I recently did some long distance work for a well known agency (fanchisee!)The terms and conditions were that I’d get X amount per hour and X amount
(a paltry £18.50 in this instance) per ‘night away’ allowance.
When I turned up for work the client informed me that I would not have to sleep in the cab as they’d arranged a hotel for me. Great! My agency (franchisee) was aware of this.
3 weeks later!!, when I was working for one of their other clients, they called me to say they were deducting from my next pay packet the night away allowance I’d received as I’d stayed in a hotel paid by their client?
I’m really p… off about this as I wasn’t made aware beforehand being prepared to stay in the cab anyway. From the outset the terms were that they would pay me this allowance regardless.
The fact that their client decided to pay for accommodation whilst I was engaged should not be an excuse for them to deduct (3 weeks later!) what was agreed on and paid earlier.
Any advice from others who’ve experienced similar would be appreciated. The least I can do is warn anyone else what to expect from this outfit. E-mail me if you want to know who they are…
As far as I can see, You still did nights away, therefore are still entitled to the night out money. They cant deduct it from your pay without your permission, to do so is theft, you may want to remind them of that fact.
Night Out allowance is to cover lodging expenses, technically you should not be claiming nights out when sleeping in the cab, however, the tax man accepts that it goes on and it is a social payment for additional expenses such as food etc whilst away from home overnight.
You stayed in digs therefore how can you expect night out allowance? A comfy Bed, etc, night out allowance is for one or the other NOT both, if the agency told you that you got paid £18.50 per night away then yes by all means claim it as it referred to night away, if they said it was overnight allowance then nope, the customer paid the hotel bill so you did not have to meet that expense personally.
Davey Driver:
technically you should not be claiming nights out when sleeping in the cab,
Not quite true Davey, you are entitled to 75% of the agreed national rate when using a sleeper cab providing certain conditions are met. the Inland Revenue say the following on the subject.
Preconditions
It is the responsibility of the individual employer to satisfy himself that:
(a)
an employee receiving an overnight sleeper cab subsistence allowance has necessarily spent the night away from both his home and his normal place of work and has used a sleeper cab
(b)
the employee has necessarily incurred extra expense in doing so, and
(c)
the amounts paid are no more than a reasonable reimbursement of the average allowable expenses of the driver (ie evening meal, breakfast, washing facilities, and up-keep of bedding if applicable).
Amount of Overnight Sleeper Cab Subsistence Allowance
Provided that the preconditions are met the Revenue is prepared to accept that a payment of 75% of the nationally agreed figure for general overnight subsistence does no more than reimburse the extra expenses incurred (ie for 2004: 75% × £26.00 = £19.50 tax free
You would be entitled to the full amount when not sleeping in a cab and paying for a hotel/B&B. In this case the client picked up the bill for the hotel, which I assume included meals, so no allowance would be due. If they didn’t pay for the meals you would be entitled to something for those out of pocket expenses you incurred.
The fact they have stolen money from your pay without authorisation is another matter.
One other interesting point re night out money. If the company use tacho charts to prove a driver was away from base and entitled to night out money the charts need to be retained for six years and not the normal one year.
Tallow:
3 weeks later!!, when I was working for one of their other clients, they called me to say they were deducting from my next pay packet the night away allowance I’d received as I’d stayed in a hotel paid by their client?
It is ILLEGAL for them to make any deductions from your wages without your consent. Exceptions to this are Income Tax, National Inurance and payments made as a result of a court order for recovery of fines, benefit overpayment recovery, maintenance payments etc.
Point that fact out to them and tell them in no uncertain terms that if they make any unauthorised deductions from your wages that you will take legal action against them.
Agencies think they can get away with murder. Mine is currently trying to weasel out of paying me Sick Pay.
Conor:
It is ILLEGAL for them to make any deductions from your wages without your consent.
Tell Me about it
I had it in the contract of employment that any over payments would be deducted from final salary, coniving so and so took the contract from the office and as a result I could not prove the agreement was there, and therefore lost the Illegal of deductions from wages simply because I could not prove it in written form with her signature on it, despite having another employees contract of employment as evidence .
So basically, check your contract if aint mentioned then they cant deduct it
kitkat:
the only two things that anyone can deduct from your pay packet is tax and n.insurrance anything else is theft.
apparently, under the terms of the wages act, an employer CANNOT deduct, nothing other than the basic taxes, which in this case IS income tax + NI. anything else an employer MUST get your written agreement form you before hand.
It May be written in the Contract of Employment under Deductions, cant remember the exact part of the C O E without looking at it, it’s the employees responsibility to ensure he / she is happy with the terms in the contract before signing, the same goes for the employer, they cannot add things into your contract once you have signed it. If the deductions are to be made because the contract does not cover it, then yes they need to obtain your agreement in writing before making the deduction.
Thanks a mil for the friendly advice guys. I may as well let this go for what it’s worth…
Wouldn’t have minded if they used some empathy. Instead they ignored me. Could not even speak to the ‘manager’ - presumably too important, or has the skin of a cat fish? This is one of 3 fanchises which circulates under a ‘DH’ body. Gatwick, Bury and somewhere else… I had to get hold of the head of the ‘umbrella’ body to get an answer out of them.
I’m lucky enough to have a copy of “Employment Memo 2004” which lists pretty much all UK employment law. If there is no specific clause in the contract of employment that states they can collect overpayments then they are acting illegally.
Common specific clauses in employment contracts giving the employer the right to deduct from wages are as follows for:
overpayments of wages or expenses;
unauthorised absences;
loans;
any losses caused by the employee’s breach of his duties or by his negligence (for example, damage to company property); and
any other amount which the employee owes (for example, season ticket loans) from the final salary payment (see clause 6 of the Model contract at ¶9900) including any overpaid holiday (clause 8 ).
From the horses mouth…
The employer may be able lawfully to make a deduction if:
he has an express contractual right to do so;
he is obliged to do so by a statutory order; or
the employee has refused to perform all his duties.
Otherwise, it is unlawful and the employee will be able to bring a breach of contract claim. For example, if the employer tries to make a deduction by varying the contractual terms unilaterally by imposing a pay cut. Deductions made with regard to overpayments must also be valid . In certain circumstances, the employer may be also estopped from recovering the overpayment.3001
Further, employees have special statutory protection with regard to certain deductions and, within this group, unlawful deductions are unauthorised as are any deductions made in the incorrect manner. In such cases, an employee can bring a claim in an employment tribunal for the repayment of the unauthorised deduction.
NOTE All deductions must be adequately set out in itemised pay statements.
Which means you’re still entitled to a certain amount to pay for an evening meal.
a reasonable reimbursement of the average allowable expenses of the driver (ie evening meal, breakfast, washing facilities, and up-keep of bedding if applicable.
Ok, they paid for your B&B, which covers breakfast. You’re entitled to claim an allowance for an evening meal, it’s a legitimate expense.
If the agency are nice, ask them pleasantly to return you a percentage of that to cover your meal expenses to feed yourself away from home, say a tenner a night.
The 19 quid you were promised is under the 75% allowed for an overnight in a sleeper. Which for most areas gives you 25 quid tax free per night out. Skinflint flippin outfit.
Guys,
I know where some of you are coming from but the fact is the agency sets out their TOC with us the drivers. Whatever their client decides at a later stage when we’re already on the job (as far as I’m concerened) is irrelevant. They should not be able to change the rules as an when it suits them. The deal with their client (as far as I’m aware) is seperate to their arrangements with us. If that is the case I should have been advised and I’ll remember in future to check this out…
.