Company messed up salary- unsure what to do

It's common to not get contracts for school posts, particularly local authority schools until weeks after starting. Sometimes it can even be 2-3 months.

@ThatLovingNavyLion In summary

They advertised the role with the wrong salary
This was not picked up and rectified prior to interview
The offer contained the advertised salary, as did the contract.
You resigned on the basis of the offer
You were told verbally of the error and advised it would extrapolate to £15pcm less but it's actually £140 less.

In deciding how far to push this and how to resolve it, is the net salary more or less than you were on with your old employer.

I would advise you not to speak to HR but to put all the above points in writing, noting you might not have resigned from your former role had you been made aware of a significant material breach prior to offer.

I suspect you have been appointed on a pay spine. It would be reasonable to apppint you at the advertiswd and offered salary. I suspect they may say that until you would have incremented to that salary you will only be eligible for cost of living awards until that point. You may miss one or two years' increments. If I were you I'd push back on this and meet them half way.

You have caught the end of a crap administrator in HR. I'd be inclined to write to the Director about this, very politely, collegiately and in a solution focussed way. Demonstrate you are reasonable and the bigger person.

Regarding the £15pcm shortfall, only Payroll could have worked this out with the tax code from your P45, your pension scheme details and any student loan deductions.

OP I think you're in the better position better. Job advertised at higher salary.
Then told you verbally actually it will be less but only 15 a month less.
Then presented a contract, which you signed for the higher salary.
So even if this was a mistake they are surely bound by it?
The very worst case should be that you agreed to accept 15 less a month (but even then the contract they later presented clearly showed an increased offer, which you accepted).

The risk now is that they pay you the reduced salary which shifts the burden onto you to argue it out, involving ACAS if necessary. But you'd have a goid argument.

Posters are rudely calling you "stupid" but the employer is stupider!

Yes, but the formal offer should have set put the salary, hours, place of work and role. The T&Cs for most jobs in education are available in advance even if the full contract is not prepared.

Presumably it was but it's clear the employer has messed up.

Starting a job without a contract, not having a conversation with them .

No employer / recruiter should be telling you what your post tax salary should be, they are not tax advisors and everyone’s personal tax situation is difficult.

You may receive private pensions, passive income, dividends, put more or less into a pension or a whole number of things. Your contract is the primary source here.

It’s also very unprofessional of HR to put you on the spot about this. You’ve not been stupid at all. It takes lots of practice to say “I’ll have to think about it / now isn’t a good time to talk / I’ll need to take advice and then come back to you” so don’t be harsh on yourself.

You have a strong case here and the new employers sound quite poor. Let us know how your chat with ACAS and also your Union (who can give you free legal advice) goes

I think it's a pretty serious error on the part of the employer, not OP's fault at all, she's been entirely misled. But you will need to start putting things in writing OP, if you want to sort this out. I'd be in the same position as you and not be able to live on £140 a month less than I'd originally calculated.

It sounds like it's their issue.rather than yours if they've advertised it at that rate and given you a contract at the rate
Legally hoe would they have a leg to stand on?

Isn’t it more likely that the HR person who said this to you has got it wrong if both the advert and contract state the correct / expected salary?

Send a follow up email confirming that you have accepted the position based on the advertised salary of £x confirmed in the contract.

Which is why they shouldn't have given her an "after tax" figure, and told her what the salary actually was.
Either way I would continue looking for a new job @ThatLovingNavyLion but start this one in the meantime.

Presumably you got an offer letter? Which you agreed to. They then sent a contract with the same amount. The contract (I think by law) has to be given on the start date (at the latest). They then advised you verbally the salary was going to be £15 a month lower. They then paid you a salary that equates to £140 lower. In this time you still have the original contract with the original salary?

Check firstly that this amount (the one you’ve been paid) is for a full month. If it’s for a day or 2 less that might account for the greater reduction. If not, talk to ACAS, with all of facts in a crib sheet, but fundamentally you have a signed contract with one amount for the month and a payment that’s less. Options are probably, 1. You tell HR they pay what has been contractually agreed. 2. You get HR to re-issue a contract with the new salary (£15 less) and you both agree to vary the salary.

If they’ve sent you an offer for a job at £x, you accept, then a contract for the job at £x and you both agreed verbally to a lower amount, they’re stupid not to have re-issued, in short order another contract.

