Former employer refusing to cooperate with social welfare office

sligoface

My OH has ceased employment on the 19th of January, she was asked to bring in a P45 as usual, however she had a lot of trouble obtaining this from the former employer. I suppose it's not enough that he had her in tears nearly every night she worked there, he still insists on making everything difficult for her.

Finally, he issued the P45 but it had the wrong PPS number on it and the wrong cessation date of 29 Dec 2012. The name on it was correct. So the SW office requested she get one with the correct PPS number, she went and asked him for this and was told he would sort it. (The PPS number on the P45 was actually the PPS number of the employer she worked for before going to work for him, he must have taken it from there by mistake.)

While waiting for the correct P45, she got a letter on the 22 of February stating that they wanted the P45, her pay slips, and for the employer to fill out a form that was on the back of the letter, and that they wanted this in 14 days or her claim/payment could be stopped.

She never got a pay slip during her period of employment from 10/10/2012 to 19/01/2013, despite repeatedly requesting one. She went back to her former employer with the form for him to fill out and asked again for the payslips and the correct P45. He gave her a load of hassle but finally said he would have the payslips and correct P45 done up for her, and to come back for them.

She went back today and got the P45, the PPS number was corrected to her correct one, but the cessation date was not. The payslips are all printed, but have the same incorrect PPS number as the 1st P45 he issued. When she asked that he fix them again and fill out the form, he refused, he got aggressive and loud with her (which he makes a habit of doing), and also told her that she owed him 102 euro for taxes, claiming that he paid her USC charges for the year out of his own money and not her wages. The payslips all have the USC deduction on them. As she just got the slips in one pile today, and never got the payslips with her wages, which were paid in cash, so she doesn't know if it was taken out or not. She is currently in rented accomodation and only getting 144 a week so she cannot afford to pay that amount, and anyway the taxes should have been deducted when she was working. It seems like he just never bothered to do any paperwork or anything properly until the end of the year, and is also just being as vindictive as possible because she finally stood up to his bullying and that is why she no longer works there. In the end, the man kicked her out of the building and slammed the door in her face.

She brought in the (mostly) correct P45 and payslips today as it was the 14th day from the letter, the form he was meant to fill out is still blank. She explained the situation and said they would have the inspector look at it. She's worried about her claim being stopped due to her former employer's refusal l to cooperate and is not comfortable approaching him again. I think it's ridiculous that the onus is on former employees to basically ask for favors from former employers just to get the unemployment benefits one should be entitled to.

Is there any thing she can or should do in this case to get this sorted, and can they actually stop her payment because he won't cooperate?

Sue Ellen

Is she already in payment by DSP or is it the CWO? It would be unusual to stop a payment after it has been granted because she failed to provide a P45. The best option, as was stated, was to refer to an inspector and they will review him. She could also consider reporting him to NERA and he would have a full review of his business.
Has she considered taking any action due to the bullying?

wmpdd3

Get Revenue on to him! An audit would be his worst nightmare and if he is leaving all this up to his accountant at the end of the year, there might be other stuff he has over looked.

Did she get a P60, it could have been posted to her.

If she got a P60, get on the revenue website and get a P21. This will have all her pay and tax for 2012.

They wont be happy with this but they may accept it as it has the same information on it that they are looking for.

She should have gotten a P60 by now, if she didnt she should contact the tax office and see if the business has files its P35 (I think)

Also write to the former employer and include what you need and tell them you will be in to collect them if they are not received at your address with in 10 days. Tell him you have approached the tax office for your records and that the tax office have mentioned some discrepancies! (ie the USC issue)

yabadabado

I would just let the inspector sort it all .He will have to comply with them.If she is receiving supplementary allowance this will continue to be paid while they investigate the claim.

wmpdd3

True but i have heard of them closing claims, if there is a hint of this get on to the inspector ASAP and make sure they leave the claim open, if they close it you wont get the arrears.

LegacyUser

thanks folks, they've told her it should be fine, but that is what they told her when she started getting paid and then she got this letter so i think they'll probably sort it since they have the P45. i think the guy definitely has some problems with the tax man. the worst part is she left a part time job for this one because she was told she would get full time hours, within a month she was down to four days a week, and he was saying the restaurant might close after christmas. he also never paid any holiday pay. amazing what some of these cowboy small business owners think they can get away with now because of the recession, lack of jobs, etc. and on top of that, the dole office is trying to get people's claims stopped.

Jayo2011

Any future correspondence should be made in writing via registered post - create a paper-trail.

If he continues to act the bollox, make a "Data Protection Request". If you Google this you can find templates on how best to word the request. She will have to pay him approx €6 for the request (do it via postal order or cheque - paper-trail). He is then legally obliged to provide her with a copy of ALL information he keeps on her in paper, audio and computer formats. Its a real headache for him and he has 40 days to comply. Failure to comply fully within this time-frame and she has the option of reporting him to the Data Protection Commissioner, whereby he will be audited (this is a separate audit to the one somebody else outlined). As an employer he is legally obliged to hold her Private Personal Data in a secure place, so excuses such as cant find it don't wash (he could be sued for losing her private personal data as her identity/bank details/PPS number etc are compromised).

If he has on more than one occasion provided her with incorrect Tax details, his records clearly aren't in order and he should be scrutinised. End of the day, if he wants to play hard ball and act the prick after making her redundant, he deserves everything that's coming to him. I had a similar situation in the past with a former employer I worked for. Believe me, the €6 for the Data Request was money well spent.

Regarding the USC, if she has evidence that it came out of her pay (payslip), he cant take it from her final pay. It would be illegal for him to do so. Even if she genuinely owed him this money, he could still not take it without her consent. (This is the same procedure if the Social Welfare were to somehow overpay you - they can only deduct a nominal amount each week if you consent).

If he really wants her taxes, he needs to go through the proper channels - small claims court. Even they cant force her to pay it in one lump sum. If she is unemployed, she can opt to pay a trivial amount such as €1 a week - make it not worth his while chasing. BTW- he wont get expenses taking her to small claims court, and it will cost him some money to do so. End of the day, its up to him as an employer to ensure her wages are in order and if he has taken charge of payment of her taxes he should have employed a proper payroll accountant to ensure it was done correctly if he isn't capable of doing it himself.

Also, if he made a commitment to pay her holiday pay, she can take him to the labor court. This is free and will bring him under more scrutiny. He will cough up very quickly if he has any dodgy dealings/taxes he wishes to remain secret. I am not sure of the exact calculation, but she is entitled to x amount of time per hours/days worked. If she worked over the xmas, she would also be entitled to bank holidays.