Agency 'sorry' over failure to pay staff

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Manpower Forget to Pay Royal Mail MC Casuals

By Paul Pickett


ONE of the world's largest recruitment agencies has apologised to casual workers for failing to pay them on time in the run-up to Christmas.

Seasonal employees at the Royal Mail's international distribution centre in Langley claim they were not paid for two weeks.

On Monday, Manpower UK admitted it was having problems with its payroll system. Manpower UK, which has offices

in Slough High Street, took on an estimated 1,000 casual staff to work over the festive period. They were recruited to help sort Christmas mail at the Sutton Lane depot.

One of the employees, who wanted to remain anonymous, rang the Express last week.

He said: "I have been worried sick about what has been going on. I have bills to pay like anyone else. I have not been able to sleep. I have been working a shift through the night at the Langley depot. Some of us have not been paid for two weeks. When I went to the Manpower office in Slough, I found they had not even put my details on their payroll. Several of us went along to find out what was going on last Friday."

A Manpower UK spokeswoman said: "Unfortunately, an error occurred in our payroll system which resulted in some employees not receiving their pay on time. This problem was rectified immediately. We have processed an emergency payroll from today and we apologise for any inconvenience caused.

"I am unable to say how many workers were affected or over what period."

[andy2007]

This is simply another example of the deplorable way in which Agency (and indeed Casual) workers are treated today! They are people, just like the rest of us. So why are they treated so badly?

They work hard. But still have worse working conditions and wages than permanent staff. This is despite not having any guarantees that they will have a job from one week to the next.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but they can't claim benifits if there is a gap in contracts. For example: they could finish at one Company, and have to wait a few weeks to get another job. What are they supposed to do in the meantime?

[baldrick]

And Gordon Brown and the New Labour Government want to block EU legislation to give Agency Staff equal pay and conditions. Shame on them.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Actually if I remember correctly you can claim benefits whilst on the books of an agency. However there is a cap on the amount you can claim and the amount you can earn from the Agency, and hours worked, which if you break through stops all benefits. However its nearly 12 years ago that I was agency and luckily the 3rd placement offered to buy my contract from the agency and I and they accepted so I got a full time position, the rules have probably changed since then.