To expect to be backdated for pay for the past 3 years rather than just one month?

[Fireiswarm]

I worked for the NHS in a band 6 role for 5 years before I got a job at band 7 with another Trust. I joined the bank so I could do the odd band 6 shift with my old Trust and at the time they put me at mid point band 6, one spine point lower than I had been on my full time salary. I challenged this at the time but was told that this was due to not having a caseload and having universal contacts only rather than anything more complex. We backed and forth for a while before they put me on the same spine point I had been as a permanent team member.
Honestly, from there, I didn't give it anymore thought and I never checked my payslip really as I never did more than one shift a month at most and it was always just a bit of extra pocket money rather than an essential part of our income. This was 5 years ago and I have had 2 maternity leaves since then when I didn't work on bank at all for 2 non-consecutive years.
I have just returned from maternity leave now and started doing a bank shift once a week on top of my normal job to earn some extra money as mat leave swallowed all our savings. For the first time, I looked at my payslip and saw I'm still at midpoint band 6 when I should have been top band 6 for at least 3 years. I emailed my manager to ask why this was and she immediately came back and said of course I should be at the top of band 6 and adjusted it straight away. But she's come back to say that I will be backpaid since returning from mat leave which is only one month ago.
Truthfully, I'm not that fussed, I haven't worked much the past 3 years (1 day a month roughly then a full year of nothing until last month) and I was more gearing up to argue that I should be top band 6 expecting them to have had a reason for deliberately keeping me at mid point so the fact that they've agreed to move me straight away feels good enough. But I've mentioned it to DH and he says I should challenge again and say I expect it to be backdated for the full 3 years because that's where I should have been all along. But should I just let it go and accept that it's partially my fault for not looking at my payslips?

Yes it's your responsibility to look at your pay slips and make sure they are correct. It's also your responsibility to query anything you are not sure about. I really can't see them back paying you for 3 years especially when you only worked a day here and there.

Is that her job? Or is it payroll/managements job to make sure employees are being paid correctly?

Actually yes it's employees responsibility to check their pay slips and query any issues.

No it’s not her job but it is her responsibility to check her pay slip. I’ve challenged my pay slip in a couple of places because some organisations are dodgy and like to get away with paying people less. But also because payroll is done by humans and humans make mistakes.

It may be an employees responsibility to check their pay slips and query any issues, but some pay structures are so complex, she may well be able to argue that any errors were not readily recognisable.

Why not ? If they had been overpaying her for 3 years they'd want it back.

I would contact your union rep OP rather than rely on some of the snarky replies from posters on here who clearly have no idea of the complexities of the NHS T & Cs.

@CremeBrunette of course they do and that's absolutely fine but that doesn't mean the OP shouldn't receive the full back pay or assume full responsibility for the mistakes which were made. If it was the other way round, do you think the NHS would say no worries we'll just take what you owe for one month rather than 3 years - I highly doubt it!

As this is bank work, any back pay would just be for shifts actually worked? Do you have written evidence of the agreement to change you from mid point band 6 to the top? With a date on? If so, that is when they should backdate it from! I would e mail your payroll officer for your bank post directly. Send them the email confirming you were to move to the top of band 6 , make sure the date is clearly visible. They should then deal with the back payment, your manager doesn’t need to be involved.

Everyone (employer and employee) should be trying to ensure accuracy and check for mistakes. There is nothing official that says that the onus is on employees. That would be ridiculous.

Legally, the employer has to pay you for the work you do. Just like you have to pay for goods or services you buy. If you buy a loaf of bread, you can't pay two thirds of its worth. You have to pay for the loaf of bread. 100% of it.

OP has done 3 years of work as a high band 6, so that's what she should be paid for. The dates are neither here nor there - it may be inconvenient for the NHS to pay it out of the tax year, but that is their problem, not OP's. If there is evidence that she has done the work and was promised a certain rate for it, then she needs to be paid that rate. If this causes issues then the answer is better training/ staff for their payroll department.

My last organisation was hopeless with pay and frequently made mistakes. After years of underpayment I became hyper vigilant. But you shouldn't have to be - you should be able to trust your payroll department and most people assume they can.

Fight it OP and get what you deserve.

Why do you think you should have been at the top of the band 6 payscale for the past 3 years? If its because of a contractual right, e.g. your contract says you automatically go up a point each year, then yes you should challenge it. If its less clear or is optional on part of the employer then it may not be worth challenging.

This! They would have no issues whatsoever trying to get any overpayment from you. Therefore, I'd be requesting the back pay that is fully owed.

Call ACAS, they’re super helpful and will give you correct advice on what you should be getting and how to arrange it.

FWIW I agree with@TheSingingDefective, they’d make you pay it back if you’d been overpaid over the same period so seems likely they’d need to pay you back.

I can't tell which vote is which but the idea that you should have checked your paycheck is nonsense. Like, maybe you should have, but you were classified as a specific job and THAT is what determines your salary, so obviously they should backdate it. I am sure it'll be a pain for them, but it's someone's paid job to do so, so the fact that it's annoying isn't really the point.

Totally !

Imagine they'd overpaid OP over six years - pretty sure they'd be making efforts to get her to pay it back!

YANBU OP they should pay you the lost earnings over the past however many years and shifts.

Both.

I have never understood why people don't check payslips and contracts.

If she can prove that she should have been paid more then, in theory, she can pursue this or even go to court. And never have any bank work again.

Which is the better option OP? Serious question.

Yes they would… and this would still be partly the responsibility of the OP as an employee for the same reason, because we have individual responsibility to check our payslips are correct, whether too much or too little. If your employer accidentally put £500 extra in your bank, you don’t get to keep it- that’s still theft, yes the employer should be ensuring pay is correct but there is always some responsibility on the individual to check.

If the incorrect pay means you are below NMW, you can report this. If you have a contract/signed agreement with a date of this pay agreement then push the issue. But I think you’d find it hard to argue it for the 3 years if it was just a “yeah okay” on a phone call years ago sadly