UK : Exclusive | A Case Study on London based Unscrupulous and Repeat Offender Zero-Hours Contract Employer
- Vineet Malik
- Sep 16, 2024
- 10 min read
Updated: Sep 19, 2024
By Vineet Malik | September 15, 2024 | London, England
The United Kingdom (UK) work culture is dominated and exploited by unscrupulous, unethical and brazen employers who leave no stone unturned to crush their vulnerable employees without any deterrent, while politicos make false promises to strengthen the employment laws by misleading the working class with an intent to favor business tycoons and fuel injustice
What are Zero-Hours Contracts
It means workers only work as and when they are needed by employers.
Case Study
A dodgy recruitment company (Co.) registered as ‘Abbatt Property Recruitment’ (Abbatt Group - Abbatt Dual Management) claims on its website as one of the largest property recruitment agencies in London with 65+ years of experience and for having an unparalleled knowledge of both property and recruitment.
According to the Registrar’s of Companies Act 2006 as visible on gov.uk, the Co. is registered in the name of Director - Stuart Toper. On probing further, we found out about one David Hurren employed as the Chief Operating Officer (COO).
In July last year, Abbatt Property Recruitment – a zero-hours contract employer engaged a temporary worker to work in the capacity of a security guard.
The worker – Mark Allan (not real name due to being a victim of harassment and discrimination).
Last year in December, Allan was assigned a shift to work as a Porter in Carrara Tower, 250 City Road in London. After reaching the site, he was abruptly asked to lift and shift very heavy household good from the basement to level four. The household goods consisted of sofas, bulky boxes, teak wood cabinet, chest of drawers, equipment, furniture, TV, mattresses, huge size tables and more.
1st Complaint
Allan made a complaint to its employer for assigning him out of the purview work. However, his employer deliberately ignored his complaint to escape from its accountability.
2nd Complaint
Abbatt Property Recruitment punished Allan by Victimising him and stopped giving work for making a complaint for Exploitation, Harassment at the Work Place and Discrimination
In July this year, Allan reported another incident of harassment, exploitation and discrimination at the work place to its employer. On receiving his complaint, Sr. Manager – Jo Edwards responded to his complaint with a pretence to look into his complaint, however she failed to share the outcome of the investigation for more than two months.
Followed by that incident, Allan’s all the shifts at Elephant Central site were cancelled by giving a reason that “Shifts were cancelled as the site no longer required cover. The message further said not to attend shifts assigned for that very day and Monday. Apologies for the last minute cancellation.”
The message was sent to Allan by one 'out of the work hours' employee – Temi.
After waiting for two weeks, Allan did not receive any response from Edwards and also abruptly stopped receiving any work. Allan kept requesting for work however he was ignored as if “he never existed".
The harassment at the work place pertaining to discrimination was so appalling that Allan also reported the incident to the London Metropolitan Police. The Police expressed its inability to take any action and issued a Reference number and suggested Allan to file a complaint to the concerned employment grievance body and pursue his case.
Allan, time and again kept on writing to Edwards to take action with a request to retrieve the evidence in the form of Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) footage to ascertain the truth, however, with a nefarious design, Edwards came up with different excuses such as annual leave, unable to read her emails and deliberately delayed the matter with a thought that Allan would one day get fed up and stop following on his complaints.
Sequence of Emails written by Allan
On 13 September, Associate Director – Aurfan Ramzan and Edwards most brazenly made a deliberate attempt to cover-up the severe damage caused to Allan’s mental health by arm twisting him. Their email addressed to Allan said “They have filed Allan’s Right to Work verification check and waiting for the result and further cited the unfair, exploitative, abusive, oppressive, arbitrary and one-sided Section 3 of the zero-hours contract that said
Ramzan further sent a mail to Allan with a pretence to “offer him suitable work when it will be available. Ramzan also asked him to call him back.
What does the Law say
Formal allegations of harassment or bullying or any intimidating behaviour should be treated as a disciplinary offence.
All complaints pertaining to harassment at the work place, harassment, exploitation should be dealt by the employer promptly.
Investigation should include a prompt, thorough and impartial response.
Gathering evidence.
A defined timeline for resolving the complaint.
Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) Guidance on complying with the Equality Act 2010
According to the ACAS, the Equality Act 2010 protects against discrimination.
The main responsibility for discrimination at the work place lies with employers.
By law, employers must
Make sure they do not unfairly discriminate in any aspect of work.
Take steps to prevent discrimination.
Do all they reasonably can to protect people from discrimination by others.
