School wont pay me!

[mosaicone]

Really quickly if I can....
I have worked for local government in a few schools (cover supervisor) for 8 years now, it is continuous service.
I recently quit a job after 7 weeks, because I got a super fab new one much closer to home. When I told the head he was horrible to me, really intimidating, accusatory and then froze me out, didnt mention me in the leaving staff do etc.
Anyway, big girl pants, got through the last few days, having handed in my notice AS OF 1st August. Not ideal for them but had it been a working month I would still be there right?
I get paid pro rata so that I get paid ALL year and having not had a break from the same local government service in 8 years I rightly assumed Id be paid this month.
The head then instructed the HR dept to not pay me... I spoke to them and they said although he is wrong, unless he gives them the green light, I wont get paid and will have to go through mediation and then a tribunal.

I got legal advice from my father who was the Head of legal services for schools in our county (retired 2 years ago) and he said it is indeed illegal for the head to do this.

Anyone had an experience like this?!?!?

It is continuous service for 8 years. I got told by HR that that definitely is the case.

Just been though a tribunal, of money is involved speak to a solicitor, they will take up the case for you

Then you should ask on what legitimate grounds they are withholding your pay. Saying he says not to pay you is not a legitimate reason. Your contract is with the council.

There is a due process that you have to go through for dismissal and withholding pay for a contracted months work is illegal even if you had gone in and performed physical violence on him.

I would start getting "restrained" angry in emails IFSWIM.

I think it is a case of who they fear most you or him. I would think that if they think that it is going to cost them more money then they should be paying up.

You shouldn't have said your end date was the 1st of August. School staff should always put 31st August and then anything like this is easily avoided!

Trinity is right. If you think about it. Most likely you start your new job on first September. And you resigned from your old job as from 1st August. So in effect you have a month's break in service. You need some advice. But a sympathetic head should have pointed this out.

I read it as though the op handed in her notice starting from 1st August thus giving her an end date of 31st. Either way she will be owed money from hours worked that would have made up August's pay and accrued holiday pay.

Interestingly, whose budget would August's pay come out of? The school where she was for most of the year or the school where she's been for 7 weeks? It should be the first school, that's why I asked if she had a larger amount when she left. Or do County work all that out?

Sorry, I have to run so don't have time to RTT. Sorry if you've already had the answer.

As you are a local government employee, not a teacher, the new school doesn't have to pay you for the holiday. They pay you pro-rate for the holidays you have accrued while working for them, which wouldn't be sufficient to cover the whole summer, as you were there for such a short time.

Your previous school should have paid you for any accrued holidays that you hadn't taken when you left. So, whist "local government" should pay you a full 12 month's salary, the new school only owes you the amount of holiday you would have accrued during the time you were employed by them (including you notice period)

If the last school calculated your leaving salary properly, you should have received any accrued holiday pay in your final pay packet. If not, then your issue is with them.

You will still have continuous service in your new job, as your last day in the old one is 31 Aug and (presumably) the new one starts 1 Sep.

Please don't take any of the advice to tell OFSTED/complain to governors etc. You will look very silly. Check you last payslip from the previous school. If you don't have a "final holiday pay" amount (or similar) contact them.

Ah. oh dear

What Trinity said I'm afraid. You've ended your contract with one school and new contract won't begin until Sept leaving you without pay for the month nothing illegal.

I work for a LA and how we pay our class room assistants is that they get paid for 30 hrs per week 39 weeks per year.

So technically they should be paid as follows 1 months pay in Sept 3/4 in october a full month in November 2 weeks in December a full month in January 3 weeks in Feb, a full month in March, 2 weeks for April 3 weeks for May, a full month for June and whatever's left in July. Nothing in august. And then holiday pay on top.

Of course they don't actually pay people like this, they take 30/37 times 39/52 of a full time salary and add 30/37 times the number of days holidays get a total divide it by 12 and pay the equal mount each month.

So if you have worked a full year up to the end if term you should be paid as you are owed your holiday pay.

I'm sure you can argue that it was a simple misunderstanding / error which caused you to put in your letter the 1august not September. If seems patently unfair to deprive you of a Months salary which you are legitimately owed just because you put the wrong date on the letter and he's an arse.

These contracts are very complicated.

However, if you gave your resignation date as 1st August, presumably you actually gave notice on 1st July?

If that is the case, the Head has paid you properly and you now have a one month break of service until your new contract starts which means you have lost your continuous service protection.

However, if you gave notice on 1st August and said you were leaving on 31st August, he should have paid you until 31st August.

Which did you do, the first or the second?

I've re read this and I've now seen you only worked for 7 weeks which I assume is a half term? So it's likely that you weren't entitled to 3/12ths of the pro rata salary only 7 weeks plus accrued holiday pay, but this does rather depend on if you came from a job with the same arrangements (as you didn't work 12/12ths in that one so probably are owed holiday pay from that job) and are going to a new one with the same terms and conditions.

But let's assume the full time salary is £10k

10,00030/3739/52= 6324 plus holiday of 4/39 *6324= 6973

Or 581 per month paid in June and July = £1164

6324/39 *7 = 1135 plus holiday pay say 33 = £1170 owed for 7 weeks plus holiday pay.

So you're really not owed for August irrespective of when you resigned unless you had continuous service within the authority from your previous job in which case you are owed the holiday pay carried over the whole year and not just the 7 weeks.

Employment lawyers are better than unions anyway. Unions have no bite in my experience.

Employment lawyers are better than unions anyway. Unions have no bite in my experience.

Well. I got paid! Whether it's the continuous service holiday pay or not I don't know but the point is, we can eat next month.
Thanks for all your advice!

Hurrah!

Great news!