New Job and annual leave help me decide

[appls]

Please help me decide what is reasonable.

I worked in a job (job A) which I hated for 20,500 a year (frontline and dangerous job with rubbish management). I was headhunted and seconded to a role in the same company for a year which I loved and paid 22,300 and was able to mostly WFH.

Secondment is now ending and I do not want to return to job A.

I have now been offered a new job (Job B) in a different company with a salary of 26500. To start mid august. It is a more senior position and has more job progression. Less flexibility as no WFH. I have accepted this job.

However. I realised today.

Annual leave in my current job runs from 1 April - 31 March. I get 35 days. I have used 30 already due to child illness and a family bereavement as well as normal time off for things such as in the school holidays.

Therefore when I leave on 12 August I will actually owe the company money and not get paid. The new job won't pay me til end September as I miss their payroll date when I start.

So my choice is this:

Return to job A until early next year so that I don't owe them anything. This means losing almost 2k a year and I will struggle to pay my bills each month. There is a small chance of other teams in the company recruiting and I may be able to switch roles but it will be the same or very similar salary.

Take the new job and have no money at all in august and potentially owe hundreds to my old employer. I will ultimately end up better off once this is repaid as the salary is 6k higher than what I'd get by staying.

There's no option of a loan or credit of any kind as my credit score is in the bin (husband was mentally unwell. Took out a lot of debt and then ended his life, the debt was in his name but some in mine and some in ours, all defaulted etc)

No family or friends who can loan me money. Nothing to sell. No chance of working extra as I'd be paying childcare (I don't have family. Friends live too far away)

So essentially no money until end sept apart from tax credits which is £400 a month (low due to overpayment that I disputed but that's another story) This wouldn't even cover the mortgage.

Any advice?

OP is due to leave current job on 12 August, so won't accrue much (if any) leave entitlement for August. Her entitlement for April-end July is probably around 11.5 days, so she owes around 18.5 days, almost a month's salary.

Depending on when she resigned and when her current employers run their payroll, she might get nothing in August and be due to pay back money, or they may deduct the whole amount across July and August's salary payments.

If you can afford the gap between salary payments and go with Job B, do as others have suggested and ask current employer if you can pay back at a later date or in instalments. Ask new employer if they can make an out-of-cycle payment to cover you for work done in August. You don't have to go into detail - just explain that you've leaving current employer at the beginning of August and it will be financially difficult to be without income until the end of September. It's not an uncommon request. In my experience payroll are reluctant if it's a short period (eg 1 week) but in your case it will be 2.5 weeks so they be more amenable.

Assuming their payroll cycle is a calendar month, you probably won't get the one-off payment until early September (they'll probably wait until you've actually worked the days in August).

Congratulations on the new better job. Another vote for going for it and talking to them about an advance on pay. Totally standard.

And negotiate paying existing company back for the holiday you have already taken. Worth a try.

Option B (new job) and do temping work in the meantime.

Ah sorry - didn't read properly - there's no break. Agree with PPs to take new job and let the bills slide on this one occasion. You can ask for a mortgage payment break and agree terms with your utilities suppliers and council tax.

Thanks everyone. I found our pay day in the new job is the 25th, so I'm not sure when they do payroll?

Old job payday is 19th. I get paid on the 19th for the entire month (so technically paid 2 weeks in advance)

I will mention to HR about paying back in installments as I think they will definitely take it from August's salary without asking (it is in the contract they can do this)

I have kept up with the mortgage as it's a lot smaller due to moving house after husband died. He died 5 years ago today, so things are very settled but equally very difficult- I don't have any family. So childcare is just me Lol.

I also feel bad as holiday club is 8-4 and my working hours are 830-430 and it's a 30 min drive, so I will have to ask my employer to leave an hour early until DD goes back to school in September. I feel like they will think I'm too awkward to employ?

Thank you for the mortgage payment holiday idea, I will call them now

Also in terms of annual leave, we can use it whenever we want which is how this problem occurred!

I took 11 days in April as my daughter had covid, I took 8 days in june for a bereavement as I had to travel abroad, I took 2 days in July when my eldest was unwell and then 9 days in May which I think was for a holiday. So that's 30, and I have 5 remaining until April

We do get a lot of annual leave in that job. But now I'm in this position!

If you claim benefits do they not do bridging loans or hardship loans anymore where you can pay back over time? i know they used to but maybe worthwhile at least looking into

I only get tax credits so unfortunately can't get any bridging loans or anything. Not eligible for anything else, as I earn too much (which is ridiculous as I don't earn a lot!)