Pay problems

[Beachbreak2411]

I recently found out new starters at my work were earning £1 p/h more than me. I train them and am responsible for their breaks etc. So I asked to be paid @least what they get. This month I worked more hours than usual and should’ve got paid more per hour. But I’m £200 down from usual low pay. So should be £400 more! What do I do??

Speak to whoever is in charge of the payroll and get them to correct their error.

We are part of a big chain. I can’t speak to them easily. I worked so hard whilst we were short staffed.I accept I’m going to loose £300 but how to stop it going further?

Why would accept it?

Speak to pay services or HR or whoever it is.

Speak to your manager and tell them, ask for them to contact HR if you can’t and get it put right

@Beachbreak2411

We are part of a big chain. I can’t speak to them easily. I worked so hard whilst we were short staffed.I accept I’m going to loose £300 but how to stop it going further?

Why accept it?

And why can't you contact HR/payroll? If you're part of a big chain there will be a department who deal with this and procedures in place.

Get some fire in your belly and don’t be so passive,

Make a fuss, you earnt that money.

Have you looked at your tax code? It might be something to do with that. If NHS, you may have been pushed up into the higher pension contribution amount too so check that as well.

Also, WHEN, in the month did you start getting the extra £1 an hour? It might be that part of your pay is at the old rate and part of the pay is at the new rate, depending on when payroll closed.

It's unfortunately very common for payroll to make errors when there's a change. If you don't know who to contact in the payroll/HR dept, ask your manager to tell you or to sort it out themselves. In my company, line managers would address this rather than employees directly (but employees need to let their line managers know there's an issue). I'm presuming your hourly increase was agreed?

Can you write the numbers out?

Ie jan payslip said x hours x £.
Feb x hours x £
Tax code both
Deductions broken down.
Has your pension increased? Tax code changed? Error on hours?
We can help but need lots more detail.

Also date payrise started.

Have you checked your payslip? It could be a tax issue.

It's possible that notification of the change in hourly rate didn't reach payroll in time to show in this month's pay. And in some companies, overtime is routinely not paid until the second payday after it was earned, so it could just be a catch-up thing.

And remember, you lose approx 32% of every extra £1 you earn in tax and NI, although precisely how much depends on your pension contributions, which are another deduction that reduces net pay.

Are you sure the extra £1 an hour was agreed? Do you have it in writing? And what date did it start being paid from?

You could check when your manager notified payroll of the changes, and if it was close to or before the cut-off, it may well have been too late for this month. The cut-off is often about 2 weeks before the pay date.

Have you checked your payslip?
Have you spoken to your manager?
Don't just accept it! Mistakes happen but if you don't raise the issue it won't magically be put right for next month.

Also if you're paid daily feb is a bit shorter.
But yes first step look at payslip carefully to work out what has been paid.

When did you get the pay rise agreed in writing confirmed by payroll?
How does your pay work? Are you paid ahead or in arrears?

You need to speak to your manager, ideally in an email, copying anything you already have that agrees to the changes.

Payroll is a methodical routine relying on inputs being received in time and correctly filled out.

It is not particularly random.

There will be a reason, and errors are fixable.

Read all your responses. Thank you. Yes I absolutely need to grow a pair.

My pay rise was agreed 9 days before start of pay month.

I’m going to try to argue

Why would you need to argue?

Just speak to your manager +payroll and tell them your wages are incorrect