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 you try and work as much as you can early on in December, then around a week before the end of the month ask if it would be possible for an advance of a sum no greater than half to 2/3 the hours worked to date?

It’s not a pisstake. The contract clearly states you will be paid in January for December’s work!

AnneValentine the contract is stating "for the previous month" so I think pay roll runs for a calender month.

I fully understand not being able to be paid on the last Friday for work done up to and including the last Friday. But I think it's shit expecting employees to wait another month for that pay. As a PP pointed out, it's expecting employees to effectively loan them their time. I'm my cause its 16 hours a week for over 8 weeks which is a considerable amount of money, especially when this wasn't stated up front when I asked about pay. I had another job offer which I would have accepted had they been up front about it

It is a piss take not to explicitly state this when asked when it is not the industry norm and when I asked why I applied for the role (I'm over qualified) one of the reasons I stated was a few extra pennies for Christmas

I've been paid on this sort of basis in the past, but the pay rate was relatively high. It depends from organisation to organisation, but many will make a payment in advance (i.e. a one-off payment that doesn't go through the December payroll but will be deducted at the end of January) in these sort of circumstances. As a manager I originally had no issues with authorising this as long as there was proof that work had been completed; but it does sometimes become difficult for some employees to manage the fact that their take home pay the following month will be significantly lower.

It says you’re paid a month in arrears doesn’t it? So it is explicitly stated, you just didn’t realise what that meant. As you can see from lots of the replies on here, people do know this means a month behind. It’s pretty normal & well known, so you may not have understood what they meant, but the company were clear in their words.

You may be able to ask for a pay advance. They would then 'deduct' this the next month. So at some point you would have to wait for your money, but it might at least help you over Christmas?

The contract does, but at the interview I was told monthly and the next pay day was the end of December. Which yes, that's true, but very misleading as I won't be paid till the end of January. The offer letter said monthly in arrears, which in every other job has meant pay roll runs eg 20th to 19th with pay being end of the month. Not a whole calender month from the end of one pay period to be paid

No, monthly in arrears means exactly what it says. A month behind. Very clear

It's not very clear.

I get paid monthly in arrears, as it says in my contract. I will actually be paid for December on the 21st because it's Christmas.

What the OP is talking about is called a month in hand, which is only usually applied to those paid weekly. Each Friday they get paid for the previous week.

Making people wait 2 months is unacceptable but as a minimum they should offer at least 2 weeks pay as an advance.

That's terrible!!!! I'm so thankful I live in a country where people aren't generally paid monthly anyway, but that is next level.

I thjnk this is horrendous. Payroll should cut off at end of third weeknif they can't organise themselves. Its taking advantage. I have always had a salaried job and always paid in arrears at the end of the month worked.

It’s a pisstake to expect an employee to wait so long to get paid. It’s like giving the employer an interest free loan.

As a Payroll Manager, this would be near on impossible in some (most?) industry's.

For our salaries monthly payroll, we cut off on 12th. We then process, check, amend, check and send via BACS 2 days before pay day. it's actually very tight. We couldn't cut off later and looking to actually cut off earlier.

Our weekly staff are a week in arrears.

I've worked a lot of places where zero hours is a whole month in arrears, that's pretty standard.

Payroll cutoff is just determined by the complexity of the payroll and the way an employer is organised. Later cutoffs can be done, but they require investment in staff and technology and process changes that most aren't interested in.

There is also the old-fashioned silo culture in a lot of employers where Payroll regard themselves as the Police of the rest of the organisation's stupidity.

Whatever the particular challenges - making employees wait two months to get paid is really unfair and totally unnecessary - it's a choice an employer is making.

I do a casual side job and any work I do in December is submitted on a time sheet at the end if December and paid at the end of January. I actually think my main job may be like this although I've been here so long that I can't fully remember. It's school based so pro rata too so spread out over the year.

My daughters got seasonal jobs a couple of Xmas’ ago working at Build A Bear, they didn’t get paid for December until end of January and the pay rate was awful, one daughter was under 18 and got something like £5.?? An hour.

I’ve always been paid monthly in arrears but at the end of the month so if I started work beginning of December I would receive Decembers money at the end of the month?

No you will be paid for December. Otherwise that would be two months in arrears

Anyway, just ask them. No point starting a thread about it

it’s a perfectly reasonable question to ask your employer

I don’t think YABU for wanting to be paid in December for Decembers work, however, if your contract states you need to work a month in hand and you have already signed it you really can’t complain. I get paid monthly, I’m paid the last Thursday of each month for my work the previous month, it’s a nuisance for the first two months but it’s fine afterwards.

I get paid in arrears, so I submit my timesheet for the month on the 1st/2nd of the following month and I'm paid on the 6th. I probably wouldn't have taken the job if I had to wait until the end of the following month, that's a very long time to wait for pay owed.

That’s how it works in most places, I’ve often had to work 7 weeks to get paid first. Pretty normal.

These employers do realise that Frank Cross is a. fictional and b not someone to emulate right?

I suspect this is partly the reason Christmas jobs as they were dont exist any more. After all the whole point of a Christmas job is that you have the extra money for Christmas........not Burns Night