Help! Company not paying me for days worked for them!

[PazzoRilancio]

Thanks everyone!

I have questions a couple of clauses in the Freelance terms to ask why those don't apply (clauses stating the PO resembles a contract that would be paid unless the work is poor - In this case, they accepted it wasn't to do with the work but to do with the role. The clause also states they'd pay UP TO the termination date). In that email, I also have asked for an introduction to the legal contact who can help resolve the situation.

This in effect means I have now crossed the "path of no return". In their last threatening email, I was told if it was to escalate, I wouldn't get paid anything (not even the 4 days), so will be a breath of fresh air to talk to someone from legal who actually knows what the hell their doing.

Cheers!

[PazzoRilancio]

Something just to add, it seems there's a an argument as to whether it's contract or freelance. 2 things:

1) A message saying "We're looking for someone for a 1 month contract in July"
2) An email saying "I'm looking for a content producer to join my team for 1 month. Immediate start".

The day after receiving the email was the 1st of July in which I attended the office and begun work. I was told I can work the rest of the contract remotely (it was a writing contract but part of their tech department).

So if they're now saying it was a fee for the work only and not for my day to day services, they seem to have contradicted themselves? I guess this would all be good evidence.

[GB9]

Something just to add, it seems there's a an argument as to whether it's contract or freelance. 2 things:

1) A message saying "We're looking for someone for a 1 month contract in July"
2) An email saying "I'm looking for a content producer to join my team for 1 month. Immediate start".

These imply to me that they wanted someone full-time for the whole 20 days rather than the ad-hoc I queried about earlier.

I would go for them big time.

Good luck.

[NotAllThere]

...dunning is a yankee term ...

No. It is a financial term, used throughout the industry in the UK. I would have thought someone purporting to be a specialist in debt collection would know that...

[Taita]

I feel I must take exception to this view.

As I mentioned, I have taken advice from a $1K per hour lawyer who has ****ed over outfits much larger that the one in this case. The "request" to for an introduction is part of the discipline of keeping the moral high ground and a smile on your face.

As any reassuringly expensive lawyer will tell you (for a chunk of money), your conduct determines both your success in getting the right judgement and the award of costs. If you sue 1 day after the due date for payment you have a very different case from where their documented bullying, changes in position and clear bad faith s demonstrated. Also, this is a pub fight, people say things they are both aggressive and untrue, to win you really want to be the person who was lied to.

Courts are not fond of liars.

I'd bet money that at least one thing said by the client s provably false, and the longer our friend remains persistent and reasonable, the more the client will say and the greater the chance of them hanging themselves. Also these lies can be reflected to the bosses of the manager, when he realises this, his rational choice will be to fold. To continue would be irrational and stupid, let him be so.

Be clear here. The best time to smash someone in the face is when you affect to laugh at their jokes, not after you've shouted threats at them. It also looks better in court if they throw the first punch, especially in these days of video surveillance, or in this case, emails.

By making it clear that we are are going to "tell his mum about him" we are in effect issuing a threat, but a credible, cost free, risk free threat. Legal action costs money and hassle and is never ever certain to succeeed and the OP and I are engineering a situation where he has N options :

1) Pay up
2) Explain to HR and legal, making him look bad
3) Refuse to pass on the request, which means when we contact HR, Legal and in my case the press office, we can honestly say "we asked to speak to HR, Legal, but he flatly refused".

To get your enemies fighting amongst themselves is the perfection of war.

Also, it is worth pointing out my contribution to the fight here...

Although in this context I am a journalist, my day job is as a pimp, getting through and past blocks in place to stop me is part of the job spec.

It also helps that for various reasons in this particular case the outfit in question has seen fit to send me a complete list of everyone in its press function, indeed pays an agency to ensure that I always have an up to date list.

???? You taken advice from a Thousand Dollar an hour lawyer??? Very kind of you I'm sure but maybe I missed something. Has the lawyer had access to all the evidence or just the bits of descriptions in these posts?

Something about this story and your response is making my nose wriggle.

[cojak]

???? You taken advice from a Thousand Dollar an hour lawyer??? Very kind of you I'm sure but maybe I missed something. Has the lawyer had access to all the evidence or just the bits of descriptions in these posts?

Something about this story and your response is making my nose wriggle.

Then you don't read all of his posts, do you? The Thousand Pounds lawyer is his missus.

And what people PM to each other is their business.

[mudskipper]

Then you don't read all of his posts, do you? The Thousand Pounds lawyer is his missus.

Blimey - she needs to get to the gym more!

[cojak]

...an hour.

[psychocandy]

Then you don't read all of his posts, do you? The Thousand Pounds lawyer is his missus.

And what people PM to each other is their business.

wish my mrs earned £1000 an hour....

[Taita]

Then you don't read all of his posts, do you? The Thousand Pounds lawyer is his missus.

And what people PM to each other is their business.

I apologize for not reading all the posts thoroughly and overlooking the PM factor....... seems that others have been burning midnight oil over this, unbeknown to me.

I have known minor officers to believe they can use the might of their very large employers to bully or browbeat others. However, most such organizations would rather settle for a few hundreds or even thousands rather than suffer the bad publicity. So I expect a satisfactory result once DC has made the case to the PR department.