Look after the wellbeing of their employees – this is called ‘duty of care’.
Not doing these things could cause harm and distress and lead to discrimination complaints and employment tribunal claims.
Victimisation is when someone is treated less favourably as a result of being with a discrimination or harassment complaint.
A worker can be victimised by being left out.
Furthermore, it says victimisation means ‘suffering a detriment because you have done or intend to do a ‘protected act’.
A protected act means taking action related to discrimination law.
This includes
Making a complaint of discrimination.
Supporting someone else’s complaint.
Gathering information that might lead to a complaint.
Acting as a witness in a complaint.
Abbatt Property Recruitment is a Repeat Offender
In 2022, a temporary worker - Jokpoghene Obelikpeyah was compelled to move Employment Tribunal against Abbatt Property Recruitment with serious allegations of discrimination at the work place for filing a complaint pertaining to failure to provide inadequate toilet facilities at the workplace.
It is a legal requirement for employers to provide toilet facilities with running water at the workplace.
Apology made by Abbatt Property Recruitment - Managing Director (MD) David Hurren to the Complainant
The Lawyer representing Abbatt Property Recruitment : Struck out the Complainant’s Claim or make the Subject of a Deposit Order
Interestingly, on one side, Abbatt Property Recruitment - Managing Director David Hurren apologised to the Complainant and when the matter reached the Tribunal Court, the lawyer D. Bunting, representing the Co. asked the Tribunal Court to struck out the Complainant’s claim or make the subject of a deposit order.
It cannot get more shameful for Abbatt Property Recruitment, its staff and then MD now COO – David Hurren to change their colour like a chameleon.
How could the Employment Tribunal Judge Brown not see such a disgraceful conduct of this Co. ?
The conduct and allegations made against Abbatt Property Recruitment before the Employment Tribunal were almost similar to the incidents happened with Allan.
Abbatt Property Recruitment staff without getting deterred from the law of the land with a criminal mindset of getting away from the clutches of law, yet again harassed another temporary worker – Allan.
You dare raise your voice for your rights or make a complaint and we will show you the door with a point of no return : This is exactly what Abbatt Property Recruitment did with both Obelikpeyah and Allan.
Allegations leveled by Obelikpeyah before the Employment Tribunal
Unfortunately, the complaint made by Obelikepyah was dismissed by the Employment Tribunal Judge Brown.
The reasoning given by Judge Brown that “the claim was presented out of time”.
The Judge could have considered all the facts and circumstances from the perspective of dispensing justice. He could have also accepted the delay of mere three and a half months to decide the case on merits. However, Judge Brown chose not to do that.
As a result, the unscrupulous zero-hours contract employer – Abbatt Property Recruitment has become all the more damning and still continue to exploit its vulnerable workers.
Although, the Judge relied on certain judgments however, on the close and overall observation of the judgment, it prima facie appears that the Judge was somehow deliberately looking for loopholes or the complainant’s weaknesses to strike down his case filed against Abbatt Property Recruitment.
The judgment can be read here.
Campaign started by Doctors, Whistle blowers, Journalists and Members of the public against Employment Tribunal to dispense Justice
In March 2021, a campaign was started by Doctors, Whistle blowers, Journalists and members of the public to hold the employment tribunal accountable for being prejudice and unfair.
It was alleged that the judgements ruled by the employment tribunal Judges ignored or twisted facts.
Many of the cases pertained to matters related to hospital and patient safety, bullying, harassment, racial and sex discrimination where a claimant got sacked for suggesting anything has gone wrong rather than the issue being sorted.
The campaign began with a letter addressed to the then three top employment judges in the UK – Sir Keith Lindblom; Judge Barry Clarke and Judge Shona Simon, that sought a fundamental change to facilitate open justice- that transcripts of the proceedings of employment tribunals should be kept.
The letter argued that the principle of a fair trial – enshrined by the European Court of Human Rights – cannot take place if only one side can afford to keep a record. It gave the employer a permanent advantage.
As a matter of fact, Obelikepyah and Allan are not the only workers exploited by this zero-hours contract employer.
The conduct of this employer speaks volumes on different online review community forums.
This Co. has been condemned by people from different background for exploitation, racism, discrimination, dodgy-behaviour, deceit, unprofessionalism, cheating, paying less wages and more.
Below cited negative reviews are retrieved from TrustPilot, Indeed and Glassdoor.
These reviews can be searched on the given online forums by searching 'Abbatt Property Recruitment Reviews'.
