To refuse to go to work tonight?

[merrymerrymonthofmay]

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?

Wages should be able to do a same day payment, phone them up and request it also find out what happened but I would go in tonight.

Understandable after 6 months but it's not even been 6 hours!

Living from one pay day to the next with no buffer is no way to go through life.

Are you genuinely ensconced in such a bubble of privilege that you are ignorant that millions of UK workers are trapped in exactly this situation @JennyForeigner2?

The pitiful minimum wage, & zero hours contracts are such that 4 million British children are living in poverty. Where do you suggest these workers obtain the "buffer" you are so keen for them to have?

I agree.

I also don't think it's childish or immature to say you won't work if you don't get paid - it's why we go to work! And I am pretty sure that the self-employed among you don't carry on doing work for clients who don't pay you.

But it may well be a bank problem, so see what they say. If they don't pay you tomorrow though, they are taking the mickey.

This happened to me once, they had me down as unpaid leave for a whole month for some reason, which I definitely was not. My manager said they will pay me in time for the next quarter? I said ‘No, not my mistake, it goes in my account before my next shift or I won’t be in’ as they were short staffed and in a panic about who would be in charge, it was paid into my account later that day, so it can happen

You don’t have to be living on water and brown rice to be in a position where you have no savings. For all you know op might have used all the savings they had for something important recently. Maybe the just cannot afford to save.

you’re right though going through life without any savings isn’t a way to live but unfortunately is a reality for many. Sounds like an issue you don’t have so lucky you. Not everyone is so fortunate.

to OP, I completely understand your frustration but not going in will only cause more issues than it’ll solve. One way or another you’ll get paid, but not going may result in worse problems down the road. Best case you could get time in lieu if they short change you, worse case will result in a disciplinary, check with your bank, check with work again. To assume anything will be your downfall.

Unfortunately if you don't go to work you'll be in breach of contract. At the moment you have the moral high ground.

Fwiw my husband before we met in his youth was in the same situation, kicked off and refused to leave until he was paid. He lost his job.

Go to work. Be persistent with them to sort out the pay. Pay related issues do not usually get resolved the same day.

I don’t think it’s immature but you risk disciplinary action.

Are you for real?

I can understand how you feel, OP

There's no excuse for them not to keep you updated.

Yanbu but I suspect work would soon find a bit in your contract that would make it your fault financially.
I would definitely email your line manager back - perhaps reminding her that if any of your bills are unpaid and you end up getting a fine, the company will need to pay the fine for failing to commit to their end of the contract.
It would be understandable if they were communicating with you and were apologetic about the whole situation but not actually updating about pay is terrible.
I would keep ringing your line manager and saying how long it's been since you last spoke to her and why hasn't anything been done about it yet?

Someone made a mistake and it is usually not that easily to fix in a few hours.

Not going in achieves nothing other than not working a shift or getting paid for it and it sound like you are not in the position to risk losing money and potentially a disciplinary.

Speak to your work and tell them this has left you in a financial emergency and ask if there is anything they can do to support your temporarily while the wage issue is resolved. However frustrating it is, if this is the first time it has happened, getting upset and angry is not going to help you or encourage others to help you.

Do you have any friends or family who can help until it is resolved?

I totally understand that you're pissed off, but refusing to attend work is normally considered gross misconduct, so you could end up losing your job altogether.

Maybe they haven't contacted you as they know you're due in work later and will discuss it all with you then?

For God's sake no. Go to work as normal. Trust them to sort it out, give them the benefit of the doubt. It's how civilised people oil the machinery of life. It's unlikely they've gone bankrupt without you knowing. Carry on as normal.

If it hasn't happened before I really don't see how this is a proportionate response. You could end up losing your job and then you'll really be up the shitter.

The least they can do is contact the OP and give her an explanation and not just leave her hanging.

I once sat in a managers office and refused to leave until they sorted a BACS same day transfer of some money.

A major london teaching hospital "didn't anticipate" the annual junior doctor changeover in August and hadn't had enough payroll staff to put us all in payroll.

They only told us this the day after we were meant to get paid and their solution was that we would be paid double the following month. And they weren't willing to commit to covering all the fees and fines that would ensue for non payment of mortgages etc. Didn't want to do a same day payment as it would "cost money".

Fuckers. It still happens now too. It's totally disgraceful.

You're right, OP, it's not a mature way to deal with things. I understand your frustration , but that's not the way.

Trust them to sort it out and remain professional. If you find something untoward has happened, deal with that then. For now, treat as an honest but annomistake which will be rectified soon.

You don't know what the source of the problem is - it could well be the bank and absolutely nothing to do with your line manager, wages department etc - I think you being really reactive and foolish - if money is so tight why p!ss off your employer who may be completely innocent - it doesn't make any sense. You're not going to do yourself any favours. Be smart. Not angry.

*an honest mistake (the irony 😂)

Then the OPs wages department or Line manager could have contacted the OP to explain that.

Not going in could trigger a warning, plus your wages will be down next month, so it's really not worth the risk. You need to give them time to sort it. It's shit, though. I had an issue like this that went on for months. It wasn't until I threatened payroll with getting a solicitor did they finally sort it.

You're living hand-to-mouth but willing to give up a shift's worth of pay because you're sulking?

It’s called being realistic about the world, not everybody has money left over to save. You are absolutely clueless, and yes goady and unhelpful. Il never understand people like you who call the OP an idiot and think that’s being helpful.

Going in to work and talking face to face is more likely I'd suggest to get the matter sorted quickly. Hope you can get it resolved, could be a bank problem though.