Salary Confusion

[Sausagethief]

Good evening,

I would be enormously grateful if someone could shed some light. I originally posted this in Employment, but I have had no answers...

I have recently started a job in a FE College in London. The post is term time only and the salary is £20,000 pro rata, but actual salary £17,000.

I signed my contract which explicitly stated my actual annual salary would be £17,000, paid monthly. On receipt of my first wage I found to my surprise that the college are paying me on an adjusted salary of £14,000 per annum because of the time of year I have started and the amount of holiday vs working weeks (started end of April, I will have 1 weeks half term and 4 weeks summer hols). They said I will start getting an annual salary of £17,000 come September when the new academic year starts.

Can they do this? Reduce an already pro rata'd wage? Under no circumstances was this explained to me before I accepted the job, or was there any mention in letter or contract. I was told I would receive an annual salary of £17,000. Annual not academic year. I asked them if on the anniversary of my year working there, ie: my 365th day anniversary being at the end of April 2016, will I have earned what is stated in my contract and they said no. Surely this isn't right? Is it?

Many thanks for taking the time to read

It's the term time aspect, I think. Go and talk to the payroll clerk. They are usually really good at explaining how it all works HR are never fully informed on it, it is a really technical area.

I have 2 members of staff who had a similar conversation in January. 1 was happy with the info, understood whatever it was she had been told. The other wasn't and called on her union rep, who got another payroll bod to help.

Which is why I am able to point you in that direction. Oh, they are usually sat in a secure room within Finance as they have lots of confidential info at their fingertips