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Ben Jones
Ben Jones, UK Lawyer
Category: Employment Law
Satisfied Customers: 75995
Experience:  Qualified Employment Solicitor
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I was served with a Payless notice from a company I had

Customer Question

I was served with a Payless notice from a company I had supplied labour for 2 weeks and send them an invoice for my wages. They sent me on a new Job which I couldn't go because of the distance and they are now holding my wages for that . What should I do?
JA: Are you hourly or salaried? How many hours do you work each week?
Customer: Yes
JA: Where are you located? Wage-and-hour laws vary by location.
Customer: 45 hours weekly. £105 per day
Customer: In London UK.
Submitted: 16 days ago.
Category: Employment Law
Expert:  Ben Jones replied 16 days ago.


Expert:  Ben Jones replied 16 days ago.

How long ago was this?

Customer: replied 16 days ago.
A week ago
Expert:  Ben Jones replied 16 days ago.

OK I understand and thank you for providing this information. Please leave it with me and I will get back to you with my answer as soon as I can, usually the same day. The system will notify you when this happens. Please do not reply in the meantime as this may unnecessarily delay my response. Many thanks.

Expert:  Ben Jones replied 16 days ago.

Many thanks for your patience, I am pleased to be able to continue assisting with your query now. First of all, I am sorry to hear about this situation and any associated issues.

You should still be paid for jobs you have already undertaken and successfully completed, even if you could not make a future job, especially if it is to do with factors such as distance, which made it unsuitable.

If money is owed by one party to another, the debtor can potentially be taken to court to try and force them to pay up. However, as legal action should only be used as a last resort, there are certain steps that should be taken initially to try and resolve this matter informally and without the need to involve the courts. It is therefore recommended that the following steps are taken in order to try and resolve this:


2. Letter before action – if informal reminders have been sent but have been ignored, the other party must be sent a formal ‘letter before action’ asking them to resolve this amicably within a specified period of time – 14 days is reasonable. They should be advised that if they fail to make contact to resolve this matter, formal legal proceedings will be commenced to pursue them for the money that is owed. This letter serves as a ‘final warning’ and gives the other side the opportunity to resolve this without the need for legal action. There are numerous templates available online for such letters and a simple search will bring up a list of useful results.

3. If the letter before action is also ignored, formal legal proceedings can be initiated. A claim can be commenced online by going to  There will be a fee payable, which depends on the amount that is claimed. The debtor will eventually get a copy of the claim and they will have a limited time to answer it. They could accept it and pay what is owed, they could accept it only in part and defend the rest, or they could outright reject it. They could also completely ignore it, in which case judgment will eventually be entered automatically against them. Also, it is worth noting that the simple act of submitting a claim could show the debtor that this is being taken seriously and prompt them to consider negotiating a potential solution to stop the claim progressing further, such as offering full or partial repayment.

Expert:  Ben Jones replied 16 days ago.
