Left job, then company went into administration

[neilmunn]

I left my previous job at the end of July, being told that my wages would be forwarded on to me. Of course they never arrived, so I range up to see what was happening and was informed that the company had gone into administration and that a subdivision of the company add bought it, and that they would not be paying me.

The new company has all the same employees and even the same MD, essentially it's just changed name. Is that legal? I finally got my P45 from them yesterday, which states the correct leaving date, but the amount I've been paid is wrong, it only goes upto the end of June.

What should I do? How do I go about getting money owed from an 'insolvent' company?

[Octavius]

You should receive some rmuneration from the Redundancy Payments Scheme under the Employment Rights Act 1996.

See here for more detailed advice.

http://www.dti.gov.uk/er/redundancy/insolvency-pl718.htm

[twiglet4frog]

sounds like they couldnt cope without u and that should be reward enough lol

[Tracee]

First you need to write to your former employers stating clearly what you believe you are owed and asking them to respond within 28 days.

Do some research on dti.gov.uk (or ACAS, or another .gov.uk website) - the info on them is the same as in the brochures you would get from a CAB - and work out if and how much you're owed in unpaid wages, pay in lieu of notice, holiday pay and so on.. It depends on the circumstances of your leaving. If you were made redundant for example, you are entitled to redundancy pay as well if you worked there 2 continuous years.

This is called raising a written grievance with your former employers.

You then have to wait the 28 days. If they respond, proceed from there. If they do not, or you do not agree with their response, you can apply for an Employment Tribunal. Wait the 28 days and either collect an ET1 form from ACAS or your local Citizens Advice Bureau, or fill it out online (or both, keeping the paper form as a rough draft and for your own reference).

Your claim will either be accepted or rejected, and you'll then be given instructions direct.

The ET1 forms have loads of room for you to state the whole story, and your belief that the company has simply just changed name to try and get out of this.

You could also check Companies House website - do a search for the employer under their old/current name and see what the 'Status' is. The more dirt you can dig up the better.

Good luck.