I’ve been at this company just over 5 weeks, started off I was helping out as a driver was ill. After 2 weeks extra work on Thursdays & Fridays meant 9.5 driving on Fridays & Thursdays full load handball! not what i signed up for, money not special & on self employed basis , but seemed laid back. They had a meeting as its two new runs & they have decided not to pay us a daily rate but an hourly rate on Mon-wed ,8 hrs then o/time after that. Thursday & Friday 11hrs then O/time …OK but they will not reply to 2 emails asking for the hourly or new daily rate ? Also to cap it off the money in the bank is £44 light, I managed to get hold of a warehouse manager & he said the £44 will be for a CBR check ■■ What?! OK do the check but as its my money surely have the decency to ask me first did I want to pay or not , what next will I have to pay for ?
If no reply by 3 pm then they have 1.5 hours to find a driver, I’ll treat them as they have treated me . Oh & sick driver is back but on shunting as he unfortunately has serious diabetes… Mug written all over me , I guess I am mad at myself for being such a chump!
mas430:
I’ve been at this company just over 5 weeks, started off I was helping out as a driver was ill. After 2 weeks extra work on Thursdays & Fridays meant 9.5 driving on Fridays & Thursdays full load handball! not what i signed up for, money not special & on self employed basis , but seemed laid back. They had a meeting as its two new runs & they have decided not to pay us a daily rate but an hourly rate on Mon-wed ,8 hrs then o/time after that. Thursday & Friday 11hrs then O/time …OK but they will not reply to 2 emails asking for the hourly or new daily rate ? Also to cap it off the money in the bank is £44 light, I managed to get hold of a warehouse manager & he said the £44 will be for a CBR check ■■ What?! OK do the check but as its my money surely have the decency to ask me first did I want to pay or not , what next will I have to pay for ?
If no reply by 3 pm then they have 1.5 hours to find a driver, I’ll treat them as they have treated me . Oh & sick driver is back but on shunting as he unfortunately has serious diabetes… Mug written all over me , I guess I am mad at myself for being such a chump!
so You self employed 
who does your accounts and invoicing and you let em charge you 44 quid for their benefit … mate don’t sale your self short by calling yourself a mug …
Let me do it for you and charge you £50
Your a
MUG 
INVOICE ON ITS WAY by the way it VAT free as a special offer
Welcome to the real world 
in two mins expurts ( I know it’s experts 
) will be along to say " you’ll need the DCPC! 
you professional driver you, to take £7 an hour for the exciting times? " 
TELL EM TO DO ONE! 
nick2008:
Let me do it for you and charge you £50
I think he was after some sympathy Nick.
No Bald one not after sympathy at all, Nick’s right I am a bloody mug. Its annoying as I was helping out as the guy was ill & the manger of the place is a family friend, He is also really embarrassed annoyed at the in house agency.
I already have a current Disclosure as I worked for the post office for a bit, so i want the £44 back, my point is they should have asked first.
mas430:
No Bald one not after sympathy at all, Nick’s right I am a bloody mug. Its annoying as I was helping out as the guy was ill & the manger of the place is a family friend, He is also really embarrassed annoyed at the in house agency.
I already have a current Disclosure as I worked for the post office for a bit, so i want the £44 back, my point is they should have asked first.
You’re right they need your permission first they cannot just take it.
If your self employed you should be telling them the rate you want not asking what they will pay you.
If you are legally self employed then they would pay your invoice, is this more of a case of them giving you cash in hand and then hoping you would sort out your own tax an insurance? I think the tax man would not look upon this arrangement favourably …
Leave, can’t stand being treated like a ■■■■■
mac12:
If your self employed you should be telling them the rate you want not asking what they will pay you.
^^^this is true ,get some Balls .
Dan …grow up FFS
mac; In the original post , I said the money in the bank was £44 light .
Self employed since 1991 but not in transport I have 2 (Struggling shops) .
Silver surfer : the lorry was due out 16:15 …I’m sat at home, my friend the manager is more annoyed (now ) than I am.
Its the principle of it all.
It was agreed a set day rate, it was cheaper for them for a few weeks & suited me. The other driver has returned & wants a yard job.Good luck to him.
