To feel pissed off about this (salary)

[FlappicusSmith]

I accepted a job at a salary of X amount. Received and signed contract, which says £X salary for '36 hours p/w (full time)'.

I just got my first payslip and my gross monthly pay is less than I was expecting. i.e. it is less than 'X divided by 12'. Some ChatGPT'ing has revealed that apparently in this sector it's 'normal' to quote 'spine' salaries based on a 37hr week and that my paid salary reflects that my contract is for 36hrs.

At no point was this communicated to me. My contract says 'full time'. Nowhere does it say anything about that being pro-rata. Neither was it communicated during the offer/ negotiation/ acceptance stage.

Has anyone come across this before? In my many, many years of working I have never heard of this and I'm really miffed!

Call ACAS for fee advice

But genuinely, don’t over estimate the relative options here. 100% speak to you employer, explain the situation, try and sort it.

but remember the legal obligation they owe you is “notice” which I bet is one week.

They can dismiss you. If they do, you don’t have unfair dismissal rights yet. It’s not discrimination. Unlikely to be whistleblowing.

if you aren’t happy and they don’t sack you - your choices are - like it or lump it.

so I’d be winning hearts and minds - positively looking for a solution.

and here is the thing - even if you manage to argue a legal case….that will take years to go through the courts, they might but pay up, you have a duty to mitigate.

so before following advice that has you storming into an HR meeting with grievance in hand…think about what you are trying to achieve and he best and most realistic way to get there.

PS - I bet this is some simple mix up and once you speak to them nicely it’s resolved. If you go in looking for a fight you might just end up with a P45.

As someone who processes payroll, I suggest you speak directly to them rather than speculate. It will not offend anyone.

I often have starters asking me about their first pay, and its a quick conversation and a great way to say hello too.

Most can also assist with the contract wording too i.e. If it stated pro rata anywhere or stated that standard working hours in the company are XX hours

Just ask them, as we don't know and are speculating too

Just to add- there is no reason to be angry or go in guns blazing.

Just ask the question and then review the response accordingly.

@FlappicusSmith I think this could be read as an explanation of the 36/37 you've been paid.
If the spinal point is the industry standard also 37 hours, but full time for this job is 36 hours that is the calculation. The two factors aren't directly connected in the contract but very misleading if so.
The real issue is that not being explained to you before you accepted the job.
Unless this is a well known variation in your line of work I think you'd have strong grounds to challenge and agree a solution that gives you the gross salary you expected.

Me neither. Your offer was the amount for a full time role and your contract says your role is full time.

I hope you weren’t Mrs angry when you spoke to HR. There’s probably a justifiable reason like you haven even worked a full month!

I would tell them you’re really annoyed by this lack of awareness and you would like to re-negotiate. I did in last job, got an additional £5k a year

You said you’ve queried it with HR, have they replied?
If your contract says x salary for a 36hr week then you’ll get x salary for a 36hr week. There’s no pro-rata for mythical 37hr week, whatever Chat GPT says.

What does your payslip say? All the info you need should (hopefully) be in there. I know mine details yearly salary, hourly salary, hours worked and all deductions.

That's a load of waffle sorry. The contract clearly states salary X for 36 hours (FT) per OP's post. This is how she should be paid. FT salary for FT hours, 36.

And that's correct to say they'd need to up your agreed salary accordingly if they want you to work 37 hrs (and you agree).

Anyone in payroll will be pleased if you query. They might have been given the wrong information. They will be happy to explain or put it right.

It won't annoy anyone. What would annoy payroll is your not contacting them to ask , but talking about it to everyone else. Get your line manager to ask, or if you can ask the right person in payroll.

it will be the first month thing.

you joined on 2nd so payroll prorated the pay for first (and last months) as annual salary /262 by number of days you worked.

so 20/262 in February. If it was January 2nd it would be 22/262 ish.

I think its more likely to do with your starting date. How much was your pay short? I absolutely wouldn't go in with all guns blazing. Just ask payroll. If a salary was on my contract thats what I'd expect to be paid unless it went on to mention that it would be pro rata and gavd the pro rata salary.

i’d guess it was due to a start date. I’ve been screwed by this a few times. Eg I’ve started on the 3rd of the month and worked every working day that month but because it was determined by calendar days I lost the equivalent of 2/31 days of pay.

It’ll be because you started on presumably Monday 2nd Feb (you still haven’t answered when your start date was), so have lost a day’s pay. Usually the first month’s pay at a new job is a bit lower for this reason.

I hope you're right!

I've heard it all now.
It's 'annoying' to talk to HR to clarify a point about your salary?
Some women have really swallowed the misogyny pills when it comes to standing up for themselves.

No you talk to payroll is what I meant. Probation period passing has to be a priority and pay will catch up in March

If you've worked all available working days in the month I would not be expecting a reduction just because it's February

Agree! What should we do stay quiet and be grateful we got the vote?!

No fucking way. I dont know if OP is male or female or otherwise but every single person should "annoy" HR the very moment they have a query about their pay or workplace.

If its an NHS role 37.5 and 36 hours are both classed as full time, many opt for 36 hours as you don’t do a make up shift every 8 weeks for the 1.5 hours, however there is then a reduction in pay.

The salary and spine point would be advertised at the standard for that band FT 37.5 hours but then reduced accordingly for hours.

NHS don’t have spine points

HR massively messed up my salary when I started my job last year. Took a month to sort it out.

This sounds like exactly what has happened but ao weird they didn't make it clear. How would anyone outside the NHS ever understand the system? If I got a contract with a salary which stated that 36 hours was full time I'd fully expect the full salary for 36 hours.