Wasn't paid on Friday and waiting. Do I go into work tomorrow? (please read before replying)

[PensionPanic123]

Hi all,

Wasn't paid my fortnightly wage on Friday as the director who sorts wages is saying he's locked out of his online banking due to attempting to pay from his phone rather than laptop (which I'm not sure I believe for reasons I won't go into now).

All the advice online says you should keep going into work to avoid being in breach of contract. However, the commute costs me £30 a day in my pickup truck and I currently have only £50 left in my current account, £20 of which I need to use to get home.

If I drive to work tomorrow I'll literally end up completely broke and I'm at the stage where I need to do some shopping (just have a few tins of beans and some porridge left).

Most of my money goes into my ISA and I usually keep back a bit for emergencies. This was a few grand a year ago but various expenses knocked it down to £500 and I've just spent most of that getting my car through it's MOT so I can sell it (needed some welding and CV joint done).

So I was desperately waiting for my pay this month, more so than usual - can't take money out of the ISA.

The company is a small subsidiary of a medium sized construction firm which has over 300 staff and is profitable. However, this side of the business has only been going two years and they try and keep the finances separate. They also don't like covering wages from their own pockets so on a couple of occasions previously I've had to wait a couple days for my pay - only twice in two years though.

However, it sometimes takes a lot of chasing to get my fuel payments/expenses and sometimes ends up being next pay cycle (I spend £150 a week on fuel so can be a fair amount).

I suspect the issue is that they've overspent on a project on the other side of the business and the directors don't want to use their own money (they're all millionaires with £150k cars). This happened before and they told me client hadn't paid (not my problem tbh) but I later found out they had paid and the real reason was that my employer had spent too much on a big charity event and couldn't back out as had hundreds of people already confirmed to attend.

I like my job and get on really well with the company who I'm contracting for - day to day I rarely speak to my bosses. However, I'm getting fucked off now tbh. I get paid well and like the job but my skills are in demand and I already have two companies who pester me to jump ship almost weekly when I see them onsite. I could also likely find another job within days if I picked up the phone.

So, I'm a bit torn tbh. I was hoping they'd just pay me today but director isn't answering phone and my boss is saying he can't do anything. References aren't a concern as I already know companies that would employ me immediately but I don't really want to change jobs over this. One of my best mates runs the plant I'm based out of and it's great working there most of the time. What to do!

Send an email to say you will work from home as you haven't been paid and can't afford the fuel to get to work.

You will not be in breach then

Are you the PP whose pension wasn't being paid?

Honestly they sound like they have a dreadful attitude toward money. They’re ultimately spending your wages on a box up the footy. I’d leave.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4829170-employer-behind-on-my-pension-payments-could-they-close-business-and-write-them-off?latest=1

This is the same company who were late paying your pension contributions, right?

@Oblomov23 chapter 18, part 2, section 13

It's very likely they have massive cashflow problems and can't pay you because their customers haven't paid them yet. This industry is notorious for it. They are probably waiting for a stage payment on a big contract, and it hasn't come in yet.

Profitable businesses can and do have hiccups when outgoings have to be paid before the long-awaited incomings arrive.

I work in finance and some of our customers in this industry do this to us. We can wait months for them to pay us sometimes.

Perhaps your vehicle need to experience some unusual engine trouble, or you need to have a bout of gut rot for a few days. If they keep taking the piss, cut your losses and go and work for someone else.

Perhaps the reason there's no money to pay you is because they are using it to pay for the box at the football stadium and the huge mansion, and all the other things they are spending money like water on...

@OngoingConfidence
I can't find the relevant bit: section 13 attached relates to deductions.

@Oblomov23 in terms of legislation, deduction includes unpaid or underpaid wages

look OP it's up to you. Yes they are obviously being unreasonable (and sound a bit dodgy) but they are clearly treating you like 'part of the family' with all the advantages and disadvantages that entails.

Nothing anyone can say here is going to be in addition to the only 2 options you know you already have which are :

a) stay, accept the fact that for you the random additional benefits outweigh the occasional risk of not being paid on time, try and manage your finances to absorb it if it happens again (i.e. move any big dds to later in the month, try and build up a buffer, whatever)
b) prioritise being paid on time and leave

The only possible variation on a) is having a serious word with someone sufficiently higher up and putting your cards on the table, saying you appreciate all they've done for you, don't want to leave etc. but ultimately you need to get paid on time, so need an assurance it won't happen again or you're leaving.

One of the other staff said it's because it's a business account. Apparently, you have to contact the team and they get back to you in one working day, which means probs not till after the weekend if it happens after the helpdesk is closed for the day on Friday (they're only open till midday on Saturdays).

Last time it happened they apparently had to provide ID (passport etc) and also a ten second video repeating back set phrases.

The mansion etc was bought prior to these difficulties. I think the issue is that they spend thousands upon thousands on building materials but don't see the money back until the job is completed. For example, they've just started building a block of 150 apartments and I know it's stalling as they're still waiting on payment for a school they just completed who are dragging their heels in paying.

It's still not good enough but this is my only issue with them. I worry that I could go elsewhere and end up being paid on time but not liking the place as much. In fact, this happened with my mate. He left to work for another company slightly closer to home and isn't happy as the boss is a real bully. Shouted and swore at him down the phone on his third day for getting stuck in the mud despite the banksman who was guiding him telling him to keep coming back.

