work at temp agency and job refuses to sign off?

Question

I've worked for a temp agency at a client's office for 6 months. I was in a one-person office setting up events for the employer who is a public lecturer. I had to go out of town, informed the agency I would be out of town and not physically at the employers office (at his home) and that I was taking the work with me as I had a couple of events I was working on currently. I should mention this is a part-time job 5 hours max per day. I did the work, responded to e-mails, set up events, prepared contracts, faxed them and signed them. Everything dated by computer e-mail or fax time stamp. The agency had no problem with this. The employer did not state he had a problem with this during the entire week. He even received e-mails and messages that I forwarded to him for approval. The following week he sent me an e-mail at the office e-mail address (and if he sent it there he obviously knew I was opening the office e-mails) telling me that I needed to be at the office because his AC at his house was not working and I needed to be there to call the service man and let him in. (There was no rush on this because he was out of the country lecturing). Now his private accountant refuses to sign off on my temp agency time sheet, nor will she pay me mileage that is owed from January 2010, which is over $100. Does anyone have any idea as to how to get them to sign-off. The accountant wanted proof that I worked that week. I have sent her the four page itinerary that I prepared, copies of registrations for events, and even the telephone list of clients I spoke to. The agency says they can't pay until the client signs off. How do I get this resolved?

Update:

I have provided copies of everything I did, along with names, dates and times. I would have prepared a logged time sheet with date and precise times, if anyone had asked me to do so. At this point I can't access their e-mail system so I can't provide any additional details. But they KNOW the work was done. I billed for 19 hours. The gal who had the job previously worked for months with a laptop from her husband's hospital bed, so I know my going to an out of town family emergency was not to blame. The employer was just pissed because I didn't do as he demanded and return to take care of his AC issue. It wasn't that he felt the work was not being done. He knew it was being done. I'm not sure what issue the accountant has because she doesn't know what I do for him. She just signs off on the time cards. Who do I talk to besides the agency.

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

OK, the first way to deal with this is to show the correspondence that you handled to prove that you actually did the job, do you still have access to the office email account? Have you kept time records? These will also help to show that you carried out the work. 

If you can show these then you can at least prove that you did the work requested.

Did he point out at any time that you were not fulfilling your contract. Did the agency inform your client that you would be working away from the office?  You say that you have sent details of the work carried out, have you spoken with the accountant to see if there is still a problem? Can she explain why they will not pay travel expenses? Maybe they feel that your claims were excessive. Until you can get clarification then this can only be conjecture. Have the agency made any suggestions as to how to resolve this, of course, until they get the sign off they don't get paid either. If you have a work history with them then they should see that you are reliable and it is in their interests to support you. So, speak with the agency as well.

Of course the problem is if the job required you to be present at the home office location. Actually requesting you to be there to deal with a personal problem of his AC not working is beyond the scope of your job, and if you did it then you did it from personal choice not because it was in your job description.

Of course this situation is very stressful for you, you are out of pocket for travelling and this also impacts on your feeling about having worked but no getting recognition for your services. The most important thing is to remain calm, build up your case, explaining in detail the work carried out etc. If you have confirmation from the agency about working away from the office include this as well.

The onus of responsibility actually lies with the agency, your contract is with them, their contract is with the person you worked for. If you can show them that you did actually fulfil your obligations then it is up to them to prove this to the client and his accountant. 

Personally I would deal first with the agency, give them what they require and make a request for payment that is due. At the same time I would get legal advice (in the UK we can get initial meetings for free or visit the Citizens Advice Bureau who would assist) is there something similar where you live.

remember to log everything you do to resolve the situation, then if you need to take legal recourse at least you can show that you have followed a route to try to solve things. This would make your case stronger.

If the agency doesn't assist, then try communicating with the accountant directly, do this by letter or email so you can keep a history of communication. remember to keep emotions out of it, be polite but firm in the fact that you did the work, you require payment, or at least a valid explanation of why they refuse to sign off. 

Sadly it is up to you to prove you did the work, and if you kept records - which it looks like you did - then this won't be hard, so good luck with things.

Take a lesson from this so that things don't repeat themselves when working for another client.

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work at temp agency and job refuses to sign off?

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