To ask the owner to pay me

[SixPenceNonTheRicher]

I work in a small company made up of 3 directors who are the owner and his 2 sons and 3 staff one of whom is the office manager.

We always get paid on the 28th of each month, so on the 27th or the working day before the 27th the manager loads the payments and gets the owner to authorise them and then they hit our accounts on the 28th.

I checked today and there was no wage in my account, I spoke to the Manager and she said she was too busy to load the payments before today and the owner is in a bad mood she does not want to bother him today.

I have direct debits and standing orders that have come out my account today and I just received a text from my bank saying there are not enough funds to make the payments and I would need to pay funds in by 2pmm_ in order for the payments to be made and to avoid charges.

I told my Manager this and she said there is nothing she can do at the moment as she does not want to bother the owner.

AIBU to go to the owner myself and asked to be paid? I do not want to get charges or late payment strikes, I am not really sure where I stand with this.

I don’t really have much dealings with the owner usually he comes and goes and nods or says hello but that’s as far as communication goes with him and I.

OP, there may be a cash flow problem as there can be no justification for delaying paying salaries to employees.

You can check the financial health of a company (even small ones), for free.

www.companycheck.co.uk

Did you get paid as promised, OP?

I would speak to the owner anyway and say I am concerned this has happened.

How long have you worked there?

I’d add to the posts suggesting the company has cash flow problems.

They. Will likely look after their own family members first, so yes, I would be thinking what plan b could be I’m afraid.

Just shaking my head reading this . I've worked in accounts for years and you NEVER pay staff late . I once worked somewhere that had a temporary cash flow problem and still made sure staff were paid on time , suppliers had to wait a couple of days. This is a huge red flag I'd start looking for another job it's not a oversight it's because they don't have the cash to pay .
I hope you got paid but if it was me going forward I'd be worried.

I'm with Justaboy. First thing I thought of was that they don't have the money.

My husband's employer made a cock up last month (first time in over 20 years he has worked for them). Fortunately he isn't on his uppers but they said that they would cover any charges. A good employer will do that

In terms of bank holidays my last but one job always paid us late if there was a bank holiday. If payday fell on a weekend you got paid on the Monday, if that was a BH on the Tuesday. So tight. Not sure if payday ever fell on Good Friday but if it had we wouldn't have been paid until Thursday.

Other jobs have paid Friday for a Saturday and Monday for a Sunday but on the Friday if the Monday was a BH, and still others pay on a Friday if payday is at the weekend.

Employers should generally assume that their cashflow is better than their employees' in my view!

I am now freelance and so have to wait for invoices to be paid. That is a whole different story but up until now I have been lucky and been paid on time or early. I only had one client who were CFs and once I said I wouldn't do any more work for them because I had invoices outstanding they got them paid and the rest were paid within 14 days.

Not sure if payday ever fell on Good Friday but if it had we wouldn't have been paid until Thursday

Tuesday, not Thursday. But a good employer would pay you on the Thursday in that case.

Do you work for my old company OP? This is what they used to do. Once we got paid at 4pm instead of midnight.

So did it come through "by the end of the day"? If not, I agree that it's either the manager being incompetent and not wanting the boss to realise ... or, more likely, problems with the company

Be assured that the boss and his sons will have sorted out their own money, so now it's time to press politely for yours (and probably look for another job, where your manager hopefully won't see your legitimate needs as an inconvenience)

**GiveMeFiveMinutes

I'd ask them to cover any costs incurred as a result of missed direct debits, assuming that your contract states that your pay date is 28th of each month.

Thing is that if you incur charges due to unpaid direct debits, the additional cost will a drop in your credit score, which will affect you in more costly ways every time you apply for anything at all!

Owner might be in a bad mood but guarantee it will be worse if you go home until you get paid! Go and talk to them! X

Take the money and run like the wind.

Can you set your own date for DDs? In my experience, the people taking the money set the date. I always knew the dates that money would be taken for various DDs, but to be fair I never even tried to change them so I don't know if that's possible.

Every DD we have they have asked us when we want to pay. Ours go a week after being paid. Even setting it a day or two is asking for trouble as bank holidays can muck it up.

Wow - company in trouble it seems.

Hope you get it sorted OP

I would. . He probably doesn't even know you haven't been paid

As a business owner I'd have been livid if my staff weren't paid on time.

First payments were always to staff, no matter how hard times were. Staff always paid and always on time. Paying ourselves was what went without if tough times, not staff.

And.....if companies didn't pay on time they got put on stop. Only way to get money out of some companies, no one wants to work for free.

The manager being "too busy" raises a red flag for me. I've audited a lot of companies and without fail, payroll was the biggest process of the month. Everything was put on hold if necessary whilst the process was completed.

Certainly! It’s rightfully your hard earned money. Bad mood or not, doesn’t justify the owner not paying what your entitled to.

Wonder if the manager managed to squeeze in some time to pay themselves.
Paying staff is a crucial part of whoever’s job it’s is, it not an optional task, or one that you squeeze in after ordering the stationary.
Something amiss there.

I run a payroll and I would end up in extreme trouble if I didn’t pay staff on time.

Early for Christmas, the working day before any bank holiday, loaded to the bank in plenty of time.

On any occasion there is an issue I rectify it immediately with a same day payment.

In suspect, like others, they have cash flow issues and you should look for another job.

Hope she got it approved OP. I'd be kicking up a fuss about that for sure.

Something like this happened to me.

I got paid in stamps. Ruddy stamps.

And yes - it was a cash flow problem.