Janes law:

Once you have found one mistake in a process or system, there will be others.

What else have they messed up ?

The OP hasn't been paid anything yet! She says in her first post that today is day 2 of the job. She has only received the contract this morning but it's not correct that by any law she has to receive that by day 1. An employer has to issue a contract within two months of the start date but provide the main details of employment from day one, which the OP HAS received in her offer letter.

Hopefully the OP will return to clarify what kind of new amount (gross/net/something else) HR advised her of this morning, but in any case as others have pointed out they are in no position to be advising her what her net position will be, given that they have no idea of her possible deductions or other sources of income.

If the contract you signed has the same salary as stated on TES, then that's what you need to be paid. The salary is part of your job contract.

Any changes to your contract need to be mutually agreed and you would need to sign an updated contract if any changes were made.

HR can't just casually tell you that your salary is different to what has been written into your contract and expect you to accept it. Anyone who is actually qualified in HR should know that, but as someone also working in education, I know from experience that it is very common for HR staff in schools to not be HR trained and make it up as they go along.

You need to send an email asking for clarification, with your line manager copied in.

'Dear HR person,

I am writing to clarify my salary. I have signed a contract that states the expected amount as per the advert in TES - '£XXXXX'. However, this morning, you told me verbally that I would not be receiving this salary, instead it would be £XXXXX.

I have accepted the job and signed my contract based on the terms and conditions stated in my contract and on the job advert. I am not prepared to accept a change to these conditions. I would not have applied for the job had the salary you verbally quoted been the stated amount on the job advert.

I fully expect to be paid the salary as advertised on the job description, and as stated in my signed contract. I would welcome your confirmation that this will be the case.

Best wishes,

ThatLovingNavyLion'

If they push back, get the union involved. I doubt they will, though, because they know they legally can't change the salary after you've signed the contract. Someone has fucked up somewhere and they are clearly relying on you needing the job and not knowing your rights to get away with it. Don't let them!

You can insist they pay you what was advertised and in the contract.

I know this as ive been on the other end of issuing an incorrect statement of particulars.

If they push back, get the union involved.

Assuming she's a member of a union, which the OP hasn't mentioned.

However much it turns out to be, if they believe that the difference is a trifling amount, they can easily pay it as agreed, can't they?

Tell then that you'll be leaving an hour early every Friday, as 'there was a mistake' with the working hours that you agreed to. Alternatively, you can honour your side of the agreement, and they can honour their side.

The salary difference might not just be a mere £15 a month - not that the HR person would know the exact amount anyway.

The OP has calculated that it might be as much as £140 a month net - or £1,680 a year. Note that this is net of taxes, NI etc. and the gross salary difference will be much higher and probably well over £2,000. In summary, the company is possibly trying to pay £2,000 or more below the advertised and agreed gross salary.

Either this is negligence on the part of the company, or it is a deliberate attempt to renege on the T&Cs in the job advertisement, the offer letter and the contract in the hope that the OP accepts.

This is not the OP's problem to resolve and perhaps a change in attitude is needed. Shy bairns get nae sweeties.

Unless the Union, ACAS or a legal expert suggests otherwise, send the note suggested by @EnidSpyton - perhaps adding that the higher salary was also stated in the offer letter (if indeed it was) - and then adopt the classic stance of saying nothing else. Stay silent and let the company make the next move, and don't say anything (even casually) or agree to any changes without having at least a few days to consider any counter-offer and if possible get legal advice.

Anyone who works as support staff in schools knows that jobs get advertised as either FTE or actual salary. It doesn’t always say.
If it’s FTE then you/they need to know working hours per week, FT hours per week, paid days per year, paid holidays and included training days. It’s not always easy to work out! Hope you get it sorted.

Times Educational Supplement ... job adverts newspaper

This whole thing is beyond odd. You gave notice at a workplace before signing a contract, and you started at a workplace before signing a contract. WTAF? How does this even work with insurances in the event of a workplace accident, I’ve never known a workplace to do this…

Isn't it the case that, working in education, this is more likely than not?

And if not, this is why you should have joined the union, along with benefitting from collective bargaining of course.

Do you have a contract that you signed? I would insist on them upholding it or start looking elsewhere.