hi i,m an agency driver,and have been self employed for some time.
the problem that i have is the agency have been paying me paye rate for a while,where it should be an extra quid an hour.not a lot,but it soon adds up!!
to cut a long story short they are telling me that all the s/e drivers are on the same as paye.which is crap.
my wages are different every week,for the last few weeks.
when i phone through they tell me somebody will get back to you,that was 7 days ago and since then surprise surprise they are not answering there phones.this has been going on for the last month.getting very frustrated now!!! gggggrrrrrrr.
i just wondered if anyone else has come across this problem and how they delt with it
i know i could go down the route of small clams court,but i dont want to shoot myself in the foot,as i do like where i,m working as i,ve been there some some years.
any help would be very grateful.
cheers 
I would change from s/e to employed, if you don’t want to leave them.
At least that way you should get the full rate for the job in your hand.
I’ve never been s/e so I’m not 100% sure how it should work, but it would seem to me that you should be paid the top line of my pay slip. You then pay your own income tax and NI and finish up with the same bottom line as I do.
Simon:
I’ve never been s/e so I’m not 100% sure how it should work, but it would seem to me that you should be paid the top line of my pay slip. You then pay your own income tax and NI and finish up with the same bottom line as I do.
It’s not like that Simon. Most places that take you on as s/e actually pay a premium on top of the normal top line wages. This is because as you are self employed they are making a saving in not having to pay employer’s national insurance contributions or holiday pay. This adds up to over 20% extra on the pay packet (so for example if you are getting paid £10/hour it actually costs them more like £12/hour by the time NI and holidays are factored in).
As for the OP’s question, there’s not a great deal you can do. As someone who is self employed the contract between you and the agency (be it in writing or verbal) is a contract for services and not a contract of employment. This means there is very little in the law to protect you as most of the laws around this afaict relate to an employer/employee relationship which you don’t have. All you can do is try and negotiate it with them and explain to them that as they are saving getting on for 2 quid an hour then you deserve at least an extra quid on top of the paye wages.
Paul
gorey:
hi i,m an agency driver,and have been self employed for some time.
the problem that i have is the agency have been paying me paye rate for a while,where it should be an extra quid an hour.not a lot,but it soon adds up!!
to cut a long story short they are telling me that all the s/e drivers are on the same as paye.which is crap.
my wages are different every week,for the last few weeks.
when i phone through they tell me somebody will get back to you,that was 7 days ago and since then surprise surprise they are not answering there phones.this has been going on for the last month.getting very frustrated now!!! gggggrrrrrrr.
i just wondered if anyone else has come across this problem and how they delt with it
i know i could go down the route of small clams court,but i dont want to shoot myself in the foot,as i do like where i,m working as i,ve been there some some years.
any help would be very grateful.
cheers
The only advice I can give you is to go out and buy a flak jacket and pray hard that Vitriol Turton (aka Conor) doesn’t see this post first. 
On a serious note, whatever terms you drew up in your contract with the agency (which you will have had the agency owner sign before commencing work for them) they are legally binding and if they are refusing to pay for services rendered they of course you can take them to court to get your money. However, from what you’ve written I am getting the distinct impression that you don’t know your arse from your elbow if you’ve been “working” them as s/e on paye rates. 
I think your best option is to take a full time job with a haulage company where you won’t have to worry about such things. 