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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To refuse to go to work tonight?

140 replies

merrymerrymonthofmay · 13/10/2022 13:06

I was due my wage today, always on the 13th of each month however it didn't go into my account. My timesheet was submitted and approved on time and have never had this problem before. I contacted my colleagues first to check they had been paid which they had.

I then contacted my line manager who said she would look into it for me. I also contacted the wages department.

This was over four hours ago - I have had no response at all from the wages department and my manager hasn't provided an update on the situation but has emailed me to remind me to attend training next week.

I'm pretty angry, I feel this has been a mess up on their end and at the very least they should be keeping me updated. I was relying on that money today.

Im at the point of saying if it's not sorted by the end of the day then I'm not going to my shift tonight but I'm not sure if that's a very mature way to deal with my frustrations?

At the end of the day though, im not working for free. AIBU?

OP posts:
RiderOfTheBlue · 13/10/2022 13:08

Not a good idea, achieves nothing.

Original poster
merrymerrymonthofmay · 13/10/2022 13:10

Apart from sending the message that if they want me to work, then I must be paid to do so?

OP posts:
Augend23 · 13/10/2022 13:10

That's a great way to piss your work off massively. It is really poor of them, but mistakes happen. At my work we could do an emergency transfer which arrives in 2 hours and then sort the payroll and the tax out later.

4 hours isn't a crazy long time - if they don't have an answer then they can't update you easily. Can you ring your manager/finance to discuss? Our finance department would always be very sympathetic in circumstances like this, but unless payroll is managed within your organisation (most outsource it) they won't have done anything wrong so it will be a situation of "catching more flies with honey than with vinegar".

JennyForeigner2 · 13/10/2022 13:10

No-one’s asking you to work for free; there’s been an error, and they are working to correct it.

If you just refuse to go in that’ll not get you your money any quicker, and will quite likely see you let go pretty much immediately, which is also unlikely to help, especially as you seem to have absolutely no savings to help you through issues such as this.

LoveBluey · 13/10/2022 13:13

I get it's frustrating when you have bills to pay but it's not been that long. If you don't go to work tonight that will surely mean next month you'll get paid less - as they won't pay you for the shift and you'll be worse off. I'd give them at least 24 hours to sort it before taking any more action.

CluelessHamster · 13/10/2022 13:14

Well I did once have a colleague in a similar position say he wouldn't be able to afford the bus fare to work that night if he didn't get paid and, funnily enough, it got sorted quickly for him. Maybe say similar rather than you're refusing to come if not paid.

Is it a care agency by any chance. I found the one I worked for notorious for not paying on time or not paying enough.

Aprilx · 13/10/2022 13:14

It isn’t a mature way of dealing with it, it also isn’t a productive way of dealing with it and it will mainly hurt yourself further when you lose pay over it.

Mistakes sometimes happen, there is nothing you have said that makes me think they are trying to avoid paying you.

Original poster
merrymerrymonthofmay · 13/10/2022 13:15

JennyForeigner2 · 13/10/2022 13:10

No-one’s asking you to work for free; there’s been an error, and they are working to correct it.

If you just refuse to go in that’ll not get you your money any quicker, and will quite likely see you let go pretty much immediately, which is also unlikely to help, especially as you seem to have absolutely no savings to help you through issues such as this.

Ahh nice attempt at shaming me there for having no savings. Many people aren't in the fortunate position to have savings as there isn't a penny left to their name. That's the reality for some people. What an ignorant comment n

OP posts:
vodkaredbullgirl · 13/10/2022 13:15

Mistakes happen, hope it gets sorted.

Toottooot · 13/10/2022 13:16

Dinna greet if your pays a day short next month. Nae the best idea to nae turn up inight.

AmongstTheCosmos · 13/10/2022 13:16

Are you part of a Union OP? If so it might be worth asking their advice.

