Company is refusing to pay threatening legal action
Some background on this first
Emails sent and received before contract began at least getting the amount and payment terms agreed.
A contract which had been promised (and emails exist as well for that email conversation) which never materialised and by then one is into the project 3 weeks and has to hope for the best. I have always been told that the employed has a stronger position if there is no contract.
My point of view…
Towards the final deadline - which was a deadline that company had given.
I worked all the hours god sent 6.00am to 12pm most days plus weekends towards the end to keep in good relations and to try and finish the project on time. Unfortunately it was not possible in the end due to the moving goalposts and mis communication that blighted things from the start. Also hampering progress was missing content and assets that one guy was helping me do the week end before my holiday. I finally called time on my time input after all they had stopped paying me and it was Sunday morning saying I would work until 8pm that evening and what did they want me to focus on. Come 8 pm we had a conversation on the phone he began ranting how unfair I was being and so I had to hang up the phone. I needed the bank holiday Monday to prepare for my holiday and their content was still not ready.
I had a holiday booked they knew about so I could not continue past the "deadline" a new contractor was drafted 2 days before I left so that some kind of handover time existed.
I took my holiday which was often spoilt largely through worry about this work and the project - I was still under the impression that on my return they would need me to finish up perhaps.
So the problem was mostly that they didn't get the budget right from the start and they consistently said there was no money for extra help. So I just rolled up my sleeves and got on with it hence the really long hours for extended periods.
Also towards the end they stopped paying me (never really paid according to the 2 week from invoice date) and I remain a months work out of pocket.
On holiday I finally got communication from unanswered emails (a favourite technique of theirs especially re the contract) saying that the new contractor had got his head round it and was making inroads would not need me again. This brought relief to know things we almost done.
My invoices from previous work still had not been paid and due to the conversation I had I had a feeling I was being set up to get the most squeezed out of me with this end game and the other contractor being in the plan. I feel thoroughly manipulated and I feel that there should be some rules protecting me though I am working through a limited company.
What about the 37.5 hour a week directive, I always had to sign that when I worked through an intermediary agency so should I have had that to sign too ? I worked mostly onsite with my own laptop.
I also want to say that if they haven't paid for the code I wrote that I should have ownership until it is paid for in full no ?
Their point of view
An email finally arriving from the director claiming that due to my not hitting the deadline and costs incurred following my work they are talking to the lawyers as the reputation with their client was endangered..and that they will be getting back to me on that one.
Well I am confidant that my work was professionally written and solid just unfinished due to it being a bigger project than it was initially and their poor management.
I of course feel I should not be made to be the scapegoat for this but what is right and fair is not always the reality as one needs to prove things.
I welcome your experiences helpful links etc on chasing up in the correct manner
Can I sell my debt to the bailiffs?
How much interest on unpaid invoices can I charge legally and can I pass fees on recuperation of debt onto this client.
Thanks
Emails sent and received before contract began at least getting the amount and payment terms agreed.
A contract which had been promised (and emails exist as well for that email conversation) which never materialised and by then one is into the project 3 weeks and has to hope for the best. I have always been told that the employed has a stronger position if there is no contract.
My point of view…
Towards the final deadline - which was a deadline that company had given.
I worked all the hours god sent 6.00am to 12pm most days plus weekends towards the end to keep in good relations and to try and finish the project on time. Unfortunately it was not possible in the end due to the moving goalposts and mis communication that blighted things from the start. Also hampering progress was missing content and assets that one guy was helping me do the week end before my holiday. I finally called time on my time input after all they had stopped paying me and it was Sunday morning saying I would work until 8pm that evening and what did they want me to focus on. Come 8 pm we had a conversation on the phone he began ranting how unfair I was being and so I had to hang up the phone. I needed the bank holiday Monday to prepare for my holiday and their content was still not ready.
I had a holiday booked they knew about so I could not continue past the "deadline" a new contractor was drafted 2 days before I left so that some kind of handover time existed.
I took my holiday which was often spoilt largely through worry about this work and the project - I was still under the impression that on my return they would need me to finish up perhaps.
So the problem was mostly that they didn't get the budget right from the start and they consistently said there was no money for extra help. So I just rolled up my sleeves and got on with it hence the really long hours for extended periods.
Also towards the end they stopped paying me (never really paid according to the 2 week from invoice date) and I remain a months work out of pocket.
On holiday I finally got communication from unanswered emails (a favourite technique of theirs especially re the contract) saying that the new contractor had got his head round it and was making inroads would not need me again. This brought relief to know things we almost done.
My invoices from previous work still had not been paid and due to the conversation I had I had a feeling I was being set up to get the most squeezed out of me with this end game and the other contractor being in the plan. I feel thoroughly manipulated and I feel that there should be some rules protecting me though I am working through a limited company.
What about the 37.5 hour a week directive, I always had to sign that when I worked through an intermediary agency so should I have had that to sign too ? I worked mostly onsite with my own laptop.
I also want to say that if they haven't paid for the code I wrote that I should have ownership until it is paid for in full no ?
Their point of view
An email finally arriving from the director claiming that due to my not hitting the deadline and costs incurred following my work they are talking to the lawyers as the reputation with their client was endangered..and that they will be getting back to me on that one.
Well I am confidant that my work was professionally written and solid just unfinished due to it being a bigger project than it was initially and their poor management.
I of course feel I should not be made to be the scapegoat for this but what is right and fair is not always the reality as one needs to prove things.
I welcome your experiences helpful links etc on chasing up in the correct manner
Can I sell my debt to the bailiffs?
How much interest on unpaid invoices can I charge legally and can I pass fees on recuperation of debt onto this client.
Thanks
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