New job - getting paid

[daimbarsatemydogsbone]

I started a new job on 8th March. It's a monthly paid job, paid on or around 21st.
I didn't get paid on 21st, so asked why.
Apparently the cutoff for payroll is 7th, so I was never going to be paid - not that anyone thought to tell me.
What makes this worse is that they plan to pay the whole amount in April - 45 days after I start, and they will treat it as if it was all earned in April which will mean I will overpay NI.
I know this is all very first world - but I really don't see why I should lose out due to their ludicrous cutoff and refusal to process my pay in the period when it was earned, in accordance with the law.

They won't! As the OP has already explained, NI is not cumulative so it won't be balanced in future pay.

I've overpaid NI before and received a refund via HMRC.

She will get it back, but not necessarily via her employer.

I send my payroll info for my employees on a Monday morning, they're paid in the afternoon. Even new starters so it's definitely doable

@fairylightsandwaxmelts

They won't! As the OP has already explained, NI is not cumulative so it won't be balanced in future pay.

I've overpaid NI before and received a refund via HMRC.

She will get it back, but not necessarily via her employer.

But if they employer has processed it all as April pay, HMRC will need evidence that this is incorrect to refund surely.

I wonder if HMRC will accept my word about my start date as proof - my employer plans to lump everything into April's pay so it will look as if it is pay for April - any payrollers know if start date goes over on RTI so I could prove (assuming they send the correct data which is far from certain!) I started in and was due pay for March?

@lanbro

I send my payroll info for my employees on a Monday morning, they're paid in the afternoon. Even new starters so it's definitely doable

Yes - there are a lot of antiquated systems, understaffing and poor practises out there :)

How do you claim your NI back, just out of curiosity? I’m starting a new job in a couple of weeks and won’t be paid until the end of May, so I’d be keen to know! Thanks in advance if anyone can help!

@WotcherH2

How do you claim your NI back, just out of curiosity? I’m starting a new job in a couple of weeks and won’t be paid until the end of May, so I’d be keen to know! Thanks in advance if anyone can help!

I did a quick Google and there's a government portal - but it just directs you to ask your employer for a refund which it says "They’ll usually be able to refund you using their Real Time Information (RTI) payroll system." but then it says -

If they can’t, write to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) after the end of the tax year you’re claiming for.

You’ll need to tell them:

your National Insurance number
why you overpaid
which tax year or years you overpaid in
how much tax and National Insurance you paid in the tax year or years you’re claiming for - include your P60 or a statement from your employer
why you can’t get the refund from your employer

Which doesn't look terribly encouraging for you but a little better for me.

But if they employer has processed it all as April pay, HMRC will need evidence that this is incorrect to refund surely.

Yes, and her employer can easily provide her official start date and pay details to prove that.

It's really not as complex as people on here are making out!

It's really not as complex as people on here are making out!

Thanks, that is helpful.

Of course it'd be a lot easier if they just paid me in the period I started.

@daimbarsatemydogsbone

It's really not as complex as people on here are making out!

Thanks, that is helpful.

Of course it'd be a lot easier if they just paid me in the period I started.

Definitely, but most companies have payroll cut-offs. I've only ever had one job where I joined and got paid that month - everywhere else it was a 4-6 week wait.

That's pretty poor OP. Ofc you have to wait for payroll but they should have told you that their process was so slow. I only ever had such a big delay once and that was over 20 years ago and they offered me an advance off their own bat because, newsflash, they realised that having no income for six weeks was potentially a big deal.

I'd go to them about the NI thing. It's not like any of us are going to get decent state pensions so you don't want to pay in any more than you absolutely have to.

Just because it’s normal in lots of places doesn’t make it any easier for op.
I Would speak to payroll and HMRC.

Have you checked what the difference in the NI would be if you had got paid in March?

@mummyh2016

Have you checked what the difference in the NI would be if you had got paid in March?

No but it won't be peanuts considering the April rate rise as well as the limits etc

This is dependent on your salary, however if 45 days pay puts you above the higher threshold for the month it may balance itself out as NI will be 3.25% on pay above that.

This has been the case in every job I've worked in unfortunately. I have now specified to all new starts I take on that we will start them within a set window at the start of the month for this reason as I think it's really difficult to be working for so many weeks without being paid

@daimbarsatemydogsbone before you go in all guns blazing I would try and get a rough idea of the difference. If it's only a small difference it's not worth getting so worked up.

[quote mummyh2016]@daimbarsatemydogsbone before you go in all guns blazing I would try and get a rough idea of the difference. If it's only a small difference it's not worth getting so worked up. [/quote]
Excellent point, well made.

I don't understand why pp are saying they can't believe the employer won't sort emergency payments when the OP doesn't appear to have asked for this?

Speak to payroll. They should calculate the NI due on both periods separately. I attach a screenshot and the link that it came from.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/cwg2-further-guide-to-paye-and-national-insurance-contributions/2021-to-2022-employer-further-guide-to-paye-and-national-insurance-contributions#sec3

This is not good practise by the payroll department - not only will the ni be at the new rate- the tax will be cumulative and it could well be you had some allowance left to use this year so tax may well not be due - but payment made in April will go into the new tax year. The 7th is a very early cut off date for a 21st pay day - I would go back to them and request a additional run for your payment- it’s a bit extra work but not impossible. Your HR department should have informed you about this.

Payroll staff have to have a cutoff date for processing, they can’t do it all in one day.

I have always been paid at the end of whatever month I’ve started. It’s a simple process for accounts to process a new starter mid month. It’s not like most places have hundreds of them at a time.

[quote WeCouldBeSpearows]Speak to payroll. They should calculate the NI due on both periods separately. I attach a screenshot and the link that it came from.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/cwg2-further-guide-to-paye-and-national-insurance-contributions/2021-to-2022-employer-further-guide-to-paye-and-national-insurance-contributions#sec3[/quote]
Thanks - this was my whole point, I know they should do the periods separately but Payroll say they can't do it because it's tax year end - which may be a limitation of the system they use but certainly isn't unavoidable.

You're badmouthing your new employer online. That's a terrible way to start any job. If you're identified, you will get fired.

I am having a teams chat with someone in payroll. It is outsourced overseas and the person I am talking to doesn't appear to know what NI even is :(