Midlands firm pays legal assistant a 'lowly' £2.67 an hour

A Midlands law firm that paid a law assistant the "lowly amount" of £20 a day has agreed to pay him a £4,000 backlog after he complained he had not been paid the national minimum wage.

Aaron Matthews alleged he was owed a total of £9,995 in unpaid wages because of the minimum wage difference. The Law Partnership Solicitors of High Street, Coleshill, Warwickshire is to decide later whether to pay him the rest of his legal claim following a Birmingham Employment Tribunal preliminary hearing.

Matthews, who was unqualified, said he had been appointed by the Coleshill firm as a ligation assistant for £20 a day and told to send invoices to the firm for his money.

He made a claim against the firm for unpaid wages after he complained this payment was below the national minimum wage.

Coventry councillor Philip Townshend, who represented the Law Partnership, in which he has shares, opposed Matthews' case on a legal technicality.

Tribunal judge David Goodier said he had to decide whether Matthews had been an employee or a worker before he could decide whether the assistant's legal claim for unpaid wages could be heard at a full tribunal hearing.

The tribunal was told that the appointment had been a verbal one and that between 2012 and 2014 the national minimum wage had been £4.98 an hour, but Matthews' hourly pay had been only £2.67.

The judge said his decision was that Matthews had been a worker and was entitled to the national minimum wage. He continued that Matthews carried out a number of tasks at the firm on a junior clerical level and sometimes "grumbled" about his low pay.

Judge Goodier praised the honesty of all the witnesses and confirmed Matthews could go ahead with his claim for unpaid wages at a later date.

Townshend and barrister Russell Holland of No 5 Chambers, who represented Matthews, agreed, however, to the judge's suggestion that they should have a brief adjournment to discuss the possibility of reaching an agreement over the situation.

Holland later announced that the respondents had agreed to pay Matthews £4,000 before November 27 and that they would later decide whether to pay the rest of the money he claimed he was owed.

"The respondents are to study certain calculations before making a decision," said Holland.

Peter Swingler is a freelance journalist