I was employed by a U.K. company whilst abroad
but was never told I had to be back in the U.K. so I
stayed there and was paid through PAYE for several
months before my probation was suddenly passed.
The owner of the company then started to act very
aggressively in trying to make me take a very short
notice period (my contractual notice period was 2
months) falsely claiming I was in breach of contract
(my contract does not state I have to work from a
specific place or country). When I resisted they put
me on work that I wasn’t hired for and terminated
me because of it’s supposedly poor standard (they
made two such complaints in rapid succession)
From what I have read is that there a lot of
considerations (employment laws, taxes, data etc)
to make when having someone based overseas (I
was even being paid through PAYE as a full-time
worker and not as overseas contractor) and I
believe this is why the company tried to get rid of
me so suddenly / quickly.
I have obviously missed out on two months of notice
period pay. Is there any way I can use this against
them to get my money back? Does anyone know of
something similar that has happened
11 comments
Did you ever tell your employer that you were working outside the UK? I’m NAL but as I understand it if you are employed in the UK it is expected you are located in the UK unless your contract specifically states you do not need to be.
How long have you worked at the company? If it’s less than 2 years they can effectively get rid of you for any reason (except protected characteristics)
Whilst you may have lost your job, depending where you were working you couldn’t also get hit with a massive tax bill by the country you were working in if they find out.
They definitely did this to you for a reason so there no harm in exploring things further with an equipped professional.
There are corporate tax and possibly regulatory implications of having foreign based staff. It opens them up to corporate tax in the country you work from. And if you’re still a relatively new employee (<2 years), UK employment laws aren’t so strong.
You unfortunately have very little protection in the first 2 years of your employment, been if you pass probation.
Your tax setup sounds very odd too, if you’re not living here not sure why you’d pay tax and NI here? Likewise you probably haven’t been paying tax and any Ni equivalent in your home country, which might be bad for you in the long run.
My employer had to let a staff member go recently as he was living in another country, he was meant to be moving to the UK and when he didn’t they had to let him go as the company were going to be in a few problems in regards to employment and tax laws in that country.
You pay tax to your country of residence (where you live). The company that employs you has a legal duty to comply with employment laws of that country. Sometimes a company also needs a legal entity within that country to employ people there. I’m sorry but you’ve been rather naive.
EDIT there is a possibility that you’ve committed tax fraud by not paying your taxes to your country of residence.
Less than 2 years, you can be sacked for any reason (as long as its not a protected characteristic).
There’s also major tax implications for companies having employees in countries they shouldn’t. Its why most companies don’t offer work from anywhere unless you work as a self employed consultant and do your own taxes.
There also major tax implications for you as you may not have declared your earning in your current country of residence. If they find out about this, you will be asked to pay back what you owe in that country.
Presumably this is a relatively new job given probation, did your employer not check your right to work in the UK (by seeing your passport, ILR or other documents)?
As it’s under two years, you have very little options, and by the sounds of it it looks like everyone is in the wrong here, so I’d just let it go and take it as a lesson learned.
You were a bit naive.
You can be dismissed without reason in the first 2 years of employment. You could fight it but you’re likely to spend more money and time than you’d get compensated for and it’ll just make you miserable anyway.
As others have said there’s tax implications, both for you and the employer, even though you’ve paid UK taxes. There is a likelihood you’re in breach of local tax laws.
I specialise in this area. Your post is a bit of a mess in terms of trying to help you though.
First – you were either an employee or a contractor, you can’t be both. I’m going to assume you were an employee based on balance of information given.
2) You were on a U.K. payroll on the understanding you were, had or would be physically present in the U.K. this suggests the company was never aware you were overseas as they would have operated an NT code.
3) you’ve likely created a social security charge in your country of residence for your employer, this is a headache for them and expensive. They now need to reclaim any NI paid by you and them in the U.K. and pay in the right place
4) depending on your role and location, you may have caused a corporate tax issue in your country of work. Again, massive headache for the U.K. employer.
5) your contract may state a notice period but this would only be valid if you were in the U.K. Employment rights are based on location of duties, not location of employee, places like Spain and Italy have really strict employment laws which your employer may now be in breach of. Alternatively some places don’t have notice period. You’d need legal advice in your location but you deprived your employer the opportunity to seek the same – they may not be in breach.
In summary – you’ve caused big problems by not informing the company where you were working. I’m not surprised they’ve terminated you, which they can do for any reason within the first two years of employment.
If you’re now claiming to be a contractor then you have no right to notice (as this is only for employees).
You could pursue over the notice based on being an employee but you’re likely to be financially disadvantaged when the payroll is properly sorted (again depends on location which you haven’t given). Next time, be upfront. Make sure you’re filing in both the U.K. (for your tax refund) and in your current location.