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!

This sounds like it’s not policy, but that one person’s incompetence. Ask your project manager for advice, and ask them who is this person’s line manager, then escalate to them.

She’s not on their payroll , she’s freelance so just a supplier . It’s bad but payroll will always take priority.

I do some contact work and I've never heard of that, I haven't actually heard of it for employees

Ask them to pay you an advance to cover the net pay you would have had this month. When they eventually process the payroll, they can take off the advance.

Have you got a contract? If not you've learned the importance of having a contract.

In which case you need a meeting with the head of finance and whoever gave you the job and also the chairperson of the union.

The outcome of the meeting is to make sure:
i) You have a contract stating terms and conditions
ii) The contract states the day/date you will be paid each month
iii) That you are paid every month

The University is a business. It is unacceptable not to pay employees/ contractors as agreed. There is no such thing as "too many forms this month". The payroll department need to hire more manhours in order to meet their payroll business needs.

Universities by and large prepare people for the workplace. I cannot see a student's union thinking it's a small matter if people are not paid monthly and on time.

Hi all by way of update I’ve been paid today at 80% of what I was expecting. This happened last time, cant remember why but I got the remaining 20% on the next pay day so hoping that will be the case. So good outcome after a LOT of chasing. Fingers crossed this months pay goes smooothly. I’ve only 2 months left of this project anyway thank goodness!

Glad you have had some of it through, hopefully they will be more organised in future. Sounds like it might not be a bad thing if you're moving more of your working time to a more reliable employer from September.

Is this a college at Oxford uni??

Pleased op. Still speak to your manager, email a complaint please, because this is all so poor.

They must be short of money if they refuse to pay the full amount! Still, I'd still push for getting the remaining 20% now. It's not acceptable to pay an invoice late.

I was a lecturer many years ago and our wages were often forgotten about, sometimes up to two months and that could have been after working a lie(sp) month. If you went to see about getting it resolved they could only pay us a percentage but not the full amount.

How do we know which universities are on the brink.of bankruptcy?

They will hold back a % to cover any tax that might be due when they finally submit to hmrc. If no tax due you'll get it back.

No but a Russell group uni in the North West.

OP, are you paying tax & NI (inside IR35) or are your being paid gross and responsible for your own tax(outside IR35)?

If you are being taxed at source then you are entitled to statutory holiday pay, pro rata for hours worked. If they aren't paying it, or letting you 'take' accrued leave and be paid for it, they are breaching your statutory right

Please call ACAS to get more advice. Have your contract to hand so you can be clear what your employment status is.

If you aren't being taxed then do make sure you are declaring that income or you could have real problems with HMRC.

@LemonGelato i don’t have a contract I just claim for the hours I do but it is PAYE so I do pay tax and NI before it comes through to me and it’s basic rate as I have a ‘proper’ job where I get my tax free allowance.

I worked in payroll for a long time, generally when we incorrectly/missed paying someone, we would be told we would have to first tell them it was going to be included in the next pay cycle just in case they were ok with that (manager wants to save on fees, submissions etc from doing an off cycle) but if someone would say no and it’s an issue, we’d request to do an off cycle. I would often just say someone had raised a second issue as felt awful trying to palm people off for another month/fortnight. I’d also make a note for next month to contact someone in the payroll team 3/4 days before it’s due to make sure everything is approved/ok to be included (include your timesheet approved/manager etc in a follow up email), as usually the same people would have issues whether it’s slow approvals etc

Then you aren't a contractor you're an employee. They're calling you a contractor to avoid their legal responsibility for you. They owe you holiday pay and they're in the wrong for not having given you an employment contract within the legal time frame. They are behaving shady AF. The fact you have another "proper job" is irrelevant. You can have more than one job. If your employment was always going to be time-limited they should have given you a fixed-term contract for the months they needed you. It means they don't have to go through redundancy process if you have a fixed-term contract. It does not mean you're "a contractor".