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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

If an employer didn’t pay you in error is it unreasonable to request same day payment?

58 replies

JacketSpud55 · 27/08/2021 11:40

Dh started a new job a few months a go, last month he didn’t get paid as he had to do a month in hand which has been totally rubbish during summer holidays. Normal pay date is 28th but was told by the manager he would be paid today 27th because 28th is a Saturday, dh hasn’t been paid. I’m not sure if they have forgotten to pay him or if it will be 4 days late because of the weekend and bank holiday? He hasn’t been given a payslip so can’t even look on that for information, normally I would email them from dh as he works nights so is asleep but the company is closed today to give everyone a 4 day weekend so can’t check until Tuesday. I am hoping it is just late due to the bank holiday or something like that and not that they have forgotten to pay him otherwise it will be another week with no income as it takes 4 working days to hit your account which will make it Monday 6th September. If they have forgotten to pay him would we be cheeky to request a bank transfer or fast chaps payment as a one off?

OP posts:

Thingsdogetbetter · 27/08/2021 12:10

Check with ACAS. As far as I'm aware it is not legal to make an employee wait until the next payroll. Their error must be rectified ASAP.

OhWhyNot · 27/08/2021 12:10

Absolutely fine to ask really you should not have to ask they should inform you that they shall do a same day transfer

soughsigh · 27/08/2021 12:14

Firstly, can he ask other colleagues if they have been paid? What's the usual policy if payday falls on a bank holiday weekend? I would also expect to have been paid yesterday if the usual paydate was tomorrow.

Payroll have messed up my paycheck before, when I questioned it they arranged for the payment to land in my account the next day. I would definitely ask for it to be made ASAP if there has indeed been a mistake.

Like other people said, your husband should probably be doing this for himself though. Nothing than can be done till they get back into work on Tuesday though, hopefully you can get it sorted and paid on Wednesday.

AuntieDolly · 27/08/2021 12:22

I'd be concerned that he hasn't got a payslip either. Are they electronic?

Chickychickydodah · 27/08/2021 12:36

Call payroll. He should get paid today .

Yellow85 · 27/08/2021 12:45

As someone who worked in payroll…I am astounded that everyone in the team is off on payday with not a single person to deal with urgent pay related queries 😳

Merryoldgoat · 27/08/2021 12:56

@Yellow85

I know! On the day payroll hits I monitor the inbox like a hawk in case of any error. Very rare thankfully but any error is rectified with a same day payment no question.

DynamoKev · 27/08/2021 13:16

@HarrietsChariot

He can certainly ask, whether or not they will agree to do it is a different matter. My colleague once got the wrong amount of tax taken, basically 90% of his pay was missing. The company refused to do anything and said it was impossible to correct until the following payday (yeah, "impossible").

Generally the bigger the company is, the less likely they are to have any sympathy (or at least be willing to help). If the payroll is done by Doris in accounts and she's screwed it up, she can fix it. If it's outsourced (as in my colleague's case) and you're one of hundreds of thousands of employees, there will be a number of mistakes made every month and because it's so impersonal they really don't care.

If the high tax deduction was due to HMRC (who issue tax codes to employers) it's an HMRC issue, not your company's payroll.

Imnothereforthedrama · 27/08/2021 13:17

You shouldn’t be dealing this it’s your dh and yes you should be paid today if the 28th is a weekend.
Yes it could go in any time today but should have been paid by now it is not unreasonable to ask for same day pay as it’s extremely unreasonable of your employer to not pay you they are effectively paying him late .
Someone will be in as it’s someone’s jib to make sure they are paid . I’ve worked in accounts/payroll and honestly it’s not except able to not pay someone? It’s possible his line manager hasn’t passed the details onto payroll though .

Missreginafalange · 27/08/2021 13:22

@Chickychickydodah

Call payroll. He should get paid today .

They are closed today as the OP has said a few times...

HopeHappy · 27/08/2021 14:33

I'd not be happy with this OP either. At the moment, on the face of it, he's worked somewhere for nearly 2 months and hasn't been paid at all?!

There is no excuse for him to not have received a payslip either. That is a legal requirement. Has he got a signed contract?

When did he start working with them? If it was close to the end of the payroll month then I can understand it tripping over until the next month, but there's no way he should be expected to have worked for nearly two months before being paid.

Our staff are paid in arrears at the end of the month on the penultimate working day of the month. That means they're being paid today. We had two new members of staff start on Monday and they're both being paid today!

If your usual payment day falls on a weekend or bank holiday, your payment date should be the day before, not after.

If your DP hasn't had a payslip I wouldn't be surprised if, as @Imnothereforthedrama says, his new contract details haven't even been passed to the payroll department at all.

Rubbish timing that they set the payment date for a day that the office is closed though. That makes a same day payment being set up impossible I would say, but they should rectify it ASAP on Tuesday morning.

