AIBU to expect a take home pay of roughly £920 from an annual salary of £11,745?

[AlohaMolly]

A month ago, I took a new job that paid around £700 more annually than my previous job. More money on paper and also in practice because of the difference in commute. The annual salary was £11,745. Ive just been paid £787 for my first month of work and I can’t figure out how that works? I absolutely gutted as it’s roughly £150 less a month than I was earning before. Have I been really stupid? I asked about the annual salary, not the monthly one and did some rough calculations based on the NIC I paid in my last job. I feel like such a fool, this job was supposed to better my life.

Have they got your tax code right?

Are you on the right tax code?

Do you have a pay slip op?

Check they have you on the right tax code

Do you pay into a work based pension

It's hard to tell without more details

There's a site uk tax calculator that you can input your details onto and it will give you a drop down.

Did you start partway into the month?

What date did you start and what are the pay period dates? It might not be a full month.

What does your payslip say. It should show any deductions, and should also tell you if they've got you on the right tax code or not (not uncommon for people starting new jobs to be registered on an emergency tax code instead of their proper one and end up overpaying until its changed).

Could you be on the wrong tax code?

www.moneysavingexpert.com/tax-calculator/

Have you used an income tax calculator like the one above to check deductions etc?

You’re probably on an emergency tax code and if that’s the case you should get a tax refund once sorted. Or it could be due to higher pension contributions.

Did you start on the first day of that months pay starting.
Our pay runs from 25th to 25th and we get paid on the last working day of the month.

Is your tax code correct?

Check your tax. Also were you paid for your holiday taking you over the personal allowance? Your payslip shod explain your tax.

Did you start part way through the month, I.e. you've been paid for less than a full month's work, but from now on it will be the complete month from one pay-run to the next?

You shouldn't be taking home less from earning more irregardless.

The two likely culprits are an emergency tax code. Look at your pay slip. Does your tax code have ‘W1’ or ‘M1’ or ‘X’ at the end? If so this is emergency tax code and if so you're need to speak with your hr and put it right.

The second option is that they've auto enrolled you into a pension scheme. If so you can withdraw if you want but whether it's financially prudent to do so is another matter.

Pop your details in here

www.thesalarycalculator.co.uk/

As others have said, it’s most likely just your tax code being wrong for the first month

Did you give them your p45? They need to ensure you’re on the right tax code. You probably aren’t. Call your HR dept as clearly you shouldn’t be getting less

Have they taken money off for uniform or something like that?

No that's not right. Check your tax code definitely but it simply might be because it's your first month.

Have you started working in a school (salary is around TA wage)? Could your annual salary have been pro rata’d?

I have panicked as it’s my first wage for this job, woke up at 4 to check it and have been awake ever since.

Hopefully they’ll give me my payslip this morning, but my start date was 28th of February and the pay day is 25th so I suppose there will be a discrepancy there? They didn’t ask for a P45 or P60, although I do have one to give them, so I’ll check that.

I really hope it’s a mistake or a one off because this job change was supposed to significantly improve my quality of life and, so far, I dislike the job and am pretty gutted about the pay now too! I did do due diligence as much as possible and used the calculator linked above before I accepted the job and it came out as roughly £920 I think.

Tax code?

Or maybe a difference in pension contributions?

@Mayvis yes I have, how did you guess? the email I had, with confirmation of the wage, was worded like this -

The pay for 26.25 hours a week would work out at a minimum annual salary of £11,795 which is based on working 39 weeks of the year.

Don’t panic OP. I’m nearing retirement age and have had probably around 15 jobs over my working life, 99% of them in the public sector (ie just the regular tax system) and I don’t think I’ve ever had the “correct” pay after my first month. It’s usually emergency tax rather than tax from the right tax code (even with P45). Also, the cut off date for a month’s pay is usually mid month, so if you start on the first of the month, you haven’t yet worked a full month for pay purposes, IYSWIM?? I would imagine it will sort itself out over the next couple of pays. 🤞🤞

I agree it may not be a full month or you're on the wrong tax code.
A phone call to the tax office should sort it out, I was on the wrong tax code when I started a new job and my company couldn't put it right, I had to phone the tax office and they contacted my employer with the correct tax code and it was all sorted by my next pay date.

If the salary is more then you’ll get more per month, unless the pension contributions are higher, but then you can adjust them to the same as your last job if you want to. It’s probably because you either haven’t worked a full month yet or your tax code is wrong.

I earn 12k a year and it’s 900 odd each month if that helps.

Thank you everyone, I’m sure you’re right. It’s been such a crappy morning because of this