Sign up with GoogleHi Everyone,
I'm having serious problems at work and I'm losing sleep, the frustration is killing me.
I have used the search function on the forums but could only find posts that seem a bit dated and none fit my problem.
Where to begin?
I work at a manufacturing company in a small town that has been tanking since September last year. It is a family business that took up a contract that is now most probably going to sink the company.
I've been applying to any job I can find but no luck so far. I have really gone out of my way to help the company survive as I fill about 3 or 4 positions and have been told many times that I am a critical part of the operation as I practically run all administration.
My problem is that I have not received my salary on time since January, my credit record is now useless and I don't even qualify for a temporary loan from the bank. My employment contract stipulates the last working day of the month to be my pay date but this is not being adhered to.
I've explained my situation to my employer and he said that he understood and paid my April salary on time. At the end of June he did not. There was no warning or explanation and when I confronted him on the first he said that there was no money to pay anyone but later that day he gave massive advances to some of the more specialized contracted welders. I acted like I did not know about it and asked him again about my salary and he promised that if I came on the following day, a Saturday and also my off day, he would write me a cheque for my salary. I immediately phoned the bank and asked how long it would take to clear and they told me 10 working days. So I chose to ignore it and on the Monday wrote him a friendly email in which I demanded that he pay my outstanding salary within 24 hours otherwise he can view that letter as my resignation. I also asked that they confirm that my UIF and Provident Fund was up to date.
My salary was paid to me about an hour later after my employer and his son (shareholder) gave me a really hard time. The son even threatened to assault me :wtf:
Things have been really hard at work, the atmosphere is awful and I feel like I'm being treated like a traitor. Worse is that the other employees only got paid on Monday the 18th, I think. I've since been told that there is no money for salaries this month, hell even my printer has no paper at this stage.
So far I've consoled myself with the fact that at least if things go further South I at least have my UIF and Provident Fund to fall back on and I am sure I'll be able to get back on my feet. I had a meeting with the Department of Labour on the 11th and the guy, Freddie, promised that he would check out my UIF and get back to me and also arrange a "random" DoL inspection on the company. I was not sure how to feel about the inspection as all hell would break loose if they had to suspect I had anything to do with it.
I never heard back from Freddie and was told he's on leave. I decided that I could check out my UIF and fund myself and started making calls, calls that have absolutely scared the hell out of me.
Turns out that the company has been deducting UIF from me for the past 5 and a half years but never registered me to begin with, I could not believe it and thought it must be some mistake so I called again to confirm and got someone else to phone on my behalf a third time as I was in the office. Nope, not registered. I then phoned my Provident Fund, which has also been deducted from me every month just to hear that the last payment was made in March.
I was told by UIF to get my employer to register me as soon as possible. Provident told me to get my employer to pay as soon as possible.
I don't know if I can rely on the DoL to help me and I know my employer will avoid retrenching me at all cost. I guess the CCMA is the only other option but I figure that process would take quite some time to complete and in the mean time I have to pay rent and the bank will not let up until I have either a retrenchment or constructive dismissal ( I have unemployment insurance on my debts). My other concern is for my co-workers, what will happen to them?
Sorry for the huge post, I guess I'm venting in a way but would really appreciate if you guys could share any experience or advice.
I'm having serious problems at work and I'm losing sleep, the frustration is killing me.
I have used the search function on the forums but could only find posts that seem a bit dated and none fit my problem.
Where to begin?
I work at a manufacturing company in a small town that has been tanking since September last year. It is a family business that took up a contract that is now most probably going to sink the company.
I've been applying to any job I can find but no luck so far. I have really gone out of my way to help the company survive as I fill about 3 or 4 positions and have been told many times that I am a critical part of the operation as I practically run all administration.
My problem is that I have not received my salary on time since January, my credit record is now useless and I don't even qualify for a temporary loan from the bank. My employment contract stipulates the last working day of the month to be my pay date but this is not being adhered to.
I've explained my situation to my employer and he said that he understood and paid my April salary on time. At the end of June he did not. There was no warning or explanation and when I confronted him on the first he said that there was no money to pay anyone but later that day he gave massive advances to some of the more specialized contracted welders. I acted like I did not know about it and asked him again about my salary and he promised that if I came on the following day, a Saturday and also my off day, he would write me a cheque for my salary. I immediately phoned the bank and asked how long it would take to clear and they told me 10 working days. So I chose to ignore it and on the Monday wrote him a friendly email in which I demanded that he pay my outstanding salary within 24 hours otherwise he can view that letter as my resignation. I also asked that they confirm that my UIF and Provident Fund was up to date.
My salary was paid to me about an hour later after my employer and his son (shareholder) gave me a really hard time. The son even threatened to assault me :wtf:
Things have been really hard at work, the atmosphere is awful and I feel like I'm being treated like a traitor. Worse is that the other employees only got paid on Monday the 18th, I think. I've since been told that there is no money for salaries this month, hell even my printer has no paper at this stage.
So far I've consoled myself with the fact that at least if things go further South I at least have my UIF and Provident Fund to fall back on and I am sure I'll be able to get back on my feet. I had a meeting with the Department of Labour on the 11th and the guy, Freddie, promised that he would check out my UIF and get back to me and also arrange a "random" DoL inspection on the company. I was not sure how to feel about the inspection as all hell would break loose if they had to suspect I had anything to do with it.
I never heard back from Freddie and was told he's on leave. I decided that I could check out my UIF and fund myself and started making calls, calls that have absolutely scared the hell out of me.
Turns out that the company has been deducting UIF from me for the past 5 and a half years but never registered me to begin with, I could not believe it and thought it must be some mistake so I called again to confirm and got someone else to phone on my behalf a third time as I was in the office. Nope, not registered. I then phoned my Provident Fund, which has also been deducted from me every month just to hear that the last payment was made in March.
I was told by UIF to get my employer to register me as soon as possible. Provident told me to get my employer to pay as soon as possible.
I don't know if I can rely on the DoL to help me and I know my employer will avoid retrenching me at all cost. I guess the CCMA is the only other option but I figure that process would take quite some time to complete and in the mean time I have to pay rent and the bank will not let up until I have either a retrenchment or constructive dismissal ( I have unemployment insurance on my debts). My other concern is for my co-workers, what will happen to them?
Sorry for the huge post, I guess I'm venting in a way but would really appreciate if you guys could share any experience or advice.
