Weekly pay to monthly

[Echo40]

My employer has sent emails to all staff saying they switching from weekly pay to monthly to help us budget.
I have had monthly pay in the past previous jobs could manage as my jobs a 2nd income but other staff really worried.
Obviously for many may involve moving direct debit and bills around as they proposing middle of the month.
My husband is end of month.
Will quite miss weekly as I'm hourly minimum wage not salary anymore.
I can see some staff possibly wanting to leave over this.

What I'm unsure about is the time lines?
How much notice do they have to give.
Googled and said they have to do consultation and staff have to agree.
They could reissue now contracts so seems risky to say no as myself and few other less than 2 years service.
The law changed few years back that employees could get rid of much easier in 2 years used to be 1 year.

The email said for a time limited offer only that will be sent shortly we can sign up early and receive a bonus worth less than 1 weeks pay.
But after that everyone will be moved over to monthly anyway.
I assume the sign up bonus be taxed so not sure what to do.

I will be fine if I can save up some wages ie months worth but can't do that by Sept as it's the school holidays and September have back to school costs and 1 child's birthday.
Haven't even started on Xmas yet but really need to.
Hoped to clear the credit card by Dec and have remaining balance on school trip.
So all these extra costs and goals I have makes it harder to save a lump sum in short period.

Wondering how long the change be.
Would I be stupid not to take bonus and start earlier?
So much is going up I anticipate energy bill rise oct.
Food bill ridiculous and finding weekly handy for food and kids bus.
Mortgage is going up jan.
For me it's just cash flow would rather it happened after Xmas or new financial year.
No indication of when it will happen.
The bonus doesn't seem enough to tempt many.

I'm tempted to sit tight and wait.
If staff accept the bonus and sign up early then they consenting.
But not sure all staff will do this or realise the employer needs to gain consent to make significant change to contract.

Anyone been through this process how long did it take?
The more notice the better works for Me I can prepare and save over next few months.
Im doubtful it be any time soon I'm assuming ruled out sept as half way through August already.
Would be really harsh if done dec or January.
Oct/ Nov or March/ April to me seem most likely but have no idea.
I hate the not knowing.

Depends how much the bonus is and yes it will probably be taxed. I really think they should give at least 2/3 months notice before switching to monthly. See if you can change dates of direct debits and try to save as much money as you can to see you through. Most companies pay at the end of the month, but you really need exact dates.

The bonus for me based on hours worked is around 70% of weekly net pay.
The rise in minimum wage combined with hunt freezing tax bands means I'm now paying tax.
I pay roughly around £20 per week pension/ ni/ tax.

I'm in a better position than most as nearly all our direct debits except 5 are start of the month as husband paid the 30th so nearly all bills are paid from his salary my wages cover living costs bills middle of month and food/ kids travel/ misc.
I'm trying to save a 1 k emergency fund but it's hard as had few things go wrong around house / few appliances died a large vets bill these are typical variable expenses I use my wages for.

Proposed date 15th of the month.
As the bonus be taxed not sure its much of a bribe for me although it does say if you don't take up this time limited offer then everyone be moved over to monthly anyway.
They being disingenuous and non transparent.
They not making it clear about employee rights or making it clear the employee has to consent.
Feels sneaky I know from being ex employer pre kids that changing employee terms and conditions not easy.

Its clearly a money and time saver for them.
I work I a sector that's low paid and understaffed.
Where many don't have high levels of training or education.
Where the main benefit of the job is flexible hours and weekly pay.
I'm fearful how many may walk over this especially those who are single incomes or on benefits.

If I take the bonus then I'm consenting and the change could happen very soon plus after tax would it be worth the stress for a bonus £170 quid.
Or maybe just wait it out and try and save a proportion of weekly wages into separate savings account.
Wonder how many accept the bribe.
Tempted to stick it put and see what happens as another 19 pay days until Xmas the gift of time maybe more valuable for me personally than the bonus.

I'm fortunate our main income funds fixed bills? That we not in receipt of benefits.. But with cost of living crisis weekly pay was huge bonus/ appeal don't love the job be wrong time to move.
Had weekly pay and monthly in the past but never been with a company that changed payments schedule.

I had this many years ago ( so laws may of changed now ) originally we were told that the chang would take place within 8 weeks so told about it in early April that our pay would change to monthly in June and our pay date was the end of june. This message was sent out as a foot note on our ( paper) payslips , I realise that we should all check our payslips carefully but in reality who does ? We jut look at the total we are taking home.
So many people including myself missed the note.
Once we saw it we were horrified how the hell were we meant to make ends meet from the last week's pay in May all the way through to the end of June.

A couple of us got in touch with our union ( Unison ) and they slammed the anchor on the process.
After a week or two to'ing and fro'ing we were told that , yes the company can change from weekly to monthly but the need to give more notice and a smoother transition.

