Forum

• # 109898
• Tue 11 Aug 2015 12:09 PM

To Whoever can help?

My company have decided to change our payday from the last working dayi of the month to now mid month (18th) to give payroll a better chance of calculating  our correct wages, which has caused an uproar for all staff involved for 2 reasons we are losing 2wks mony to be paid in arrears & Staff saying they'll have to change DD & standing orders etc... Some longer members of staff have had to change them before as they were paid every 4weeks, which meant they had 13 paydays in a year, I too have put up my objections as I am one of the worst off when this change comes into play starting end of Aug 15, as I am the lowest paid member of staff with no savings to cover the change over

THe companies plan of action is:

To pay us on the last working fri in Aug = Aug basic pay & any O/T & any deductions* (*Sick, AOE, Child support etc...) from July, & plus pay us an addition 2weeks pay

then not pay us until 18th Oct = which would cover: Sept pay & any O/T from Aug & sept & and deductions from these months

then they'll pay us on Nov 18th = Oct basic wage plus any O/T and minus decuctions from Sept & Oct & then also Take Back one weeks moony from the attitional 2wks money they paid us in Aug - (So we only get 3wks pay)

Then they'll pay uson 18th Dec = Nov Basic wage & any O/T & minus the Decutions for the same period plus take back the other one weeks pay they paid us in Aug - (so we only get 3wks pay) Which is a struggle for all at chrismas time

Can anyone suggest any simpllier way of making this change? without limiting our wages? to 3weeks,

Any advice or suggestions would be great

Many thanks

Donna (AICB)

• Hi All
  I'm Donna from Dagenham, Qualified in 2008, while working as a pts ambulance driver,now controller, looking to follow my dream to become a fulltime bookkeeper and possibly start my own business, had quite a few knock backs due to lack of experience, but i still plod on... if anyone has any advice on how to get that 1st step on the bookkeeping career ladder or starting my own business? or anyone Willing to take me under their wing, to sponcer me, as their right hand woman, I'm all ears, all advice greatfully appreciated

• 
  Quote
  

• # 109901
• Tue 11 Aug 2015 12:53 PM

Hi Donna,

Whilst I understand that nobody likes change of any kind sometimes a business has to make changes in order to run more efficiently.

From reading what you have said it appears to me that your employer has gone about this in a fair and reasonable manner.

They are paying you an additional 2 weeks pay at the end of August. This is to assist you in getting prepared financially for the actual changeover - not something they have to do.

Obviously this 2 weeks money has to be repaid at some point and they have chosen to start it 2 months later to give you time to adjust.

Payroll with overtime and deductions etc all takes time to process correctly and it is normal practice to pay this in arrears to give payroll dept time to collate figures - especially if here are a lot of employees.

There is not a lot you can do as the employer is entitled to make these changes for the benefit of the business.

However, you could approach them with a view to repaying over a longer period - maybe at a set figure per month until fully repaid.

I do agree they could have picked a better time as Christmas is stressful anyway.

Marilyn

• A clever person solves a problem.

  A wise person avoids it.

  Albert Enstein

• 
  Quote
  

• # 109902
• Tue 11 Aug 2015 12:54 PM

MM Bookkeeping said:

“

Hi Donna,

Whilst I understand that nobody likes change of any kind sometimes a business has to make changes in order to run more efficiently.

From reading what you have said it appears to me that your employer has gone about this in a fair and reasonable manner.

They are paying you an additional 2 weeks pay at the end of August. This is to assist you in getting prepared financially for the actual changeover - not something they have to do.

Obviously this 2 weeks money has to be repaid at some point and they have chosen to start it 2 months later to give you time to adjust.

Payroll with overtime and deductions etc all takes time to process correctly and it is normal practice to pay this in arrears to give payroll dept time to collate figures - especially if there are a lot of employees.

There is not a lot you can do as the employer is entitled to make these changes for the benefit of the business.

However, you could approach them with a view to repaying over a longer period - maybe at a set figure per month until fully repaid.

I do agree they could have picked a better time as Christmas is stressful anyway.

Marilyn

”

• A clever person solves a problem.

  A wise person avoids it.

  Albert Enstein

• 
  Quote
  

• # 109903
• Tue 11 Aug 2015 03:04 PM

Thanks For your reply Marilyn,

I can understand the dilema of changing dates of payroll to benefit the company, but i have 2 issues with this:

1, No September pay? surely this is illegal? could they not pay us on 18th Sept then 18th OCt & 18th Nov etc... and take back the 2 weeks money from Jan onwards and in smaller amounts for those who struggle already? but apparently paying back the weeks money need to be done before chrismas

2, Why Change something that is working perfectly fine as it is.... Whats the old saying: "if its not broke dont try  & fix it" or something along those lines???

Regards

Donna

• Hi All
  I'm Donna from Dagenham, Qualified in 2008, while working as a pts ambulance driver,now controller, looking to follow my dream to become a fulltime bookkeeper and possibly start my own business, had quite a few knock backs due to lack of experience, but i still plod on... if anyone has any advice on how to get that 1st step on the bookkeeping career ladder or starting my own business? or anyone Willing to take me under their wing, to sponcer me, as their right hand woman, I'm all ears, all advice greatfully appreciated

• 
  Quote
  

• # 109907
• Tue 11 Aug 2015 05:46 PM

Hi Donna,

Your pay on last Friday in August (28th) is basic pay plus any July O/T etc and in addition you are being paid 2 weeks in advance?

So, my understanding is that you are being paid on 18 Oct for Sept hours worked plus O/T etc for Aug. Therefore the 2 weeks advance pay received on 28 Aug covers the period from end of Sept to 18 Oct.

Then on 18 Nov you will receive Oct hours worked plus O/T etc for Sept but employer is then reclaiming one week of the advance pay.

The same scenario would then apply for 18 Dec wages after which time the 2 weeks advance pay has been repaid to the employer.

There would be no pay to be paid on 18 Sept and that is why they have made it 18 Oct for Sept wages.

They are actually now going to be paying you 2 weeks in arrears which is not unusual if your working hours vary every month and with O/T etc. as I said earlier it gives payroll dept time to process.

They are entitled to change your pay date and I assume you have been given adequate notice (30 days) of this change to give you time to air your views but at the end of the day they can still go ahead and implement the changes.

Not a lot you can do I'm sorry to say. It is the same situation when a weekly paid employee gets changed to monthly - normally employer will advance some pay to make the changeover easier for the employees. I can see more weekly paid staff being put onto monthly when the full Auto Enrolment kicks in for all small employers.

Marilyn

• A clever person solves a problem.

  A wise person avoids it.

  Albert Enstein

• 
  Quote