Not been paid for work...again...how do I escalate?

[ChefsKisser]

I have a proper job I do 3 days a week and another job at a local Uni I do one day a week. The uni work I get paid like a contractor (I have to complete a form and submit this and I get paid on the next payroll). Cut off for that month is something like 10th of the Month and I always submit it by the 1st.

This month I haven't been paid. This happened before but it was much less so I could wait for next month but I'm £600 down that I can't afford. I emailed my own department to check the form had been sent and the finance lady chased up the main finance who sent an email basically saying 'sorry too many forms this month, will be paid next month'. I have emailed this lady since having this email forwarded saying it will cause financial difficulty and is there any way I can be paid with no response.

I'm so annoyed- firstly that they didn't warn me I wouldn't be paid, secondly the blaise 'oh it'll be next month' and thirdly no response from head of finance. Will they pay it next month? March and Aprils pay as owed or just one month and then another delay for the next?

How and who do I raise this with to get it sorted? I can't live on fresh air!

the finance lady chased up the main finance who sent an email basically saying 'sorry too many forms this month, will be paid next month'.

This is gobsmacking! How would they like it if someone decided there were too many wages to process so they'll get their salary next month?!

You can start charging them interest under the Late Payment Act. The Govt changed the terms that people should be paid within 30 days of invoice being raised unless implicitly stated in their contract and if you haven't been paid, you can start tacking on interest. So I'd drop that in when you speak to Head of Finance.

https://www.gov.uk/late-commercial-payments-interest-debt-recovery

Add a clause to your contract which includes fees if not paid by a certain date. That should focus their minds

I'd advise finding a manager - they're the ones who will be sorting it out. Are you sessional / casual? If so then try payroll manager. If it's invoice try finance manager or accounts payable manager if there is one.

Are you sure your forms were in by the required cutoff?

I feel your pain OP, I’m freelance and late payments are a massive hassle. It’s a nightmare practically speaking, and it costs you extra time chasing them up, but it’s also upsetting and insulting. You work hard and get your invoice in on time and so often actually paying you is treated as an afterthought.

PPs are right about the Late Payments Act. I’ve found you usually only need to mention it and they tend to pull their finger out. Either they can’t be arsed paying you, they just delay to see if you’ll tolerate it, or if money is tight, they’ll delay on whoever makes the least fuss. When you start making legal noises they generally move you into the “don’t shit with this one” category.

My advice is to keep your tone friendly and reasonable and email them to say as your payment is late, you will need to start charging interest as per the late payments act, and let them know it will date from the day the payment started being overdue and you’ll issue an amended invoice if payment isn’t forthcoming. I find this usually works well. Don’t be ranty or angry - the person you’re in contact with probably has no control. But I do sometimes say something like “I need to chase up this payment urgently” to remind them it’s my actual income.

Thanks all. Tried to call but couldn't speak to anyone senior as they were wfh so was told to email.

I have never heard WFH as being a reason someone couldn't answer the phone. Very strange.

Firstly keep a record of what's happened, dates, hours worked, money owed, who you spoke to, etc.

The rule of thumb with things like this is to go over the head of the person who deals with payroll - go to the top: the Principal of the college, the Board and certainly the Head of Finance. All of them should be included in your email of complaint. Keep it clear and polite, keep it factual, but stress that it's unacceptable. OK, the payroll cut-off date may have gone, but that doesn't mean to say they can't do a special payroll run, they just don't want to (and I bet there are other staff on contract that haven't been paid, too - and with same excuse as you were given).

A poster upthread has said that many Universities are in precarious financial positions at present and sadly this is true. Long-term, the outlook is not bright for contract workers, so you might want to re-think whether it's viable to continue for the next academic year.

This is so unfair on you. They can do BACS payment for your pay there is no reason for you to have to wait a month!

I was thinking of applying for a part-time job at a uni in a support role, and this has me worried. shall I look elsewhere?

It needs to b3 highlighted higher up. Payroll sound like they ge5 away with doing this without being challenged, so continue to do it. Highlight it at the top, with a bit of legal jargon about being in breach etc. Hopefully a word would be had with the lady in payroll, and the situation will be fixed.

This. ^^

I used to be a NHS finance manager. Our payroll was outsourced to a provider 300 miles away and missed payments were a common occurrence.

The solution is "super easy - barely an inconvenience". An advance is paid and the necessary adjustments made on the following months payroll.

If this happens again this is what the OP should be demanding.

If the payroll cut-off is the 10th of the month and the OP submitted her timesheets by the 1st - presumably to her manager who signs them off - I'd be wondering if my manager had been late submitting them to payroll...

Not unknown

If you don’t get anywhere by speaking to them in person, I’d suggest naming and shaming them on twitter and tagging them in the post. Universities don’t like bad publicity that will damage their ‘brand’.

