providing me safety gloves because by the time I’ve gone through to pick them up I can buy a pack of 10 cheaper than it costs me in fuel to go through to Hull. Just got a 5% wage rise starting Monday and I’ve as much work as I want or don’t want and I only do Howdens as well which I got written into my contract when I signed up. There is a bit of give and take and when its mental busy I’ll do more than I would normally do and I don’t mind my start time being changed from what I was told the day before when I’m on nights because I write the day off when I’m working anyway but conversely when I want a quiet week they never argue with me so I’m a happy bunny at the moment.
Conor:
I only do Howdens as well which I got written into my contract when I signed up.
Really? 
I also only do the gigs I want, but DON’T have it written in to my contract, I just say NO!
Try Morgan Hunt, they’re taking on 
Evil8Beezle:
Conor:
I only do Howdens as well which I got written into my contract when I signed up.Really?
I also only do the gigs I want, but DON’T have it written in to my contract, I just say NO!
I’m disabled, this is work I know I can do which was the main driving force behind it and having it written down makes a fair bit of difference especially when it comes to getting paid if there’s no work under AWR.
Conor:
Evil8Beezle:
Conor:
I only do Howdens as well which I got written into my contract when I signed up.Really?
I also only do the gigs I want, but DON’T have it written in to my contract, I just say NO!I’m disabled, this is work I know I can do which was the main driving force behind it and having it written down makes a fair bit of difference especially when it comes to getting paid if there’s no work under AWR.
Ah, I see!
Just an update. Called out Careermakers on their behaviour and now it seems they are the model agency. I advised that one more underpaid assignment would mean I would wanted to be removed from the books and REC will be contacted.
Now I have text messages confirming rates (all obviously worded for the benefit of any external party which may come to look at them ), I have corteous phone calls, double-checking confirmation texts for hours, pay and jobs etc.
Part of this I suspect is down to the 2 clients I have worked for them have both requested me back by name when they have work so YMMV.
Conor:
Captain Caveman 76:
Conor:
I’ve been doing agency work since 1994 and never had that happen to me.If you’re working for Billy and Adam at THAT agency, you’re the only driver they’ve never screwed over!
Believe me it isn’t for want of trying on their behalf but I’ve been around the block too many times so I’ve heard pretty much every ruse agencies have, am on top of employment law and as you know from my posting history I’m not afraid to fight my corner as they’ve both found out on several occasions when they’ve tried it on. They tried to screw me over with my holiday pay only including basic hours so I sent them a link to the ACAS information page which explained a court ruling there was over a year ago and that if your overtime isn’t voluntary it has to be included and I send that every time I put in holiday pay just to remind them I’ve not forgotten.
The only thing I let them off with is not providing me safety gloves because by the time I’ve gone through to pick them up I can buy a pack of 10 cheaper than it costs me in fuel to go through to Hull. Just got a 5% wage rise starting Monday and I’ve as much work as I want or don’t want and I only do Howdens as well which I got written into my contract when I signed up. There is a bit of give and take and when its mental busy I’ll do more than I would normally do and I don’t mind my start time being changed from what I was told the day before when I’m on nights because I write the day off when I’m working anyway but conversely when I want a quiet week they never argue with me so I’m a happy bunny at the moment.
What a load of hassle. Wouldn’t you want a real job with Howdens? One that doesn’t require you to train in employment law or submit employment regs with every holiday form?
Don’t give me the flexible days off line. On agency you spend half the quiet year having days off forced upon you. That cancels that benefit out.
I was behind a Howdens today Jim. Found myself thinking about Conor!!
Think it was the ■■■■ on the trailers back doors that was the culprit.
eagerbeaver:
I was behind a Howdens today Jim. Found myself thinking about Conor!!Think it was the ■■■■ on the trailers back doors that was the culprit.
.