So the up shot was
Notified properly by letter ( it was before emails ) to be sent out at the end of April
The change would take place in September.
From September to December we would get paid every two weeks with a one week extra payment at the end of December to help in January.
This gave us all a bit of the to shuff our DD around and save up a bit.
I opened a new bank account and moved all my DD to that account and paided a weekly 'wage' into my old account for day to day cost / shopping etc.
I actually carried on doing this for a very long time ( years ) it helped me budget and save money.

Could you/ your union speak to the company to see if they will switch to bimonthly payment for a short term so you can acclimatise.

Paided ! ? 🙄paid

Yes it's taxable.

We didn't change to it but, before I retired, my husband was paid at end of month and me on 15th. Its nice being paid every 2 weeks!

I would have expected a formal letter.
Instead was done via internal messages / email which not many always read.
The email talks about other things like uniform policy not just pay.
They not made it clear its a consultation, that they need agreement .

They just said we plan switch from weekly to montly so you can budget easier.
That there's a time limited bonus email to follow shortly if sign up to monthly but everyone will be moved over eventually.
No idea when.

Thanks we can make it work just feels like massive inconvenience and stress lately as so many changes at work recently.

Its other staff I feel sorry for. I really can see many staff leaving and this being a disaster as its one if the few useful benefits working there.

They changed holidays rather than annual allowance we can book as we please we now limited per quarter.
Uniforms changing
Payslips went online still can't access mine.

I really would push back with this not only because of the changes to pay but it will probably affect your contract ( it did with mine ) regarding giving notice . Ours was 2 weeks when on weekly pay to two months notice on monthly pay .

Any changes to your contract should have a consultation period and sent out in emails / letter.
I really would recommend getting help from a union.

Imo it should also be a completely separate matter , not clumped in with uniform policy and other things.

They will change it anyway

This happened to me a few years ago, we went from weekly to monthly, they did one month where they paid us fortnightly. But we had to just suck it up
Rare as rocking horse shit to find a job that pays weekly now.

Will it affect your notice period?

Normally monthly pay means a month's notice.

Exactly my thoughts exactly don't like being bamboozled

I read it thinking this is odd shouldn't they be making it clear its a consultation.
That they not paying a bonus out the goodness of their hearts for early sign up.
Its a bribe/ trap that's taxable and as of say less than weeks pay for me.
No one in my work belongs to a union.
Many been there less than 2 years so can't claim unfair dismissal.
Theres few things lately with regards to employment that don't feel legit.
Not sure how much kickback there be.
Our contracts say we could be moved locations so they could just transfer me miles away that I couldn't get to and dismiss me that way.
So many staff unhappy about other things.
New crappy uniform can deal with they actually currently make us buy our own uniform at subsided price.

But the pay schedule feels like huge sticking point.
I know weekly not that common but it's what we have what we used to.
They frequently expect staff to do overtime to avoid paying agency more money so any overtime won't get paid until next month.
They frequently cock up wages as it is and say sorry we only paid ou half wages we will pay you right next week.
Under monthly people have to wait a whole month.
I'm set hours so my pay shouldn't vary but other members staff hours vary quite a lot week to week.
The months delay be less incentive staff to work extra and mean paying agency Double the minimum wage rate per hour.

I'm going to plan my finances and save accordingly so I'm prepared.
Think will skip the bonus as they being disingenuous about what it actually is.
All this crap how monthly pay Is a benefit when clearly the benefits more for them.
I would hate to take a loan from them or make the transition more complicated.

I opened a new bank account and moved all my DD to that account and paided a

thats the crux of eventually moving to monthly pay, open a new account and have all your direct debits coming out between the 16-18th of the month

Start putting the weekly amount into the account now, so for 26 weeks you build up a buffer

work out your bills and council tax over the entire year and divide by 48 (that way it gives you a bit more of a buffer) put that amount each week into the new account

Its easier to start again

you still have the remaining money each week to live upon and then when it changes to monthly its a simple switch

They just said we plan switch from weekly to montly so you can budget easier

This is clearly nonsense as they have no idea how you run your budget or the struggles of making ends meet on low wages. It's obviously a big change that will be hard to overcome for many.

There could however, be advantages, such as for those on UC, which I imagine will be a fair few, you won't get the 'five week month' problem, where you lose some of your UC a few times a year because you've been paid 5 instead of 4 times within your UC assessment period.

There's also the £170 bonus, which is extra money, although will be subject to tax, NI, pension and possibly loss of UC, so will be a lot less.

It could be that changing to monthly will improve the payroll process, due to reduced workload. However, it is not acceptable to make people wait until the next month, or even week to correct errors, this should be done within a day or two of the error being reported.

As you're not in a union, there's always ACAS available to get advice, to see what your rights are about the change to your employment contract. There's also a helpline and advice on rights about being paid on time.

https://www.acas.org.uk/changing-an-employment-contract

https://www.acas.org.uk/if-your-wages-are-not-paid