Same with another mate who works for one of the end clients. Went to a new plant and complained about the cement dust in the cabin (caused by holes in the door) and was told "you're not at Balfour Beatty anymore mate". For context, that stuff can give you silicosis and the guy fobbing him off was happily sitting in the office away from it all. He left but they won't give him a reference and he thinks they'll slag him off on the phone given any opportunity.

The pay issues only happen occasionally but it's a pisstake when it does happen. However, I'll have a financial buffer again in the next few months as I've almost paid off my car loan and have also finished restoring my pickup truck which cost me over £5k last year and was part of what killed my buffer. Waiting a few days to be paid wouldn't be an issue in that situation once I've got some margin.

I feel like I don't ideally want to put up with it but it's unlikely to happen often. I get paid fortnightly and it's happened thrice in the last two years - so three out of 100 paydays. As I said, a few days won't kill me once I've built up a buffer again.

My fear is that I could leave on principle due to something that isn't likely to be a real world problem in the future and I could end up worse off. A lot of companies treat drivers like commodities they can use and abuse, and at many other places I won't have the same opportunities to progress as I will here - very few companies will train a driver up to be a site manager. And on the other side of the company they always get paid on time.

It's nothing like working in an office and many office workers would be shocked by some of the unsafe practices and negligence I see when I visit some companies, and some of the working conditions people put up with. I feel like there are far worse places/problems out there and I like the contact I'm on, like my workmates, and get paid well. It's a tough one!

How can I do construction/trucking work from home?

This is pretty much it in a nutshell.

Lovely people, treat me like family, pay me more than all our competitors would (except for the massive companies who I'm not experienced enough to work for as need two years industry experience which I won't have until August). They're always extremely apologetic and seem generally embarrassed by it all.

So I could go elsewhere but I'd likely take a £5k pay cut just to get my money paid a few days earlier on the odd occasion. And I wouldn't get all the perks like them sorting me a cheap car, letting me use the mansion/football box, going to free gigs which my boss does the security for as his side business, etc, etc.

It's annoying but aside from this I feel the rest is much better than many competitors. I feel like a lot of people with normal office jobs are accustomed to everything being done to the letter and don't really know how this industry is.

Well then, you've made your choice. You need to suck up not being paid sometimes.

☝️this

I had a boss who was a bit short some months. He would also pay in full for other months. Turned out I wasn't able to claim the unpaid salary back as it wasn't consistent. Do be careful.

I've actually just told them this. Just put £25 of my last £50 in to get to work tomorrow and I'm keeping the rest for food.

Director is awaiting a call back and needs to provide ID. He's going into the bank tomorrow if not sorted by midday and has given me his word it will be sorted tomorrow one way or another.

I was dubious at first but after that conversation I'm pretty sure he's telling me the truth. It's exactly what my other boss said and I don't think they could've rehearsed it this convincingly if it was a porky pie.

It sounds like you've made up your mind OP, so you're just going to have to suck it up this time, but I would make a point of talking to someone who has a handle on the money side of things, and tell them that not only do you want a fuel card, but also, in view of the difficulties they've caused you, you think it wouldn't be unreasonable to request that your actual boss be issued with a float of some kind, so that if this happens again, there is money available to see you over. As a matter of interest, are you paying your fuel in cash, as if so, you'd be far better off using your own credit card to delay payment until you get your expenses.

Well, it's a bitter pill to swallow tbh. I'm gritting my teeth on principle but I just can't justify losing £5-7k off my salary to sort this issue and maybe ending up working for a company who don't otherwise treat me as well even if they pay me on time.

These guys are able to pay me so well because they already have lots of resources in the parent company and thus don't have the overheads most small logistics/aggregate companies have - e.g. they own lots of land where I can tip waste so they aren't paying landfill fees etc, and my boss has a garage so they don't pay for servicing etc.

Good suggestions.

Yes, I pay for my fuel in cash and get tax free reimbursements fortnightly. I do have a keyfuels card for the truck which is a lower rate for diesel than the public pay but not sure I can use for personal vehicle. I may ask as it'd be cheaper for them and require less upfront outlay from me.

For the people asking, my pension is now up to date.

You should have a fuel card and be paid on time. Where in the country are you, your skills are needs by professional teams that pay on time.

Sounds like cashflow issues.

If someone is locked out of online banking, most banks have a very standard process to get back it and they do it quickly especially if they value the business.

Most businesses would also ask the bank for an email so they could circulate to staff confirming that it's a technical error rather than a cash flow issue.

It just doesn't add up.

Most businesses would also ask the bank for an email so they could circulate to staff confirming that it's a technical error rather than a cash flow issue.

Well, yes, I agree but we're talking about builders and truckers here. It's not a blue chip corporate environment. Of course, this doesn't excuse it but realistically it's not an officey environment where people worry about paper trails and best practice like they did when I worked in an IT company or a solicitors.

I genuinely didn't feel my boss was lying earlier despite being initially sceptical, as I know him well. But cash flow issues have defo happened before and they're often slow to pay suppliers, who generally don't moan as they tend to know each other personally and usually know most of the extended family.

But they're profitable and the problem is less finding the work and more not biting off more than we can chew. We've got eight years work lined up on the construction side and are desperately trying to find more decent tipper and mixer drivers on the aggregate side as the clients we contract to need them throughout the country and so far we only have base trucks at plants up to about 90 mins away - there are lots in that vicinity though with many only 30 mins apart.