AIBU: to think my employer should pay us ON TIME?

[Rachel2796]

AIBU to think my employer should pay us on time?

I get paid fortnightly on a Friday and for the 8th time in about 12 months my boss has put the wages through a day late meaning instead of getting paid on a Friday we all get paid on the Monday.

To make things worse she put them through late last week and we should have been paid at midnight on Thursday, but in fact we will not be paid until Wednesday becuase of the bank holidays.

There are about 60 employees working for her company (not all paid fortnightly - some monthly) and everyone I have spoken to is very angry as its becoming a regular occurance.

I don't think it's a question of cash-flow, she is simply absent minded and doesn't care about her employees! When my colleage asked her about it she said she'd "forgotten" to put them through but it would be ok as "they'll still get their money".

I am not really out of pocket as I only work 16 hours a week and my husband is the main bread-winner, it's just a matter of principle really and I know it's a real problem for some of my colleagues who are now having to use their overdrafts.

Does this happen to anyone else out there?

Not quite the same - but I've worked for a huge organisation before and if pay day (the 6th of the month) fell on a Saturday then we'd always get paid on the following Monday - or sometimes Tuesday if it was a bank holiday. It's deliberate to earn more interest from the staff wages.

YANBU. I would assume your contract states you will get paid fortnightly on Friday?

I was working for a very small company once and the cheque bounced! I wasn't there long.

When you get paid on a specific date in the month, payroll will normally spell out what the deal is if the date falls on the weekend (i.e. you get paid Monday instead). But that's not your situation...you've been told you'll be paid on a certain date and then it is late. Totally unacceptable.

Yes my contract states fortnightly on a Friday since I work part-time and get paid hourly.

Some of my colleagues get paid a salary and are paid on the last Friday of the month so payday for everyone always falls on a Friday so it should be quite simple for her!

Sounds like they need to appoint someone whose job it is to do the pay run on time . Personally I'd be wondering if the company was struggling to make the wages.

If you're charged by your bank for exceeding your overdraft or for transactions bouncing then ask for them to be paid by your company.

this has happened to me before
our boss has had a few hiccups with wages going in the bank late
the first time we all thought that it was a genuine mistake
but the second time, we all marched up to the office and demanded subs from petty cash
we have also had our wage slips posted out to us without stamps and cost us all over a pound to go and collect them
he blamed that one on his PA

I take it the absent minded boss has never had to live a more frugal existance? I am frequently having to remind my boss to sort out people's expenses which to him are 'petty' amounts but to them are a lot more.
Is it worth pointing out to the boss that people have their d.d's set up for their salary dates and these d.d's are still honoured so if there is a short fall then bank charges are incurred?
If, contractually speaking, she is supposed to pay them on a specified date then she may be asked for said charges.
I have worked in places where we had to pay bank charges cos we cocked up on someones salary and they weren't paid.

It sounds pretty inexcusable, but not sure of the law in this case.

I've tried to google for info, and best I can come up with is ACAS which has a helpline for employment issues. Perhaps you could phone them and get some advice?

www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1565

This is exactly the same situation as my hubby. He works just 16 hours per week and gets paid fortnightly and I'm the main breadwinner in our house, so just use his cash for day to day living and mine to pay all the bills. He was due to be paid on Friday, but has been told it will be Tuesday now as they forgot to put the wages through early enough in time for bank hols. Its drives me mad as its the principle, we will be living in our overdraft for 5 days that we shouldn't have to. Some staff members have had high bank charges in the past due to rejected direct debits. They knew nobody would be paid on friday, on Thursday as my hubby phoned me from work as they asked him if he wanted a sub (1st time they have done this, usually they claim to not know this was going to happen)

Its not the first time either, and sometimes he's the only one that hasn't been paid. On xmas day they went on holiday to the canaries for two weeks and nobody got paid at all because they werent there to authorise it. Its like a kick in the teeth after he worked all xmas day for only £10 per hour. He's a chef by the way at a small hotel and I think its more of a cash-flow problem with them, as I also suspect they knock hours of everyones time card to save money, which I'm going to be keeping any eye on from now. I unfortunately don't have any advice, my hubby just tells me to not kick off as we need the money and theres no other jobs around at the moment.

My husband also says not to kick off as I do like my job and have flexi hours which is great...

But it's a complete lack of respect for the staff in my opinion!

Sarah- seems like we are in the same boat - pls tell your husband I sympathise! I was on mat. leave last Xmas but apparently the boss forgot to put the wages through on 26th Dec!

I franked two personal letters today so I feel a little bit better !

Understand you not wanting to kick off, but still think it'd be worth contact ACAS to see if they can recommend anything that you and your colleagues could do as a group.

I think some employers think they can do what they like regardless of any employment laws etc not just regarding pay. I have just started maternity leave and dh has booked two weeks paternity leave off when I was due to have a c-section, but now the dates are up in the air and I don't know when I'm due to have my section as I have been put on stand-by for some dates. They are insisting he takes it on the dates he has booked even though the baby may not be born the, and so you can't take paternity leave then according to the government. He hasn't even got a contract and has worked there two years, whenever he asks for one, they said he doesnt need one. He is currently looking for another job, and will hopefully get something more reliable and above board!

I think (disclaimer here) that by law you have to be paid according to your contract, and I also thought that if your pay day fell on a weekend or bank holiday you were entitled to be paid before not after...

I've only had 1 instant of not being paid on time and ended up getting returned direct debits cos everything goes out of my account on the 1st of the month (and was paid on the last day). I demanded that my employer covered all dd charges and also got them to send me an email from payroll explaining that it was their fault to send on to all the people who didn't get paid.

If she is just absent minded (which throws up a load of other questions to be honest), then gentle reminders throughout the fortnight may work!

Messing around with pay dates is a sure sign of cashflow problems...
She just doesn't want to tip anyone off yet (if people start leaving in droves, it just speeds up the process)

my DH was getting paid on the last working day of each month then it was changed to the 25th and now it's back to the last day again and no-one knows why it was change either time.

homeinthesun change in payroll agencies?