Unpaid final invoice by client (working through agency & umbrella)

[boggled]

If your timesheet has been approved by the end client and you have evidence of it then there is no reason for non-payment (as they cannot say that they were not satisfied with your work etc.) unless there are cash flow issues and it's a case of can't pay rather than won't pay. As there is a contractual chain here you will need to ask your employer (the brolly) to chase their customer (the agency) who should then be chasing their customer (the client). If that doesn't work you have the option to use an Employment Tribunal to resolve the situation

The umbrella have chased the agency, who have chased the client - but to no end. I'm really not sure what my next steps should be.

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

The umbrella have chased the agency, who have chased the client - but to no end. I'm really not sure what my next steps should be.

You could have a look at the financial health of the end client (DueDil is a really good site for this) - that will give you an idea as to whether or not the debt is worth pursuing. Did you opt-out or opt-in of the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Business Regulations? If you opted in the the agency is obliged to pay you regardless of whether or not they've been paid by the end client. If the client is solvent and you've opted out then the only other course of action open to you is to look at an employment tribunal - you would cite the umbrella company, the agency and the end client and then a Judge would sort it all out. However, there are costs attached to this now so it may only be a viable option if the amount owed is reasonably large

[boggled]

You could have a look at the financial health of the end client (DueDil is a really good site for this) - that will give you an idea as to whether or not the debt is worth pursuing. Did you opt-out or opt-in of the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Business Regulations? If you opted in the the agency is obliged to pay you regardless of whether or not they've been paid by the end client. If the client is solvent and you've opted out then the only other course of action open to you is to look at an employment tribunal - you would cite the umbrella company, the agency and the end client and then a Judge would sort it all out. However, there are costs attached to this now so it may only be a viable option if the amount owed is reasonably large

Thanks for the DueDil tip - the end client seems to be doing alright, with £2.7m / £3.4m assets and cash.

I opted out of the regulations, but only after being interviewed by the client and having been offered the contract. Think I read that for the opt out to be valid it must be done before being introduced to the client - is that right?

Assuming the opt out is not valid and since I'm employed by the umbrella, is there anything I can do to make the agency pay the umbrella? I suppose last resort would be tribunal since the amount owed is reasonably large.

Thanks again for your help here.

Edit: one last thing - is what the umbrella company are suggesting, that I would be owed no more than minimum wage once they'd paid that (even if they receive funds from the client/agency), legal?

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

Thanks for the DueDil tip - the end client seems to be doing alright, with £2.7m / £3.4m assets and cash.

I opted out of the regulations, but only after being interviewed by the client and having been offered the contract. Think I read that for the opt out to be valid it must be done before being introduced to the client - is that right?

Assuming the opt out is not valid and since I'm employed by the umbrella, is there anything I can do to make the agency pay the umbrella? I suppose last resort would be tribunal since the amount owed is reasonably large.

Thanks again for your help here.

Edit: one last thing - is what the umbrella company are suggesting, that I would be owed no more than minimum wage once they'd paid that (even if they receive funds from the client/agency), legal?

You are right about the opt-out so you could put this in writing to the agency requesting that they pay you as per their obligations under the Conduct Regs.

The umbrella company - under the terms of an over-arching contract (which they should have in place) - is obliged to pay you a regular salary whether or not they receive payment of their invoices from the agency or client; this payment is usually at minimum wage or living wage. Once they then receive payment for their invoice they will pay you a profit related bonus. So, to answer your question, if they receive payment from the agency they should pay you the balance of the invoice after they've made the minimum wage payment