EMPLOYERS are misleading their workers about their rights when it comes to sick pay, minimum wage and dismissal processes, a charity has warned.
Citizens Advice has exposed ten common statements made by employers to their staff, to set the record straight on how employees should be treated.
It comes after the charity had 180,000 people ask them for help with a problem at work between April 2016-17, while its online employment advice pages were viewed 9.3million times.
People were most concerned about pay and entitlements such as sick pay, and contract terms and conditions, such as whether they were workers or self-employed.
Citizens Advice boss Gillian Guy said: “Bad bosses are denying people their rights, often for their own gain.
“Anyone who is being refused pay and protections should seek advice straight away, to help them clarify their rights and how they can raise the issue with their boss.”
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Below are the excuses your boss might use and what you can do to fight back.
Bogus self-employment
You might hear your boss say: “You work for us, but you’ll need to pay your own national insurance contributions.”
Or: “We can’t afford to pay you any more – you’ll have to go self-employed.”
But being asked to pay your own national insurance or to go self employed when nothing has changed are signs of “bogus self employment” – where your boss claims you are self-employed but you’re not.
This saves employers money as they don’t pay national insurance on your wage – or need to pay you minimum wage, holiday pay, sick pay or maternity pay either.
You can check your employment status here – if you think you are an employee, ask to be treated like one.
Time you spend at work
“Your disability means you don’t do as much work as others, so we’re not going to pay you minimum wage”, or “You were travelling between clients – so we didn’t pay you for those hours” are two statements you might hear your boss say.
But every employee should get national minimum wage, and you should be paid for all the time you spend doing work.
HMRC can help resolve problems with underpayment, so get in touch with the taxman if you’re facing issues like this at work.
Pregnancy at work
“You’re pregnant? Great! But we’re worried you won’t cope so we’re cutting your hours.”
“You’re having a baby next year? We’ll need to take you off that important project now.”
These are two statements you may hear from your management, but your working arrangements during pregnancy should stay the same unless you ask for a change – any changes imposed on you are discrimination.
Let your boss know that you want to continue work as normal, and if they insist on changes get advice.
How to tackle problems at work
THERE are a few steps you can take if you're facing issues at work.
- First of all, keep evidence – keep hold of letters, payslips, emails and texts, and note down a record of conversations you’ve had which could be used to support your case
- Talk to your boss – problems may arise from honest mistakes or misunderstanding the law. If you don’t feel confident having a conversation one-to-one, ask a colleague or Union rep to join you
- Have a more formal discussion – if the issue isn’t resolved with an informal conversation, the next step is to raise a written grievance which should give you the chance to discuss your issue formally
- Get advice – if you’re still not getting anywhere, speak to Citizens Advice, your Trade Union or to ACAS. Options might include using dispute resolution to liaise with your employer, or going to an employment tribunal.
Zero hours contracts and holiday
Your boss might say: “We don’t have to pay you redundancy pay because you’re on a zero hours contract.”
This could be wrong – some zero hours workers are entitled to redundancy pay.
You need to have been working for your employer for two years or more, usually doing at least one shift a week.
“We need to close for the next two days for stock taking, so you’ll need to take holiday.”
If your employer needs you to take holiday, they should give you twice as much notice as the length of holiday needed.
If you aren’t given proper notice, you should be paid and not asked to use leave.
ACAS can liaise with both parties to resolve problems with leave if a discussion with your employer doesn’t work.
Sick pay
Your employer might say: “You work through an agency, so you don’t get sick pay.”
But agency workers should be paid sick pay by the agency.
Check if you qualify for sick pay and work out your next steps.
“We took you off the rota, so we don’t owe you sick pay.”
If you hear this and you’ve already agreed to work the hours, and you’ve been absent long enough to qualify, you should get sick pay.
You can find out more about your rights when it comes to sick pay by reading our guide here.
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