I feel very sorry for you OP. Happened to me when I was a “casual “at an institution . Continuously being not paid, under paid etc. Line manager and payroll could never get their shit together . Eventually they paid me ( or majority of it I think ) . I left when I was offered a superior job / pay. Told the line manager and HR what I thought of their underpaying in my exit interview. Ensured it was documented and I wouldn’t ever work for them again. They seemed surprised that someone called them out on how shit they were . Had enough of being treated like I was a volunteer. They were getting paid and couldn’t do their jobs

I’d email again, payroll, head of finance, your manager. Don’t worry about being a pest, unfortunately in these scenarios it’s usually the ones that shout loudest that get sorted.

It is completely unacceptable for them to say ‘oopsy sorry, next month’ as I’m sure your mortgage co/landlord wouldn’t accept the same excuse!

Id definitely highlight when it has happened before too. And keep pestering, not one of them would accept payday coming and going and their salary not hitting their account.

Send an invoice with overdraft and overdue fees (overdraft fees you have actually had to pay, overdue fees as a percentage per day of the amount they owe to you)

But yes, speak to your union.

I’m paid the same way,
casual, claim, PAYE.

I’d be properly livid. I’d escalate to anyone you can HR, finance, director at this point. Two months no pay! It’s outrageous.

I’d also be not continuing my work, I’m casual and can, until paid. Frankly the risk of working more and it building up is high. What I’m guessing though is they have stopped payments at the end of the financial year as they are having cash flow issues. I know if places this is happening- though none actually do it on their on payroll!

Has this been resolved yet OP? This is very poor. Finance can make a same day payment. Why they have not is shocking, but given their 'cavalier approach' is worrying.

Self-employed contractor who sends in invoices - what union would that be then? 🙄

I have been self-employed for 20 years and feel your pain, @ChefsKisser . It's shit when clients won't pay you. Ordinarily I would say not to work for them again but it sounds like you are relying on them for a chunk of income. That's a dangerous position to be in as a freelancer as if anything happens with a major client it leaves you very vulnerable.

Can your direct client who you are dealing with raise it with the finance team on your behalf? I'd be increasing my rates too, and adding in a clause about late payment interest.

the finance lady chased up the main finance who sent an email basically saying 'sorry too many forms this month, will be paid next month'.

This is gobsmacking! How would they like it if someone decided there were too many wages to process so they'll get their salary next month?!

Former payables here, and they sound a bunch of complete incompetents. I used to pay the casual staff and was scrupulous that their invoices/timesheets were paid on time as I knew they relied on it. 'Too many forms' is the lamest, stupidest excuse ever.

Escalate and go in hard, OP. Plenty of good suggestions on the thread.

Hi OP, I went through something similar and ended up not being paid 3 months salary (which I still haven't received 4 years later as the company went bankrupt) as I naively believed payroll's excuses and didn't want to cause trouble.

Don't let this go and don't play nice - get them to pay you this month and look for alternative employment ASAP.

Good luck 💐

They should be able to raise a faster payment especially as they are at fault. There must be someone you can speak to on phone or in person, I would do this rather than email. They have prob said next month in the hope you will just leave it.

With no guarantee, of course, that they won't say the same next month.

Hello
I've been in a similar situation, but at FE level.
As I was getting no response from payroll I wrote a letter to the chair of the governors (pre internet).
I got paid the following day and a two page letter from payroll explaining why I was being unreasonable.
Chair of governors easy to find on the web site or through main office

You need to escalate it to the Head of Finance. I'd bet this is down to one person in an organisation who isn't much bothered. Send the Head of Finance your emails and the ones you have had back (or not), remind him/her of the contract stipulations , that it is not the first time it has happened and ask what he/she is going to do about it?
They can resolve it. It is laziness that it is not happening.

You need to escalate it to the Head of Finance. I'd bet this is down to one person in an organisation who isn't much bothered

Indeed, this is the sort of thing that I can imagine my successor at exjob saying because putting herself out for a client was just too much like work.

All I can say is that I'm aware of a lot of universities being very close to the financial brink. You only have to google to find loads of articles on how and why this is happening. Sheffield Hallam and Coventry are the two universities usually cited as being in crisis but many others are, more or less quietly, closing whole departments and laying off a lot of staff. At my local university they've dropped many humanities courses and every area of staffing, from libraries and administrators through to student support has been trimmed back. That university is one that hasn't, as far as I'm aware, appeared in an 'at risk' list before now.

Student support seems to be a really difficult area to work in at the moment, judging from the friends I've known who've worked in it and left in the last two years. They've found that the resources to really support students aren't there.

Sorry, that won't be much help. If you're going to be dependent on the income from this new job and have other, more robust, employment options you might want to choose the more sustainable option.