Government cannot find an office for this agency!
From: Keeler Stephen (Labour Market) >
Sent: Friday, March 3, 2017 10:38:24 AM
To: ****
Cc: EAS
Subject: RE: Models Universal=M0del=Blackberry=Adora...
Dear ****
Thank you for your email about your dealings with Models Universal and the payment that you made to a photographic studio.
I should explain that the Employment Agency Standards (EAS) Inspectorate in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, is responsible for enforcing the provisions of the Employment Agencies Act 1973 and associated regulations. This legislation requires employment agencies and employment businesses to abide by specified minimum standards of conduct. Further details about the legislation can be obtained from our website.
The position is that EAS do regulate the conduct of employment agencies that find or seek to find work for work-seekers with employers. This would include model agencies. The legislation that we enforce does set out that agencies that seek to find work for work-seekers as fashion or photographic models are restricted in the fees they can charge to work-seekers for finding them or seeking to find them work. For work-seekers in this category (fashion or photographic models) an employment agency cannot charge an up-front fee. They can however, charge or seek fees from earnings from work found for that work-seeker by the employment agency. Where the employment agency finds or seeks to find other “entertainment” types of work for work-seekers (such as television or promotional work) - and the work-seekers could also work as “models” – the employment agency can charge an up-front work finding fee but only after 30 days have elapsed from the date that the work-seeker and employment agency enter into an agreement.
An employment agency can provide other services to work-seekers, other than the work-finding service, and charge a fee for those services. This could include, in the model and entertainment sectors, a photographic or show reel service, which in isolation are not a work finding service. If the employment agency markets the end product in order to try and find work for the work-seeker that is the work-finding element.
I understand that you may have paid fees to the person or company operating the photographic studio rather than Models Universal. If that is a wrong assumption please supply me with details to whom and how you paid the fee. If you have the name of the person who you spoke to or emails relating to how the fee was to be paid to Models Universal, please forward these to me.
As far as I am aware the photographic service which is separate to Models Universal do not find persons work and are therefore, not an employment agency. If that is the case, EAS has no powers to investigate the services of the Studio. I appreciate that there may be a connection between the two businesses but they seem to be separate entities and do not appear to be run by the same people. If you have information to contradict this please send it to me.
We have looked at the services provided by Model Universal (formerly M0del Agency) and they appear to operate on line and have no UK trading address. If you have any further information regarding their UK trading address and have received communication from them, please forward this to me for further consideration.
I must inform you however, that we have no legal powers to recover money for persons and you may have to consider seeking independent legal advice.
If you want to complain about the Studio and fees that you paid or you are seeking a refund I would suggest that you report this to Trading Standards. /
You could also consider reporting this to Action Fraud. I hope this is useful and I am sorry that I am unable to assist you in the recovery of your money.
Regards
Steve Keeler
Steve Keeler
Employment Agency Standards – Operations and Prosecutions Manager
Abbey 303, 1 Victoria Street, London, SW1H OET
6 de março de 2017
Avaliação não solicitada