Need Legal Advice

[Victor Galis]

This is kinda long

So back in February, a recruiting company in Europe, asked me if I would be interested in working in the South of France. I interviewed, and was offered the job, working for Amadeus (the company where I actually worked).

I was given an awful contract, whose terms I will not go into, but suffice it to say, given the reaction to the CPE, which on the whole was much more favorable to the employee than my contract... This contract, made under English law, made me an employee of a third company, whose role was to manage contractors like myself. So now, there were suddenly, three companies involved: the company where I actually worked (Amadeus), the company that had recruited me (Volt Europe), and the company that should have paid me (ITMC Managment).

Starting in May, I worked there, happily expecting everything to be wonderful, accepting the poor contract terms. Well, I was supposed to be monthly, but by the 12th of June, I still hadn't been paid. I asked the recruiter why I hadn't been paid and was told that it was due to a "paperwork issue." Somewhat uneasy about not being paid, I told them that I had no money and needed to be paid now. They gave me an "advance" equal to the ammount of my salary. I let things go at that. In July, I again had trouble extracting my June salary out of them. After repeated attempts to get my money, I finally told them I quit. After that they asked me to reconsider, and immediately paid my June salary (on the 25th ). Obviously, I want nothing more to do with these guys, so I'm still quitting. Now they're telling me that since I didn't give them 4 weeks notice, they will not pay my July salary to cover their expenses. Obviously, this makes me very unhappy.

The real question is what can I legally do about it?

Are there any government authorities that will help me with this situation or do I have to hire my own lawyer?

If I hire my own lawyer, which country does he need to be in? I lived and worked in France, but my contract was made under English-law and involves at least one party with no presence in France (ITMC Management).

Or am I just ****ed?

[Imran Siddiqui]

Well, since the company you worked for is in France (and I assume has some HQ there), you can probably go through French authorities. I'd assume that not paying a month's salary because you did not give proper notice is illegal and that French government would like to know about a company on its shores doing something like that.

[SlowwHand]

http://www.workplacefairness.org/unpaidwages

https://www.maldef.org/publications/pdf/Hoffman_11403.pdf

is a start. I would also file a complaint with Better Business Bureau.

[Victor Galis]

I partially suspect that the whole contract was made so complicated, partially to make it hard for me to come after them if things went sour.

Unfortunately, I am not an employee of Amadeus (the French company). I am also not an employee of Volt (the multinational recruiter). I was an employee of ITMC Management (the purely English company, which never paid my wages because Volt never finalized their contract with them).

My wages were always paid informally by Volt because I kept complaining to them that they hadn't paid yet.

In the end, my mother's seemingly paranoid advice needed more listening too.

[Imran Siddiqui]

I don't think it technically matters if you weren't an employee of Amadeus. They should be partially responsible at least.

[Kontiki]

Sounds to me like your main beef would be with ITMC, then, since you were an employee of them. Whomever you were under contract to, I would think, would be the negligent party.

[Victor Galis]

Well, the people who told me they won't pay me work for Volt. They failed to finalize the contract with ITMC long after I'd already started working. This caused the delays and unofficial payment of wages. I'm pretty sure it is they who have the money paid by Amadeus for my services.

Though I might have some trouble extracting the money from them directly, and will have to somehow pressure one of the other two companies to pressure them.

[Victor Galis]

Is there some sort of EU agency that handles complaints about unpaid wages?

[SlowwHand]

Your complaint is with who pays, or doesn't pay, you. Who they have a complaint with is on them, not you.

[Blaupanzer]

Are lawyers really expensive in France? Even if we all complain about them most of the time, this sort of thing is right up their alley.

[Victor Galis]

Well the problem is I'm back in the US now. Hiring a lawyer halfway around the world is going to be a bit annoying and expensive. This is why I'm hoping there's some sort of government agency that can help me first.

[Snotty]

If there is anything we can do on the ground let us know (knock a few heads together perhaps!)

It sounds to me like they are first in breach of contract for not paying you so they shouldnt have a leg to stand on WRT you not providing notice. I dont know much about contracts but that seems the sensible way to do it

apparently you can take companys to small claims court if they havent paid you.

As a general rule, a person has a legitimate claim if someone owes them money and is refusing to pay-up. All you need is proof that the debt exists - a document or reliable witnesses.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/crime/law/smallclaimscourt.shtml

[snoopy369]

Head here:

http://www.tuc.org.uk/law/tuc-10194-f0.cfm

It's a guide for 'young workers', meaning it has info on who to contact if law is broken [as young workers generally get the shaft more than others due to naivety].

Since it's a UK firm, they will have a hard time objecting to UK law, and the UK BBB or whatever. The second page of the PDF has some info on different agencies. I'd also consider contacting the TUC directly, they look to be a/the pro-workers group in the UK (Snotty, am I guessing correctly on this?)... they might know who to call.

[snoopy369]

Also probably helpful ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/consumer/guides_to/employment_index.shtml

[Victor Galis]

Thanks, I think now we're on to something.

Before a claim can proceed however, the court expects the parties to have explored all other avenues of settlement. This means that the claimant should allow the other side a reasonable period of time to make a payment before resorting to law. The respondents may request extra time to investigate the claim. But after, for example, seven to 14 days, proceedings can start.

So it looks like the Small Claims Court would be a good option if all else fails. At the very least it makes the threat of legal action somewhat more credible than if I had to hire expensive lawyers.