The Lemon Fool

My employment was terminated back in August after being there for about 3 and a half months. I had no offer letter and no contract and I think the reason for the dismissal was my complaining about the difference in what I'd agreed verbally (5% pension) and what I actually got (3% after 3 months).

They paid me a months notice but I'm wondering if it's worth taking them to tribunal (and if I actually can) to get the difference in what was agreed verbally and what was paid. There will be emails with me questioning the difference during the time I was there and repeating what had been verbally agreed.

There might also be a difference in holiday pay accrued as that was also verbally agreed

I'm coming up to the 3 month limit and have fluctuated between the 'not worth botherin' approach and 'should I' for a while - I haven't found a new job yet so any extra cash would be useful

I can't comment on whether you'd have a successful case against your employer or not but tribunals can take a long time to see through to conclusion and you'd have to weigh up, alongside what small loss you'd hope to recover, whether the loss would be greater by not being able to apply yourself to finding and then giving your energies to a new job.

Give ACAS a call as soon as you can.
There are strict time limits on taking an employer to an employment tribunal. If you are on a 3 month limit, you've only got one month to get the wheels in motion!

Scott0966 wrote:
They paid me a months notice but I'm wondering if it's worth taking them to tribunal (and if I actually can) to get the difference in what was agreed verbally and what was paid. There will be emails with me questioning the difference during the time I was there and repeating what had been verbally agreed.

I think there is a fee these days, but I'm not sure.

I would at least threaten it. IME employers dislike having to go to tribunals and are highly likely to fold/make an offer rather than having to attend, and perhaps take legal advice.

DM

Scott0966 wrote:My employment was terminated back in August after being there for about 3 and a half months. I had no offer letter and no contract and I think the reason for the dismissal was my complaining about the difference in what I'd agreed verbally (5% pension) and what I actually got (3% after 3 months).

They paid me a months notice but I'm wondering if it's worth taking them to tribunal (and if I actually can) to get the difference in what was agreed verbally and what was paid. There will be emails with me questioning the difference during the time I was there and repeating what had been verbally agreed.

There might also be a difference in holiday pay accrued as that was also verbally agreed

I'm coming up to the 3 month limit and have fluctuated between the 'not worth botherin' approach and 'should I' for a while - I haven't found a new job yet so any extra cash would be useful

You don't need to go to an employment tribunal. It's a claim for breach of contract, so you can simply issue a claim in the County Court through Moneyclaim - https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcome You also have a rather more generous time limit to issue a claim in the County Court than an Employment Tribunal - 6 years as against 3 months!

dionaeamuscipula wrote:

Scott0966 wrote:
I think there is a fee these days, but I'm not sure.

There's no fee to make a claim in an ET but there is a fee to be paid to issue court proceedings, based on the value of the claim.However, the fee is added to the claim., so if you're successful you'll get it back.

Assuming it's not a massive amount there's a good chance the employer will cough up on receiving the court papers rather than bother with the hassle of defending it.

Thank you everyone.

Clitheroekid wrote:You don't need to go to an employment tribunal. It's a claim for breach of contract, so you can simply issue a claim in the County Court through Moneyclaim - https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcome

CK is of course the de facto expert here and I am a IT sysadmin (:-) ) but wouldn't this (and the ET I guess) rely on some sort of evidence over what would presumably be a verbal contract given there is "no offer letter and no contract" ?

So how would the OP prove it - even on a balance of probabilities? genuine question

As for evidence of a verbal agreement, I have copies of emails querying the difference (which went unanswered) stating the amounts agreed.

I'm not sure if the lack of a written contract might favour the employee which is why I'd thought initially the employment tribunal might be the better route. However, I did speak to ACAS and they weren't sure if missing pension contributions could be recovered via a tribunal (as opposed to wages)