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Original poster

16 yr old first job not being paid correctly

35 replies

wondabar · 06/09/2023 00:02

My DD has managed to get a part-time job starting to work at a new shop in town and has a contract from the company.
She has just received her first pay and has been paid for half the hours that she has done. She has also been told that she will not be paid for her half an hour lunch breaks that she has been having despite not being told this either in person or in the contract. It is a small shop that has just opened and even though she has brought it up with her manager, nothing seems to be being done regarding the extra pay that she is owed. Should we as parents step in? I understand that this may not be what our DD wants but I don't want her to not be paid for the hard work that she has put in. She is very disheartened and reluctant to go in for the next few days before the start of college as she is worried that she will not be paid.

OP posts:
MinnieMouse0 · 06/09/2023 00:05

What are her contracted hours and how much has she been paid for?

I’ve never been paid for breaks in any job, I thought that was the norm!

Danikm151 · 06/09/2023 00:12

Unpaid lunch breaks are the norm.

This will be a good lesson in advocating for herself. She needs to approach the manager/payroll for clarification.

Original poster
wondabar · 06/09/2023 00:12

Her contracted hours are 8am-4pm but there were times she was required to go in at 6.30am. £9.00 an hour. She has worked from the start of August.

OP posts:

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Families
familyissues12345 · 06/09/2023 00:16

Could the missing hours be due to wage cut off during the month? For example my son works in a bar, gets paid on the 28th I think and the cut off is about 5 days before?

So as she only started in August, she may not have received a full month pay?

User10932 · 06/09/2023 00:17

So your DD has been paid her contracted amount but not the overtime hours? If that’s the case, was she supposed to have filled in an overtime sheet? Has she got a record
of what days/ hours she worked and can speak to management?
Lunch breaks are often unpaid.
£9 ph for a 16yr old is a really decent wage, is it perhaps a case that actually they’ve paid her minimum wage? (£5 something for a 16yr old).

Original poster
wondabar · 06/09/2023 00:18

How would she find out when the wage cut-off is? It is not mentioned in the contract. That may make sense if it is that.

OP posts:
Maddy70 · 06/09/2023 00:20

You dont get paid for lunch breaks

She needs to ask to speak to the owner let jer Tey to sort it herself. The lunch , no-one gets, but the other hours she is entitled to. Make sure she's calculated it properly , check her pay slip.

Try to let her sort it herself first if not then you should intervene

SkiingIsHeaven · 06/09/2023 00:23

Get her to deal with it first. If she gets nowhere then step in

She needs to learn to stick up for herself but should not be ripped off.

This is how we dealt with it after she was initially fobbed off.

She also needs to know that you have her back if she can't fix it herself.

Original poster
wondabar · 06/09/2023 00:24

@User10932 she has kept a log of all her hours. She is being paid for the hours that she does and not being paid a different rate for hours before 8am and after 4pm. They know what her hourly rate is and have not been paying her the minimum wage.

OP posts:
User10932 · 06/09/2023 00:25

How many hours does her payslip says she’s done?

jellycat · 06/09/2023 09:03

I’d suggest she asks who does the payroll and then asks them to explain how her pay was calculated. Then you can go from there. IME, hourly paid staff are not usually paid for breaks.

Does the payslip show the number of hours she’s been paid for? If this differs from her records then the most likely explanation is that there is a cut off date and she’ll be paid next month for hours worked in August after the cut off. The cut off date won’t be in the contract but she should have been informed - however it often isn’t made clear by managers. There has to be a cut off because it takes a few days to process payroll.

If it’s not that and there’s been a mistake, hopefully they will realise when she queries it and will correct it.

If it is deliberate and they refuse to correct it, then you can report to HMRC that they are paying under NMW.

rainbowunicorn · 06/09/2023 09:26

wondabar · 06/09/2023 00:18

How would she find out when the wage cut-off is? It is not mentioned in the contract. That may make sense if it is that.

She would need to ask her employer. Some payrun cut offs can be up to 10 days before the pay date.

rainbowunicorn · 06/09/2023 09:28

wondabar · 06/09/2023 00:24

@User10932 she has kept a log of all her hours. She is being paid for the hours that she does and not being paid a different rate for hours before 8am and after 4pm. They know what her hourly rate is and have not been paying her the minimum wage.