Negative Reviews against Abbatt Property Recruitment
Ending the Abuse of Zero-Hours Contracts : The Trade Union Congress – (TUC)
The TUC acknowledges the major forms of abuse experienced by many zero-hours contract workers on a day-to-day basis.
Lack of Employment Rights
Many zero-hours contract workers lose out on basic work place protections because they fail to qualify as employees, lack the necessary continuity of service or because their employer takes advantage of their uncertain employment status to evade employment rights obligations.
Abuse at the Work Place
Zero-hours contract workers are more vulnerable to mistreatment and exploitation at the work place than regular permanent contract employees.
Two-thirds of the British public think that zero-hours contracts should be banned, as per the TUC.
Zero-Hours Contract is a Licence to exploit workers, while the Government remains a mute Spectator.
Zero-hours contract employers exploit their workers by not paying them for sick leave and a bare minimum contribution towards monthly pension.
The TUC Secretary Paul Nowak says “Zero-hours contract workers were a leading example of structural racism.”
A survey conducted by the TUC revealed that 84 percent wanted regular hours of work in contrast to just 14 percent who did not.
According to a study conducted by a think tank - the Work Foundation at Lancaster University, a record 1.1 Million working-age people are on zero-hours contracts in the UK, as their main form of employment.
The data suggests that zero-hours contract employees in the UK are in “severely insecure work”. Such a huge proportion of vulnerable workers face contractual and financial insecurity with a lack of access to rights and protections.
Shockingly, only 6.1 percent of the 1.1 Million are in secure employment with a regular income and access to statutory rights.
The analysis published by the TUC in June also revealed that 4.1 Million people in the UK were employed in low-paid and insecure work.
Nowak challenged any business leader or politician to try and survive on zero-hours contract not knowing from week to week how much work they will have.
Its time to drive up employment standards in this country and to make work pay for everyone, added Nowak.
Founder Zero-Hours Justice Campaign Julian Richer says “Working people need basic security so that they know when they would be working and how much they will earn. A ban on exploitative zero-hours contracts is well overdue.”
Labour Party deceived the Working Class by taking a U-Turn on its commitment to Ban exploitative Zero-Hours Contracts
In July, the Labour Government made a commitment to ban the exploitative zero-hours contracts within 100 days.
However, the union leaders accused the ministers to have come under pressure by companies to water down the proposals to ban such exploitative contracts.
As a result, zero-hours contract workers will continue to get exploited through precarious contracts due to potential ‘loopholes’, experts have warned but insist a nuanced approach to flexibility is needed.
General Secretary – The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) Henry Chango Lopez says
“Labour party has watered down its commitment to weaken a proposed ban on zero-hours contracts. This is not only disappointing but unsurprising as the party continues to pander to business rather than standing with working class.
Workers are often forced to accept poor conditions and precarious contracts across sectors due to desperation and extreme power balances between employers and employees in the UK.
The new proposals would enable this power imbalance to persist. It is becoming increasingly clear that the Labour Government will allow these exploitative practices to continue."
For how long, Abbatt Property Recruitment will be allowed to continue to harass and exploit vulnerable workers ?
This Co. has a chequered history; akin to criminal antecedents for time and again harassing and exploiting people.
Is a reason to not completely ban zero-hours contracts by the Labour party governed by the UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer justified on the premise of allowing flexibility to the bare minimum - 14 percent workers who desire for zero-hours contract ?
Will the Labour Government, House of Lords, Regulatory Bodies and Employment Tribunal still ignore such repeated incidents of exploitation and harassment to favour the unscrupulous business fraternity remains to be answered by the political leaders who only pretended to bring a change to garner vote bank and come into power ?
In reality, the political leaders of the Labour party are destroying the future of the UK.
Correction | September 16, 2024 | Monday | 10:53 Hours
"Ramzan's email sent to Allan today; September 16, 2024 at 9:56 am comes up with an explanation for not responding due to closure of Abbatt Property Recruitment office on the weekend - September 15 and 16 (Saturday and Sunday).
As a matter of fact, email was sent by Allan to all the staff members on September 13 (Friday) at 13:47 hours with a request to furnish explanation. Any of the staff members could have responded on the same working day; Friday but the response was not given by anyone.
Furthermore, Ramzan has provided Allan's Right to Work check expiration date mentioned as 18 July, 2024 evidenced in a Home Office document dated September 16, 2024. Ideally, the Co. should have applied for Right to Work check a week prior to its expiration date; 18 July, 2024 which they deliberately and wilfully failed to do. This should have been done by any of the staff employees. Given this fact, we are amending the story by incorporating this correction today at 10:53 hours."
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