Legal advice-where do we stand?

[CuriousGeorge]

Hi, just wondering if I could get a bit of adive regarding where my father stands on the legal front with his employer.

The employer promised him £104 a week for 16 hours work until work picked up. He's now working 40+ hours a week and getting the same amount. £2.39 an hour roughly.
The employer shut the gas heating off, resulting in my father becoming severely ill with a chest infection-he's already had TB twice and has severely high blood pressure.
He's now giving him only £79.15 a week in sick pay. My father went back for 2 days(16 hours) and had to come back off again ill. His employer has refused to pay him his week's wages for this, insisting that he should pay him sick pay, and is now refusing to pay that.
He's paid 7 out of 12 payments and refuses to pay the rest.
Has also taken the work keys and phone, leaving him with tools that my father has paid for inside the workplace and he has no way of contacting his employer, and no way of retrieving the tools.

Thanks very much, it would be much appreciated if anyone could help.
Georgie
xxxxx

[factor-fiction]

What sort of employer is this. The rate of £2.39 is well below the minimum wage

[CuriousGeorge]

It is. They arranged the £104 a week for 16 hours work purely because they didn't have the work in (he's a coach trimmer), he's just increased and increased the hours over and over again until he's eventually been going in every day except for sunday.

He's now expecting him to work these full time hours for this rate of pay.

[pink-kittens]

You cannot say that turning off the heating gave your father a chest infection
£79.15 is SSP and the correct amount for a weeks full time work so your father has collected more in SSP than he would have had he worked
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/calcs/ssp.htm

If the boss wants to take keys and phones belonging to the company do you think he is not allowed to? Your father can return at a later date and collect his tools

Can you explain the 7 out of 12 payments? Does your dad do blocks of 16 hours for £104? and has so far done 7?