The labour-hire invoice includes a cancelled shift: explain the charge basis
Separate a claimed labour-hire cancellation or minimum booking charge from actual hours worked, tracing booking terms and cancellation evidence without asserting entitlement.
Corporate Recovery Partners
01 / 06
The customer says nobody worked those hours
An unpaid labour-hire invoice includes a shift that the customer cancelled. Your team believes a minimum booking charge applies, while accounts is looking for a signed attendance record. Address the mismatch directly. A claim based on cancellation terms needs a different explanation from a claim that workers actually attended. Do not fill the gap by presenting the charge as hours worked.
Locate the request, acceptance, worker requirement and planned shift details. Keep the cancellation message with its date, sender and receipt information. Record what is known without changing the original records to strengthen the claim. Where the timing or authority is unclear, identify that uncertainty for review instead of replacing it with an assumed conversation.
Business.gov.au recommends clear fee calculations and payment arrangements. Have the relevant booking and cancellation terms checked, including whether they formed part of the agreement. A standard charge in your billing software does not establish an entitlement by itself. Ask for advice if the parties disagree about the clause or its application to the actual cancellation.
Imagine four workers booked for a morning shift and cancelled before attendance. The invoice lists a minimum booking amount, but its description suggests four completed shifts. The customer reasonably seeks attendance evidence that does not exist. Clarifying the description can expose the real contractual question; it does not prove the cancellation charge is payable or settle its amount.
Employee obligations require their own assessment. Do not assume what the business owes workers is automatically the amount recoverable from the customer, or that a customer dispute changes employment obligations. Provide the customer with relevant booking evidence through appropriate channels rather than disclosing unnecessary personal payroll material. Ask the right adviser about each relationship where uncertainty remains.
Explain which invoice line concerns actual attendance and which concerns the asserted cancellation arrangement. Attach the relevant booking and cancellation records and identify the provision being relied on. Keep a traceable record of any correction or agreed adjustment. A clearly described claim allows the dispute to address its real basis without turning a cancelled booking into an inaccurate timesheet.
