Need help with P45 please

thelex13

Hi, bit of a long story.. I went on maternity leave from my employment on 6th July 2008 for 52 weeks and was due to return to work on 7th July 2009. However, I decided not to return and informed my employer some time in June (I can't remember the exact date, think it was around 6th June). My employer was at this time in labour having a baby herself. Everytime I have tried to contact someone I can't get hold of anyone there, and have been told by a family member who has been in the place of employment that my previous employer is still on maternity leave.

Last week my P45 has been posted to my mothers address and the leaving date given is 06/09/2009, which I don't understand as that is today and the P45 was sent out 26th August. I am receiving jobseekers allowance and housing benefit at the moment, so I assume this leaving date being wrong is going to mess my benefits up. I have had loads of hassle since leaving employment already and I simply can't afford to pay my rent if the payments will stop. I can't get in touch with anyone at my previous employment and things have turned a bit sour with my employer as she was pushing me for an answer on whether I would be returning to work, which I intended to do on the 7th July 2009 but wasn't certain as I had to be sure I was making the right decisions with childcare for my daughter etc. as i definitely would have to send her to a childminder or nursery.

Another thing on my P45 is the total pay is £502.20 and the tax is £0 which i'm not sure of as I know i received maternity pay for 39 weeks and my last wage would have been 9th April 2009, but the amounts don't really add up. I think my employer has asked someone else to do this as as far as I know she's on maternity leave but think the date being wrong is just her being a b****. I don't know, but I do know that I am entitled to 20 days holiday per year, and I had 5 days before I went on maternity leave and haven't received any remaining holiday pay I was entitled to so I thought the least she could do is put the right bloody leaving date on my P45!

Sorry for rambling on, just don't know what to do or who to contact as getting in touch with my previous employer is looking unlikely and i assume it's not going to be long until the Jobcentre and HM Revenue & Customs find out the details.

Any help would be much appreciated,
Thanks,
Alex

Savvy_Sue

OK, so let's take this slowly:

I believe - I could be wrong here - that you need to give 8 weeks notice of your intended date of return to work, UNLESS you are planning to return on a pre-set date. So, you were due to return on 7th July, and not unreasonably your employer was checking whether or not that is what you intended to do.

However, if your employer took your resignation date and added 8 weeks unpaid maternity leave to it, and then added your 15 days holiday, that would give you an effective leaving date of 6 September.

Is it possible that that is what has happened?

If you only had one payment after 6th April, your tax of £0 would be right.

Now, the next step is to establish who at your previous employment is dealing with this, since it's clearly not your boss, who could be excused either getting dates wrong or not being available to discuss things because she is on maternity leave.

If your employer uses a payroll agency, then they should be able to tell you on what basis they have made payments.

I don't think the date on your P45 will be too critical for housing benefit, all THEY care about is your actual income. And I'd be surprised if Jobseekers haven't met this before too: you haven't been working and claiming at the same time, your employer has dated the P45 with the last date they regarded you as on their payroll but you weren't getting any money from them, and you had resigned 3 months previously.

Do you not have a copy of your resignation letter? That could help establish what you did when.

thelex13

Hi Sue,

Thank you for your reply. I still don't understand why my 15 days holiday would be added on, should I not been paid for these? Not that I'm bothered about the pay now as I didn't return to work anyway. I just don't want either my money stopped or even worse getting into trouble for benefit fraud but I understand that surely as I haven't been paid since April could this really happen. Now, regarding the resignation letter, my boss said she didn't need me to put it in writing and asked me to either phone her or pop in. Foolishly I didn't send a letter but I realise now I should have done regardless of what she said. The payroll company is on my P45 but the contact address given is actually my place of employment. Also, why would an additional 8 weeks unpaid maternity leave be added on if I'm only supposed to have 52 in total. The dates don't add up. As far as I remember, I told them I wouldn't be returning the first week of June. I may be wrong but even then the dates don't add up to the 6th September even if I do add 8 weeks + 15 days holiday on. I know who is in charge there but can never get hold of them. I have called into there a couple of times and it's been her day off one week and she was in a meeting another, but it is hard for me now as I've moved out of town and I don't drive. Just so confused about what to do..

Savvy_Sue

What I'm suggesting is that they may have paid you for the holiday at the end of your maternity leave. Presuming you get paid straight into your bank account, you're sure there's nothing gone in since April?

I know some companies pay your leave entitlement at the end of maternity leave, but others don't let you carry it forward from one leave year to the next, I'm not sure what the rules are if you've been on Additional m/l.

If that IS what has happened, or what they intend to happen, then I'm suggesting c0ck-up rather than conspiracy:

a) you were due to return on 7th July
b) you gave verbal notice about a month before that
c) whoever processed that knew you were supposed to give 8 weeks notice, therefore
d) added 8 weeks to your resignation and then
e) realised you were due 15 days leave so added another month on for good measure.

As I say, I don't know if that's what has happened, but it's a possible explanation. Another is that your boss - or whoever you spoke to - didn't pass your resignation on very promptly, for understandable reasons! (Who did you leave the message with if she was in labour?) So it sat around, and just got recorded wrong.

I'd give the person you believe is dealing with this one more phone call, leave a message if you have to but say that if you don't get a response you will be taking it further. You could at the same time ask for the contact details for the payroll service: I know I would give them to anyone who asked for them at our work.

Then write, recorded delivery, asking for an explanation for the discrepancy on your leaving date and for confirmation of whether you should have been paid for the 15 days' leave you were owed, because you don't seem to have received this, but you wonder if that partly explains the incorrect leaving date on your P45.

State that you would like a reply within 14 days or you will take it further. We'll work out where you could take it if that doesn't work, pretty sure you can raise a grievance after leaving though.

Actually it may be worth talking to ACAS about all this.

thelex13

No, I never received any holiday pay. I am 100% certain of that. When my boss was in labour, it was my supervisor I spoke to and she was lovely. We had a chat and she told me head of HR would ring me back if she needed to and she said she would write it down that as of that date I had resigned. Since then I haven't heard from anyone. If I have to contact the payroll company and they didn't respond within 14 days, where would I take this further?

Thanks again,
Alex

fengirl_2

I agree with Sue that there is nothing to worry about, but if you are determined to get the P45 corrected, only HMRC can intervene between you and your employer to put it right. However, like Sue I think you need to save your energies for more important battles.

Savvy_Sue

So are you able to speak to your supervisor again? She might be able to find out about your holiday pay entitlement.