I am living on the breadline thanks to my employers mistakes.

[Walkingonsunshine12]

Hello,

Hoping I can seek advice here.

A bit of background information. I am a single parent, I work 25 hours a week and I am on Universal credit.

Last month I left my job which I had worked at for over a year and a half. I decided to leave to pursue a new career. I left that employment on the 31st and their was no issues with my wages or me leaving.

I was due to start my new job on the 6th January 2020. I started on this date however due to an admin error at my new workplace, they decided that I had started work on the 6th of December, created me a payslip and tried to pay me for the month of December. Luckily I saw the error and rose it with them on the 22nd December. I asked them to stop the payment as not only would this mean I would owe them in excess of £700 but it would also affect my benefits this month as benefits would see that I earnt 2 incomes for December 2019.

It took me days of chasing however they did manage to stop the payment however they still notified HMRC that they paid me. They apparently can not remove this off my account.

To stop me being paid, they have stopped my "employment" with them. This means I currently have no contract with them and as it also stands, they are now telling me because I do not have a contract with them at the moment, because they stopped my contract and i don't exist on their records I shall not be paid this month and I will have to wait to be paid until the 29th next month. As it stands I have been going in to work since the date that I started - 6th January 2020.

I am scared, stressed and panicked about the whole situation. I have tried to put in complaints but the complaints team say it is down to HR and I am getting no where as they tell me to "wait" for it to be sorted. I have documents from them stating that if I started work with them before the 12th of any given month, I would be paid at the end of that month.

As it stands at the moment, I will not be given any benefits this month due to them declaring that I earnt an income with them last month, even though this is false and I did not. Due to me being paid from my old job last month, any benefit's will be wiped out because Universal credit will say I earnt too much. My old job also paid me early due to Christmas so as it stands I face not being paid from the 16th December 2019 until the 29th Feb 2020 with wages and in that time I would have only had a £500 universal credit payment which I got on the 5th January.

Next month my benefits will also be affected - HMRC will say that I did not earn an income this month and then in the month of April, my benefits will be affected again due to my new job giving me 2 payments. This will wipe out my benefit entitlement again!

I really am at a loss of what to do. I have enough money to last me until the end of the month. I haven't eaten in days as I am so worried about how I will be able to pay for my child's childcare to even get to work next month, let alone feed him for the next few weeks.

I don't know what I did to deserve this and I don't know how I can get myself out of this hole.

Any advice please, I am desperate.

I'm really sorry OP that I don't have some more helpful advice, but I would contact citizens advice on 03444 111 444 (9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday) and see if they have a solution/if they can offer advice. you could also try calling the Universal Credit helpline, although I suspect this will have the same opening hours as above and I'm not sure you speak with a real person (0800 328 5644). all the best x

My god what a complete mess up by your employer, I really don't see how they can not pay you wether a contract or not in over two months! And would keep pushing with hr as that's unacceptable and I would have thought illegal.

I've not been in the same situation with an employer but with universal credits, when they stopped a payment for one month while they were investigating wether I was entitled to more help with housing.

Definitely contact citizens advice, they were great and often have an advisor that specialises in the benefits advice. Even though the details of your wages have been sent to hmrc, you have not been paid into your account.

Can you ring the universal credit helpline and tell them you have proof that no wages received? Keep asking and explain that this is not your fault and they could make a payment?

Also keep on with hr that they pay you as due. They cannot expect an employee to work for two months without payment and I would be insisting that it was their mistake and that they sort it out.

I hope you get everything sorted out asap

Just as another thought, you could try the gingerbread helpline, they may be able to give advice?

I am so sorry this has happened to you. This is a monumental cock-up by your new employer.

There are things they can do:-

1. They can sort January payroll out. Normally payroll have set deadlines by which changes can be notified. But it is usually possible for payroll to make changes up to a later point if there are extenuating circumstances. If you are paid around 28/month then it should still be possible to make changes but you need to be on the phone to them tomorrow.

At the moment you are in "computer says no" territory. Do not settle for the message that changes are not possible. I would strongly recommend that you call your company's payroll manager and discuss what has happened. Clearly outline the cost to you of their internal mistakes and stress that you have no money for food or childcare. I would also strongly recommend that you send an email to your HR department - in this email you should outline the mistakes made so far, the consequences for you, the remedy you seek.

1. If they cannot change January payroll then they should be able to make an advance to you of net wages due for January. This would then get deducted from the total February payment to leave you in the right position.

1. If none of this works - go and talk to your childcare provider. Explain the lack of payments and ask if you can pay them at the end of February when you will get the double pay,

I hope some of this helps.

Have you already asked for a salary advance? I'd do that straight away.

Something similar happened to me but it was a mistake in the wages office - someone had missed out a decimal point in my overtime (so basically it looked like I had worked 24/7 for 4 weeks!) . Even though the error never actually got to my bank account my benefit was stopped for 3 weeks. When I asked for the money back they refused, even went to tribunal still turned down, I had to wait another 5 months (April) to get the 3 weeks worth off money back. It is so frustrating especially when it is not your fault.

Good luck, I hope you get somewhere with them - could your employer write to them explaining what the mess up was?

Above is great advice. Also phone your HV ask for a food bank referral - you need to eat. It’s situational and they totally get that. They may also have some advice on benefits.

Explain to your direct line manager and ask for a salary advance. This is ‘technically’ a loan of your net pay and should be repaid by deduction in your first payslip.

It's not true your employer can't correct December pay. They can rerun your salary as 0 and resubmit the RTI. This is what they should be doing

ACAS can also be helpful in these circumstances if you were a member of the Union in this or your last job.

ACAS are helpful regardless of whether or not you are or have been a member of a union.

How can you raise the issue of an error on December 22 2019 when you hadn't started working for them and didn't do so until the 6th January 2020?

It’s a mess up !

I thought I would update this.

Basically my work place DID pay me my wages for January however the earnings they reported in December has been a huge mess and now I am on the breadline thanks to them.

They decided to let HMRC know that they paid me in December - even though no money hit my account. To sort the issue out, they have now told HMRC that I am minus that amount of money in January and ended my employment with them on the 6th December - when it apparently started... This has had a huge affect on my benefits this month and now I am over £450 down.

They have then created a new employment for me as of January and let HMRC know about this employment which is correct. They have included the correct money they have paid me this month.

However, I am now down money this month as Universal credit said I earnt the money for December. I am now worried how the minus figure and my correct wages will affect my payment next month.

Help please?

You can raise some kind of appeal with UC, it is fairly common for different figures to be reported by HMRC to what has been paid.

Ask CAB for more detailed advice on how to do this.

It’s worth noting UC works month by month so you could earn have for example
500 uc minus wages of 1000 one month meaning you take home 1000 wages and no uc
but the next month 500 uc minus 150 wages meaning your take home 350 uc plus 150 wages

Sorry that was a crap explanation but basically they only look at one month at a time so the next payment won’t be affected by this monumental cock up