To expect to be paid in December

[NigellaThornberry]

I started a new job on the 2nd of December and its a 0 hours contract where I will likely work 2 days a week, plus a bit extra over Christmas. At the interview I was told pay was monthly, but the contract states "pay is monthly in arrears and you will be paid into your bank account on the last working day of the month for hours worked in the previous month".
Surely they arnt expecting me to wait until the end of January to be paid, or are they?!
AIBU to expect to be paid in December, flr work done in December, which is what has usually been the case in other hospitality roles?

Could be poorly worded contract. I am pretty sure mine says the same and I get paid on the last Friday of the month for the month just gone (i.e. paid on the 27th of July for hours worked from the 21st of June up to the 21st of July).

A month in arrears means paid at the end of the month for the month worked.

YANBU.

My old job meant I got paid a month after so, December hours on a time sheet and pay at the end of January.

Thats what I assumed would be the case when they said it was monthly pay at the interview. But now I'm a bit worried

I think they are expecting it, yes.

I teach some tutorial groups at university. We submit timesheets for a month the month later, so for time worked in October, you submit it in early November and get paid at the end of November.

It’s just poorly worded. But you could contact the store manager / HR team to make sure?

Possibly. I used to get paid the following month when I worked as a supply teacher for the local authority, compared to a week in hand for supply teaching agencies. For example I didn't get paid until the end of October for September...

Probably easier if you just ask them.

It’s a month behind. They wouldn’t be able to pay you in December for hours worked in December because at the time when the payroll is being processed, you haven’t worked them all. And as it’s a 0 hour contract there’s no certainty they will be worked.

So at the beginning of January they would calculate how many hours you worked in December (or you would submit a timesheet) and they will process it and pay you at the end of January.

Some workplaces will give you some money in advance in exceptional circumstances- might be worth asking.

I think it would be the end of jan - depending on your payroll cut off, there wouldn't be time to process your December hours in December (submit time sheet, submit payroll, process payroll) so it would fall into January?

I've dropped accounts an email, so I'm crossing my fingers for clarification soon as I can't really afford to wait 2 months to be paid

I do think from the wording it will be the end of January I’m afraid, which is really crap. Unless they have a mid month payroll cut off like mentioned upthread. Does not sound like it though - apparently common with zero hour employers. I would definitely ask to find out, if this is the case ask for pay advance.

in my job you wouldn't be paid until January, we get paid on the 23rd and the cut off is the 1st.

I think the general consensus is I'm unlikely to be paid till January, which is super annoying 😐 I wish they had pointed this out when I asked about pay

When I retired I took on a little zero-hours PT role and that was paid monthly in 1-month arrears. That meant that work carried out in April (for instance) was paid at the end of May.

Same as how I had been paid for most of my working life so if you can get over the initial cash "drought" then you will be ok.
If not then it isn't the job for you. ☹️

Monthly in arrears means you get paid in December for November's hours, January for December's hours, etc.

My husbands contract said this and I was panicking but he did get paid at the end of the month he'd started. Definitely call HR though to put your mind at rest

Paid in arrears simply means being paid after work completed - I used to get paid on 15th of the month - half in arrears, half in advance. As you can see above some other places make you work effectively a month in hand.

It’s complicated a bit by being a zero hours contract so you’ll need to wait and see.

I’m running December payroll next week and have a cut off date of Thursday 14th when I’ll need everyone’s submissions so any additional hours up to then will be paid in December.

Lots of jobs are like this, it reads as if you’ll be paid at the end of January for work done in December which is quite normal especially as others have said when in 0 hour contracts because you are still “working” on for example the 31st December. They have to wait until you’ve worked the entire month before they know how many hours you’ve done and then they run payroll and pay at the end of the following month x

My overtime is paid a month in arrears, so any hours worked in December I will be paid for in January.

My core hours are paid at the end of the month. Its super confusing, and with two job roles my pay slip is a nightmare to understand.

That's pretty standard for a MW job OP.

Because employees don't work the same hours every month they need time to work it out and pay them for what they have worked. I appreciate this doesn't take a month but it wouldn't really be possible to do on the last day of every month which is why they don't that way.

You will be paid January, if you are on zero hours how can they possibly no what shifts you are going to work in December for them to pay you for? Likely payroll cut off is the middle of the month and they may end up under or over paying you, how could they pay you in December?

Every other job I have had has had a cut off sometime before the end of the month eg 21st November -21st December, which would then be paid the last working day. Which is why I was a bit surprised that I would be waiting 2 full months to receive any pay. I've never worked for a company that has needed 4 weeks to process pay, even for 0 hours contracts, and I've worked for a lot of different companies of different sizes within the hospitality industry, obvs I can't comment on whether this is usual in other industries.

I work for nhs, cut off for all overtime, sickness etc is on the 10th so all of these bits are done a month in arrears. Could you ask for a loan to tide you over?

@NigellaThornberry

People love to pretend payroll is complicated but in reality the basics are easy and there is no reason to have someone wait for their pay so long.

I put people on payroll the day they start - part of their first day is ensuring all payroll forms are submitted and generally speaking they’re paid that first month.

I understand it’s not straightforward in December or with zero hours but a cut off for approved submissions something like 20th of the month and then paid the following week is perfectly reasonable.