It would be unusual for a different rate to be paid for hours before 8 or after 4. Overtime does not have to be paid at a different rate.

rainbowunicorn · 06/09/2023 09:30

Being paid for a lunch break is unusual. I have never known a job where you were paid for lunch. You aren't working so why would you expect to be paid.

It should be your daughter that sorts this out though. The employer shouldn't speak to you about it.

HouseHassle · 06/09/2023 09:31

wondabar · 06/09/2023 00:24

@User10932 she has kept a log of all her hours. She is being paid for the hours that she does and not being paid a different rate for hours before 8am and after 4pm. They know what her hourly rate is and have not been paying her the minimum wage.

If she's being paid £9 an hour she's well above minimum wage for her age. This alone makes them sound like pretty fair employers.

She just needs to ask them to explain - does she have a pay slip? That will also likely give some answers.

I expect its due to pay periods and cut offs. Generally speaking, most people are paid in arrears.

familyissues12345 · 07/09/2023 07:32

rainbowunicorn · 06/09/2023 09:30

Being paid for a lunch break is unusual. I have never known a job where you were paid for lunch. You aren't working so why would you expect to be paid.

It should be your daughter that sorts this out though. The employer shouldn't speak to you about it.

I've often had jobs that pay for your lunch break - but that's in childcare where I was expected to stay on site (in case there's an emergency)I haven't known it in a none childcare role though.

andrainwillmaketheflowersgrow · 07/09/2023 07:42

No - you can't step in. She needs to deal with this herself. Most workplaces won't speak to parents about stuff like this anyway.

Not being paid for breaks is normal, and I suspect (as everyone has said), that the low pay is due to the payroll cut off. Most people are paid in arrears so she's probably only been paid for half of August.

Kilopascal · 07/09/2023 07:48

It's possible that there has been an error if she has a sign in sheet. My DC learnt the hard way to put full name on the sheet, after 'the other Billy' got the wages for extra hours worked. I agree though that she needs to be the one to try to sort it out.

Rosecoffeecup · 07/09/2023 07:54

She needs to look at her payslip first and ask whoever deals with payroll what the a) monthly payroll cut off is and b) how overtime is paid i.e. is it a month in arrears

GR8GAL · 07/09/2023 10:27

I had a similar situation at the same age. Worked at a festival in a chicken/chip van and weeks went by and no pay. My parents did eventually step in, which I was grateful for, and my mam called up the Joe Duffy show on Irish radio (we were in Ireland at the time) and named and shamed the employer. A day or two later the few of us waiting on wages were told they were ready to collect.

I hope she gets what she's owed and when she does she should look for a better job. My first jobs were in Penneys and New Look, never had any issues, great started job for a teenager. Best of luck!

Original poster
wondabar · 07/09/2023 13:36

Despite having asked a couple of times she has not yet received her payslip. We are not stepping in just yet but may need to if they keep on ignoring her.

OP posts:
MadeForThis · 07/09/2023 15:25

Can she email her request for a payslip so she has some evidence that she has asked?

Have other workers been paid in full?

andrainwillmaketheflowersgrow · 07/09/2023 15:40

wondabar · 07/09/2023 13:36

Despite having asked a couple of times she has not yet received her payslip. We are not stepping in just yet but may need to if they keep on ignoring her.

You won't be able to step in - they won't be allowed to talk to you about any of this. You can advise but your DD will need to deal with this on her own.

SkiingIsHeaven · 09/09/2023 11:07

We spoke to her direct manager when my daughter was being fobbed off. You can step in if it gets to that point.

andrainwillmaketheflowersgrow · 09/09/2023 11:11

SkiingIsHeaven · 09/09/2023 11:07

We spoke to her direct manager when my daughter was being fobbed off. You can step in if it gets to that point.

Not necessarily, it depends on the company.

I've worked in retail management and we wouldn't have been allowed to speak to parents about anything like this. Our policy was that if they were old enough to work (they had to be over sixteen) then they were old enough to deal with this kind of thing themselves.