Cool thank you He has accused me of being threatening as the day I got paid, In a bit of a rage, I emailed asking him why I had been uderpaid and when he replied saying he was only paying me up to the 13th as thats when I started my new job. I tired to call him several time throughout the day and kept getting fobbed off and being told he wouldnt take my call. So to me it was obvious he was avoiding me and this clearly showed what his intentions was so I fired off an email saying if he didnt reconsider I would seek legal advice. Have I harmed my case doing this? I do see how its threatening but I do understand I should have asked again in the correct manner via written letter for proof before saying legal advice but I have no idea about all this and could not see the difference. He is allowed to refuse to pay me and mess me about but when I mention that I would take legal advice thats threatening! Can someone please point me in the direction of where I can find a "letter before action" template? Thank you

3 and half. It says on the letter they send me "You have worked for the company for 3 years and are entitled one months notice" So if this is not the case can I still use the letter as fire power? To me that letter is a contract or written aggreement of what the company was given me! Or is this not the case?

Can oneone advice on the way I should format the letter before action letter? Received another email stating he has no intentions of paying it as he firmly beleives the the 4 weeks garden leave was given at his discretion and "not a legal entitlement" So I suspect im not going to receive a reply to my letter so am wanting to get the before action letter done and ready to fire off asap so I can start the 7 day counter. Once again I really do appreciate all the help I have received.

Sorry one thing I forgot to add, He has requested that all correspondence now be sent to his outsourced hr manager/depo. Should I do this or should I carry of sending them directly to the director?

I will do. Sorry I know it seems im asking for everyone to do the work for me but I honestly have no idea how to format or what to write with theses things. Would I say. something like. Letter Before action. I hearby give you 7 days notice from the date of this letter to pay all monies owed to me. I believe I am entitled to £xx for my 4 weeks notice from which I was told not to work. You have told me that, this 4 weeks leave was given out of goodwill and nothing more when actually the law states I must be given 4 weeks. You also mentioned something about what the alternative would have been but failed to mention this to me. I believe there has been a lot of failings ragarding this matter and all I wish is to be amicable and have the monies I am owed paid to me. Any more help would be greatly appreciated

No did not state an alternative! If it will only cost me £25 to make a small claim then I will more out of principle! I was going to reply saying, "by law I had to be given 4 weeks notice so I have no idea why you say this 4 weeks leave was given as a goodwill gesture when it was you who told me not to attend work!" I however didnt as this is tit for tat but it annoys me that he can reply with nosense but I cant! So now, Do you go to the small claims court and make a claim? Do you know the process? and what claim I need to make?

Yes I sent the letter that was kindly templated for me with the obvious adjustments via email but also posted a typed version today via recorded mail. His response "As per my previous email, we placed you on 4 weeks gardeners leave which was an act of goodwill on our side when you consider the alternative. Since you started your employ within this period we are entitled to reduce your gardeners leave accordingly. " Any suggestions?

I will do They have replied. They are saying they wont pay it stating they are well within there rights not to pay me and to only pay me up until the day I stated my new employment! I pointed out the fact that they didnt give me a choice whether I wanted to work it or not so why should I be penalised by there own decision. I would have worked the 4 weeks notice if I knew they would do this! So with the letter they sent me cleary stating I didnt have to work it does that mean I have a good chance winning a small claims case or is it going to be a 50/50? Im just upset that the owner himself said to me in the meeting "You are free to find another job within your notice and even if you get one straight away I will still pay you" I obviosuly dont have this is writting but being an honest person and obviously a bit naive I didnt think to ask for it in writing. I hope you can get the gist of what help or advice I am asking for and can help me. Thank you in advance

Thats great. Thank you ever so much for that. I really do appreciate it! Wish I could compose letters like that!

Ow I thought it was free! I didnt know you had to pay to take your employer to one! So if I was dismissed from a job and it was done illigaly and I needed to take them to an tribunal it would cost me money? Back to subject, The amount he owes me is around £300 so probably not worth it! I find it completely disgusting that employers get away with so much but claim innocence but the minute an employee steps slightly out of line they come down on you like a ton of bricks and seem to have all the power! So, Im going to write to him and say the following. To the director, I am writing today to request the money outstanding to me, Which comes to a total of £xxx I response to your email regarding the reason you have only paid me upto the 13th of January, I would like to point out that it was you who said I didnt need to work my notice and that I could use my 4 weeks notice to find a new job. You also stated I would be paid up to and including my termination date which was the 20th of January. You sent me a letter confirming all of this, which I still have. You also missed a days annual leave on my final pay so I kindly ask that this be paid the same time as the missing 4 days wage. I would like to receive my payment via a cheque or bank transfer at your earliest convenience. I have attached a copy of the letter you sent me for your convenience. I eagerly await your response. I know this is badly written as im usless at stuff like this so I would really appreciate if someone could help me with it.

cant this be taken down the tribunal route?

Thanks for the reply. So I will send a letter pointing out his own words on the letter and ill also remind him of what he said to me saying he dont mind if I find a new job before and that I could use the time off to find a new job! What would be the next course of action if he ignores it or still refuses to pay me?

Cool, So I was right then? Just want to make sure before I fire off my request as I dont want to do it to later find out I was wrong and look a idiot. Can anyone help me with what I should say in the letter? Im not very good at things like this as you can probably tell. Thank you

He said to me "You dont need to work the 3 weeks notice and if you find another job within then ill still pay you" I received a letter saying how much redundancy I would receive. It also stated my end of employment is the 20th of January It also stated that I am owed 2 days holiday/ So does this letter mean I have to be paid up to the 20th? It was not me being lax with the paper work, it was all him. I would have been quite happy to work the 3 weeks notice but it was him who said I didnt have to. So now are you saying I am going to be penalised for his actions? This is exactly what the letter says. Further to our meeting xxx at which we served you notice of redundancy, we are now writing to confirm your payments. You have been with us 3 years and are entiltled to one months notice. As discussed you are not required to attend work during your notice period. Your employment with us will terminate on the 20th of January 2014. You are entitled to the following payments: Statutory redundancy pay at £184.61 per week for 3 weeks = £553.83 Plus the outstanding annual leave of 2 days which is due to you. Pay up to and including your effective termination. So to me that says I should have received pay upto the 20th and not the 13th. He also only paid me 1 days holiday which he conveniently didnt mention in his reply. Hope this helps

Can anyone advice? Im eager to know so I can start to compose my reply to him. Thank you