Commission only/ Minimum Wage

commiegirl21

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone could help me.

I was employed on a 2 week commission only position with the view to moving to a salary after that. I signed no contract, it was a verbal agreement only.

The first week I worked regular hours, (9.30 -5.30 Mon-Fri) and made no sales. I was actually only on the phones trying to make sales for the last 2 days as the others were training/admin but that's by the by.

I was then taken on in the second week on a salary. I haven't been paid for the first week at all as I "didn't make any sales so don't get paid"

I'm an experienced worker so in other circumstances would qualify for minimum wage. As I was office-based and had to work the hours I did am I entitled to minimum wage regardless of whether I made sales or not?

And can anyone point me to legislation that can back me up for when/if I ask for this?

Thanks!

Deb

Brimmy

You entered a verbal agreement that you'd take commission in lieu of pay and now because you didn't get your way you're giving out?

Sounds like you're on a probation period and the company will just let you go if you try ask for pay as you're still not under contract so they don't have any obligation to you..

Sorry if it sounds harsh but that's my opinion. I could be wrong though.

commiegirl21

Thanks for your reply!

It's all a bit of a mess to be honest with you.

It's a tiny company and I think they have no idea of how to do things. I'm now doing nothing to do with sales as they gave up on that whole aspect of the business after the first week.

I was told that because I hadn't been doing the job I would be getting commission for (i.e sales) they would "sort me out with something" but that hasn't happened..

Just wondered if there was any legal standing I had really. Esp. for being paid while in training.

A long shot I know!

Brimmy

Maybe for when you were in training you might be able to get minimum wage. Without a contract though it really is dodgy..

Best off to contact a union if you're in one really.

Xiney

I'd contact NERA - the 3 days training without pay (since there's no way you could make any sales while training) doesn't sound right to me. I know you can recieve some amount of training without them paying you, but 3 days worth is pretty high.