Are company directors liable for promises/assurances given

PDD

Hi Folks,

I was wondering if someone here could provide some advice on how to proceed in the situation below. I have recently completed a course as part of the springboard program which included a 6 month unpaid work placement and toward the end of my work placement with the company I was asked to stay on beyond the required 6 months to finish out a large project. The company and I came to an agreement that I would be given an ex gratia per diem payment for the time spent working beyond my 6 month finishing date (this was initially agreed to be either the purchase of a laptop or One4All vouchers) This was negotiated with the MD directly and after the large project was finished I took up an offer of employment from the company. When I requested it I was consitently told that it would have to wait until next month, I have now finished up with the company and they have refused to pay me for the 4 weeks that I spent working beyond my work placement finishing date. I have all of the above agreed via email and have copies of said emails.

As it is an ex gratia payment to the best of my knowledge it is not covered under employment law but I have a vague recollection of the law being changed in the law few years where a company director is liable for an commitments or assurances given by them - is this correct or have I misinterpreted something.

Holding the MD to stand over their commitment would appear to be my only avenue for receiving the payment promised to me as the MD has refused to honor the agreement and has even gone so far as to allege that as I did not take holiday days within the 2013 work year that I am not entitled to these holiday days (and yes I know that withholding of holiday days is illegal under The Organization of Working Time Act 1997). While I have no doubt the company will eventually pay me the owed holiday days (as not to do so is blatantly illegal) I am wondering should I contact a solicitor with regard to the mater of the ex gratia payment? I am hoping that solicitors letter will resolve this rather than having to take it any further.

Also the amount is relatively small and could easily be consumed by solicitor's fee's - is it possible for me to ask for the payment of costs by the company?

Any and all feedback or advice on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Dave

davo10

If I'm reading this right, you had an unpaid internship-type job and agreed to stay on for an extra month in return for a "backhander" but officially you were never employed nor in receipt of a wage? Holidays are paid based on working time accrued and bank holidays if you have been employed for a certain duration before they fall, the rate of pay being based on your non existent wage.

I know your Director is a dishonest arse but I am confused as to what holiday pay you feel you are entitled to considering you were not employed and unpaid. I'm afraid I don't know a thing about the springboard scheme so I might be missing a lot.

PDD

Hi Davo10,

Thanks for the post however from your reply it would seem you have missed quite a bit.

davo10 wrote: »

If I'm reading this right, you had an unpaid internship-type job and agreed to stay on for an extra month in return for a "backhander" but officially you were never employed nor in receipt of a wage?

- Firstly it was not an unpaid internship and I did not use that term. I was on a six month work placement that was a part of a college course and a requirement for completion of the course.
- During work placement for a college course students are officially employed by the company (the company pays PRSI etc) but typically receive no wages
- Employers may provide those on work placements with additional payments at their discretion (this is typically a small amount to cover such expenses as travel etc) and the company I was on placement with chose not to provide any such additional payments for the duration of the work placement
- As such me agreeing to stay on for those extra weeks and receiving an agreed per diem is essentially a pay raise from nothing to something
- "backhander" is a bribe and is not an accurate or appropriate term to use. Perhaps honorarium is more appropriate or accurate term to use than ex gratia. The both relate to the same issue a payment provided motivate by the generosity of the payee typically in recognition of someones contribution. Typical examples of this are coaches for schools/clubs etc receiving and honorarium to cover their costs such as travel or a payment to a guest speaker at a conference to cover their prep time, travel, accommodation etc

davo10 wrote: »

Holidays are paid based on working time accrued and bank holidays if you have been employed for a certain duration before they fall, the rate of pay being based on your non existent wage.

- If you had not misinterpreted my statements you would have realised that I was employed by the company as I stated "after the large project was finished I took up an offer of employment from the company."
- I was employed by the company for 6 months after my work placement and its extension in a full-time salaried position
- It is from this 6 month period that the holiday days were accrued (having worked more than 117 hours per calender month giving me a statutory entitlement to 1.67 days leave per month at the same rate of pay as my wages)
- The scenario of loosing holiday days because they are not taken in a holiday year would only apply if I was still in employment with the company but when you leave a company you must be paid any outstanding holiday days
- With regard to the holiday days their refusal to pay is illegal under the act stated above and as such there is no other option for any judge but to rule in my favor in this regard.
- The only reason I mentioned it was to highlight the fact that the company MD has next to no understanding of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 and an employers statutory obligations under this legislation
- As an aside and for your own information with regard to holiday days and work placement as the work placement is a type of employment someone on a work placement still earns the statutory entitlement of 1.67 days leave per month. As their is typically no wage paid for work placement the leave is unpaid but the person on work placement is still entitled to that leave.

So again the question I am asking is not in relation to to the unpaid holiday days it is in relation to the agreed per diem while on work placement and what obligations the company and MD has to honor the agreement.

The information on the company not paying holiday days was included as an example of the MD's ignorance and mindset as I believe the refusal to pay is out of spite because I handed in my notice and not based on any credible rational and the ones provided is simply an example of them clutching at straws. As stated above their refusal to pay me for accrued holiday days is a blatant breach of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997

Also for your own information Springboard is just a marketing name that the government came up with for an initiative for the provision of college courses to those currently unemployed. Prior to the Springboard initiative being launched there was a Back To Education benefit from the Dept. of Social Welfare for the unemployed who went back to education (up until 3 years go this covered an undergraduate degree and a HDip in teaching but post 2008 the government realised that a significant number of people on the live register hand undergraduate degrees and thus expanded the program to include any post graduate course of study up to a masters / NQF level 9). When you are accepted onto a college course you switch from a Jobseekers allowance to the Back to Education allowance. Its a nice way of fiddling the books to show a drop in the live register so they can pat themselves on the back for an alleged fall in unemployment, similar to them claiming that the economy is improving because unemployment rates have dropped but ignoring the fact that the drop is due to massive emigration. its all spin