Exclusive: Unpaid contractor slams 2e2

A contractor who worked for integrator and reseller 2e2 has slammed the company after failing to receive his pay, and watching from the sidelines as employees at the firm were similarly treated.

"No notice, no pay for the month...I think they've broken every law going now," Arnold Foster told Computing.

Foster worked as a contractor with the IT applications integrator, which has now gone into administration.

But Foster still hasn't been paid for his work, and is resentful at the way he has been treated by 2e2.

"I didn't know anything about 2e2's troubles until [agency] Resource 24 rang me up and said have you heard, 2e2 have gone into administration," he said.

"My immediate reaction was 'what about the money I was expecting to receive on Wednesday?'. I think it's disgusting because we are the people that can least afford to lose that sort of money. It's the little man getting kicked in the teeth at the expense of the rich. Now my bank account is zero and I have to provide for my family - so 2e2 have kicked my family as well," Foster said.

The contractor worked with two permanent employees at 2e2, both engineers, and was in touch with them after the project.

"On the Wednesday that I found out, [the 2e2 engineers] had a phone call from the hotel they were staying in, telling them to clear their bags out, and when they got there they had to pay for the hotel from their own pocket. Companies ask for loyalty and they kick you in the teeth when you give it to them," Foster said.

"I don't know where the engineers stand now but they are not going to get paid for January. They did not know 2e2 had gone into administration until I mentioned it to them, and they realised they had an email from the administrators," he added.

Foster believes the government should put more pressure on companies like 2e2 to protect employees.

"I think successive governments in the country have let the working person down because companies go into administration and they allow it to go on and for companies to get away with it," he said.

"If you get a penny in a pound back, that will be your lot," he added.

Foster said he has still not heard from the administrators tasked with reorganising 2e2, FTI Consulting, about the money he is owed.