Original poster

JacketSpud55 · 27/08/2021 15:17

The payslips are electronic through Sage, he still hasn’t got one on his account. He started working for them in April through an recruitment agency and paid weekly, it was always a permanent job just the probation done through the agency. He got taken on by the company on 1/7/2021 and knew it was one month in hand, so this is the 2nd month he has work for the company on their books so to speak. It’s normal for his job for employers to use an agency as it’s a skilled job that there is a shortage of people trained to do and because the money is good there is issues with people claiming they have experience/skills in the area and then can’t do the job. So yes in reality at this point he has worked there for two months for free! His contract says he gets 1/12 of his annual salary paid monthly on the 28th of each month along side attendance and performance bonuses but has no mention of what happens with weekends/bank holidays. Dh has asked the only person he has a phone number for and they were paid today, their money was in the bank when they checked it first thing.

OP posts:

Igmum · 27/08/2021 18:55

Good luck OP. This happened to me on my first month in a new job some years ago (RG University). At first HR said they didn't know I was arriving (they'd had just over 3 months notice), then asked me to wait until the next payday a month away (!), then agreed to loan me the money they should have paid me until the next payday but took three weeks to arrange this, then - on the next payday - took back the money they loaned me PLUS £832. WTF? I am totally impressed by how conscientious our MN payroll people are and how wonderfully assertive every other unpaid MNetter is. More power to your elbows people. Next time I will take a tent and a sleeping bag to the finance department

Merryoldgoat · 27/08/2021 20:49

I don’t understand a month in hand - I’ve never come across that - a week, yes but not a month. How can it be reasonable to work a full 2 months with no money?!

Glitteryone · 28/08/2021 09:38

If my payday falls on a Saturday of a bank holiday weekend my wages don’t go in until Tuesday

DynamoKev · 28/08/2021 10:16

@Merryoldgoat

I don’t understand a month in hand - I’ve never come across that - a week, yes but not a month. How can it be reasonable to work a full 2 months with no money?!

A month in hand is common but it should be one month not two - you work the month, then get paid at the end.

DynamoKev · 28/08/2021 10:17

Some poorly run companies have ridiculously early payroll cutoffs though

simitra · 28/08/2021 10:21

This happened to me once. I rang the payroll directly and told them I had no money for food or fares to get into work. If I did not hear from them they would hear from my lawyer. I was paid within 24 hours. You just have to get tough. The squeaky gate gets the oil.

DdraigGoch · 28/08/2021 10:32

@DynamoKev

Some poorly run companies have ridiculously early payroll cutoffs though

I had one like that. Work for the month in hand, then wait almost a month before actually getting paid.

Was quite a shock therefore when I started my current job; I'd only been there two weeks and the pay for the first week turned up in my account.

Happycamper78 · 28/08/2021 10:36

Has he given the right bank details? We had someone start who gave us the wrong account no. We had to wait for payment to be rejected by the bank and then did a same day payment. So got paid next day. Do you have Internet banking? You can see pending payments before they hit your account on many banks. They absolutely can do same day payment if it has been missed. It costs them a few pounds. Sounds more likely if no payslip. Email them for Tuesday and say you cannot wait for payment.

BroccoliFloret · 28/08/2021 10:42

@Merryoldgoat

I don’t understand a month in hand - I’ve never come across that - a week, yes but not a month. How can it be reasonable to work a full 2 months with no money?!

Exactly this - a month in hand usually means that you start work on 1st of the month, get paid at the end of that month for the work you've done. So that the company isn't paying ahead of time for work which hasn't been done yet.

I have worked in a LOT of places and have never been expected to start (for example) on the 1st July, and wait until the end of August to be paid at all. Some places have a payroll cut off around 20th of the month, so if you start after that you might wait until the end of the following month.

It sounds very much as if someone has cocked up, big style.

DotsandCo · 28/08/2021 11:08

OP...you and your husband have really misunderstood the 'month in hand' thing.

The 'month in hand' simply means that you work one full month, then get paid at the end of that month.

So...he started his full time contract on 1st July...worked all of July...and should have been paid at the end of July.

This is always the way salaries are organised for monthly paid staff.

Your husband should have been paid at the end of July. He's now owed 2 months salary! I suspect payroll have messed up somewhere and your DH really needs to get on to them!

Imnothereforthedrama · 28/08/2021 11:15

Op did your dh not contact his line manager ? That should of been his first call as it would be him/her who pass info onto payroll.

Fireflygal · 28/08/2021 11:16

I would be concerned that he hasn't had notification of a payment portal signin as I imagine that when they create an "employee card" on payroll it should generate the portal sign on.

If he isn't paid then I would definitely think it's fair to ask for an ad hoc payment. They may have weekly payments as well. As well as payroll he should notify his manager as this is a HR issue and someone has dropped the ball if he is working without being properly processed.

LlamasintheFog · 28/08/2021 11:21

Op is it possible he is due to be paid by the agency? That is the only time I've seen such long gaps between work and being paid. My husband is an IT contractor and occasionally has to invoice monthly and then wait for 28 days after that to receive payment from the agency. It's very unfortunate that this is the bank holiday but I wouldn't be surprised if there is some big complexity of process which no one has bothered to explain to him.

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