PAFMO · 13/10/2022 13:17

You say yourself it has never happened before.
Mistakes happen. Do you have any reason to think you're being scammed based on today alone?

millymollymoomoo · 13/10/2022 13:18

Completely unreasonable and extremely immature
psyroll mistakes happen
they will most likely get you a manual payment today

DailyMailHater · 13/10/2022 13:18

I would be chasing them asking what the latest is.

not turning up doesn’t achieve anything other than meaning you miss a shifts pay next time and also could result in getting disciplinary action.

JennyForeigner2 · 13/10/2022 13:20

merrymerrymonthofmay · 13/10/2022 13:15

Ahh nice attempt at shaming me there for having no savings. Many people aren't in the fortunate position to have savings as there isn't a penny left to their name. That's the reality for some people. What an ignorant comment n

Show quote history

Er, what? It’s not shaming you to point out that you are in no position to pull a stupid stunt like not working if you don’t have any savings to fall back on. If you are immediately in trouble on the day your wages are missed then you are in position to risk your job.

Sunnyqueen · 13/10/2022 13:24

I get your frustration and temptation to not want to bother but ultimately you will just end up out of pocket next month. Its a one off mistake by the sounds of it. I've worked places that fuck up every single pay day without fail lol.

Cw112 · 13/10/2022 13:32

Yes you're being unreasonable, they will obviously need to pay you and its clear there has been an error but they also need time to fix it and 4 hours isn't a realistic window nor is by the end of the day. You need to go to work and then keep on top of them asking when you'll be paid. If you don't go in you'll be purposefully in breach of your contract (if they are trying to resolve a genuine error then they are not in breach of your contract). It really depends on how much you want/ need your job. If this is a one off I understand being very stressed and frustrated but no way would I be jeopardising my entire employment there over it if they are generally good at paying you the correct wage on time. If this is a regular occurrence you need to link in with a union to try and resolve it or look elsewhere for work and try to reclaim your wage through the courts. But it does sound like a genuine one off from what you've said so I wouldn't burn bridges over it.

LIZS · 13/10/2022 13:33

If you are paid mid month is that literally for hours worked to date or the whole month, 2 in arrears two in advance? Yes they should resolve it asap but four hours is hardly giving it time. Refusing to work is extreme if this is a one off.

Cw112 · 13/10/2022 13:33

P.s if you can't afford the commute to work you need to make them aware of that and ask how they intend to support you to get there as they haven't paid you yet.

RoseLemon · 13/10/2022 13:34

Contact the wages department again to check on progress. They may be trying to resolve. If they're no further forward ask for an emergency advance as you are struggling.
Don't rely on your line manager to sort it out. They might have said they'll look into but in all honestly I doubt that's going to be high on their priority list as it doesn't effect them directly.
Chase payroll.

1987qwerty · 13/10/2022 13:42

Absolutely the thing to do, assuming you can afford to lose the job.

AllThatFancyPaintsAsFair · 13/10/2022 13:47

To be clear as it's still the 13th for several hours are you saying that they havent sent the money or they have but it isnt in your account yet?

Maybe ive missed it but how do you know it's not a bank problem?

Thepeopleversuswork · 13/10/2022 13:52

I wouldn't do that. It will massively antagonise them and put you in a vulnerable position. It's almost certainly an administrative error which they will resolve but haven't had time to deal with it.

If this had been going on for days you may have had a point but throwing a strop after a few hours will make you look unreasonable and presumably throw your colleagues under a bus.

AriettyHomily · 13/10/2022 13:53

JennyForeigner2 · 13/10/2022 13:10

No-one’s asking you to work for free; there’s been an error, and they are working to correct it.

If you just refuse to go in that’ll not get you your money any quicker, and will quite likely see you let go pretty much immediately, which is also unlikely to help, especially as you seem to have absolutely no savings to help you through issues such as this.

Why should she have savings in case she doesn't get paid ffs?!

Thepeopleversuswork · 13/10/2022 13:54

@AriettyHomily

I didn't say anything about savings. That was another poster.