The in-house (umbrella) agency has concocted this hourly secret rate & deducting money from me not the main company , so a rocket for them according to my friend. My thoughts now I have calmed down are how many time’s have they lost & messed around good workers?!
All in all its been an experience & met some really nice guys at the Stoke depot Lol.
Name and shame?
bald bloke:
mas430:
No Bald one not after sympathy at all, Nick’s right I am a bloody mug. Its annoying as I was helping out as the guy was ill & the manger of the place is a family friend, He is also really embarrassed annoyed at the in house agency.
I already have a current Disclosure as I worked for the post office for a bit, so i want the £44 back, my point is they should have asked first.You’re right they need your permission first they cannot just take it.
Just thought I’d update this.
It niggled me so much that I got in touch with the Disclosure Board UK & explained it all to them.
The reply was they cannot do this without my signature plus a recent utility bill to prove you live where you claim( Licence etc no accepted) & to cap it off they told me that office do not check lorry drivers etc only people who work with old or vulnerable (mental health etc) & children. She took my details & came back after a few moments & said that there has been no check on me ever! She went onto say that the the place where they may have tried is the Scottish Disclosure Board but again they would have had to have had my signature etc, she then said to contact Scotland .
So I phoned up Scotland disclosure told her I had been advised to contact her & she already knew as the other lady in Liverpool had contacted her already. Long & short of it is they have not asked for a check nor could they as I have not signed anything but the Disclosure board is investigating this " Umbrella Agency" possible for fraudulent practice’s, I have since spoken to 4 other driver who all had the £44 deducted & never heard anything back, which would be strange as the Disclosure office sends it to YOUR home address by law & not to anyone else, its up to you whether you show your employer!
I told the person who is in charge & he went ballistic with me , I told him to forget the job & to stop swindling people .
Chancers, anyway you could narrow down who they are even if it might be too risky for you to name them outright, might save other drivers being swindled by these wide boys.
A message to everyone…
Umbrella companies appear to operate on the fringes of the law…and that’s being polite.
I would strongly advise everyone NOT to enter into any agreement with any such company.
Most of what they will tell you about the amount of tax you save etc is questionable…working through one of these companies will not discharge you of responsibility for your tax affairs. False claims for expenses etc are still false claims…even if made through an umbrella company. Umbrella companies are of increasing interest to the tax authorities, who are clamping down on their activities.
bald bloke:
You’re right they need your permission first they cannot just take it.
He’s self employed so yes they can. Unlawful deductions only apply to employees.
£44 seems a bit high even for an umbrella fee…
The CBR check is only relevent if you are in a job handling money, such as the banking sector.
As “self employed”, I’d simply invoice them for a £44 backcharge, and £50 “cash handling fee” because what they’re trying to do to you really needs to be reported to HMRC without delay…
You might even find a little extra in the bank account following such a move… 
You’re self-employed - THEY pay what YOUR invoice tells them to. It should be them disputing your invoice - rather than you disputing an underpayment as if it were PAYE in all but name… 
If you are absolutely sure that YOU are whiter than white then a little call to HMRC sounds about due.
bald bloke:
nick2008:
Let me do it for you and charge you £50I think he was after some sympathy Nick.
Where’s Contraflow? he’s good at that
GasGas:
A message to everyone…Umbrella companies appear to operate on the fringes of the law…and that’s being polite.
I would strongly advise everyone NOT to enter into any agreement with any such company.
Most of what they will tell you about the amount of tax you save etc is questionable…working through one of these companies will not discharge you of responsibility for your tax affairs. False claims for expenses etc are still false claims…even if made through an umbrella company. Umbrella companies are of increasing interest to the tax authorities, who are clamping down on their activities.
They might talk the talk but actions speak louder than words and it seems the authorities have little interest in cracking down on the agencies clearly dodgy tax schemes.
One very quick and easy thing would be to make it much harder to register for self-employment if you don’t register for vat. In my view anyone driving should be paye unless they’re running their own truck.
Not sure where the authorities go from here. It’s so endemic clawing the lost revenue back would be near impossible and if they crackdown and a load of drivers end up on the rock and roll it’s not exactly a win.