No Pay Rise?

[Lady Python]

The company I work for has increased wages by a derisory amount - for the staff who have been there over 1 year. I, along with another colleague temped there through an agency and have done since last year - me starting in Septemer and my colleague several months before that. My colleague was taken on by the company in December last year. I was taken on at the beginning of May. Our contracts are that we are classed as "casual" staff but have the same rights etc., as the "fully permanent" staff.

 

Neither my colleague or myself have received this payrise. We do the same job as everyone else.

 

I'm sure the company is breaking the law on this. When I temped there through the agency I got paid the same hourly rate as everyone else (same goes for my colleague).

 

As I said, the pay increase is derisory - doesn't come to £3 a week but it is the principle of this.

 

Anyone know how we stand on this?

[p3t3r]

you are classes as 'casual'

 

i do not know if you have rights to claim the extra £3 per week.

 

i understand what you mean in the principle of this. but your employer could easily class you as a troublemaker and just not bother employing you they do not show you any principles in employing you under a casual / zero hours no contract.

[Lady Python]

you are classes as 'casual'

 

i do not know if you have rights to claim the extra £3 per week.

 

i understand what you mean in the principle of this. but your employer could easily class you as a troublemaker and just not bother employing you they do not show you any principles in employing you under a casual / zero hours no contract.

 

It's a bit tricky this one. Although they've called it a "casual contract", what they did was basically offload the high fees the agency were charging and bring the temp workers into the company. The differences are:

 

Permanent staff are paid monthly. We are paid weekly.

Permanent staff have to be given one month's notice (or if they are leaving, vice-versa). We are given 1 week's notice (or vice-versa).

 

We have the same holidays and sick leave entitlement as permanent staff and will be able to join the company pension scheme after 3 months.

 

Before I was taken on I said that I saw no advantage in leaving the agency. I was more or less told, stay with the agency and kiss your job goodbye. I know they offloaded a lot of agency staff recently and only kept their best/longest temp workers.

 

I am looking for another job as frankly I don't like the job anyway - like the people I work with but the job itself no, plus I have to travel a fair distance to get there and it's night shift. Unfortunately, I have to work as I'm a widow with a very sick son who can't work (kidney failure and he's on dialysis). I find the job is so mentally draining that it's not unusual for me to sleep for 16 hours solid at the weekends. I'm not far off 60 and what I could do easily 10-15 years ago isn't so easy now.

 

The way I understand it is if you are doing the same job as your permanent colleagues, any pay increase has to be across the board, not picked and choosed willy-nilly - why agency workers have to be paid the same rate as permanent workers for doing the same job.

 

There have been a few other "cost cutting" measures recently which makes me think that despite the constant reassurances that everyones' jobs are safe, the company is actually not doing very well.

[Conniff]

You can see if their accounts are up to date and if they have arrears here - http://wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk//wcframe?name=accessCompanyInfo