'Does early pay in December help or hurt?' poll discussion

Lula-Hula

My wages are paid in on the last working day of every month, including December which just means business as usual, ie budgeting for christmas in advance

Cissi

I didn't vote as I'm in the "doesn't make a difference" camp.

I must say that when I worked on the Continent I did love receiving the "13th month" which was paid out in December as standard. Of course this just means that your yearly salary is divided by 13 instead of 12 so you get a bit less in all other months, and yes you could put that amount by yourself - but it was rather handy to have it done for you, and always felt like a nice "bonus" at the end of the year!

[Deleted User]

ixwood wrote: »

I'm always amazed by the amount of people that rely solely on their next months salary. My company cocked our pay up a few years ago and it was a few days late and loads of people had to claim bank charges for it. Shocking.

This happened to me THIS year, but I went ahead and did Christmas shopping on the day I was due to be paid. There were no issues using my debit card. It was only when I couldn't get any cash out that I realised the pay hadn't gone in, and I was already past my agreed overdraft.

One bank statement later and I find I'm being charged £150 in "unauthorised overdraft fees". After phoning the bank I got it down to £100, which still isn't exactly a drop in the ocean.

What are my rights in this case? Can I claim from the employer? Or is it a case of "I should've checked my account before shopping for loved ones"?

Katie-Kat-Kins

My first "proper job" used to pay each month on 16th which was much better as you got paid before xmas but didn't have a long stretch to january pay day.

It doesn't really make a difference when the december pay goes in, it is purely psychological.

tara747

maz_vttl wrote: »

This happened to me THIS year, but I went ahead and did Christmas shopping on the day I was due to be paid. There were no issues using my debit card. It was only when I couldn't get any cash out that I realised the pay hadn't gone in, and I was already past my agreed overdraft.

One bank statement later and I find I'm being charged £150 in "unauthorised overdraft fees". After phoning the bank I got it down to £100, which still isn't exactly a drop in the ocean.

What are my rights in this case? Can I claim from the employer? Or is it a case of "I should've checked my account before shopping for loved ones"?

How long was it delayed by?

[Deleted User]

tara747 wrote: »

How long was it delayed by?

We were due to be paid on Friday the 18th but it was delayed until Tuesday the 22nd.
We weren't officially told it was delayed until lunchtime on Monday 21st.

tara747

maz_vttl wrote: »

We were due to be paid on Friday the 18th but it was delayed until Tuesday the 22nd.
We weren't officially told it was delayed until lunchtime on Monday 21st.

I think you might have a good case. Do you have it in writing that you were originally to be paid on the 18th?

Also, and this might be embarrassing, you could ask colleagues if the same happened to them (going into OD etc). If a few of you have been affected it will be easier to complain.

Let us know how you get on.

[Deleted User]

tara747 wrote: »

I think you might have a good case. Do you have it in writing that you were originally to be paid on the 18th?

Also, and this might be embarrassing, you could ask colleagues if the same happened to them (going into OD etc). If a few of you have been affected it will be easier to complain.

Let us know how you get on.

I'll see if my line manager has anything else I could use.
Am I not likely to be told that I should've checked my account before spending?

Sweetsyd

Thanks to all the advice oh here, for the first year EVER, I didn't need to touch my early pay and was able to leave it in the bank until the "normal" pay day. Normally, it would have really hurt in January and I would have preferred to stick to normal pay timescales if given the choice.

[Deleted User]

maz_vttl wrote: »

We were due to be paid on Friday the 18th but it was delayed until Tuesday the 22nd.
We weren't officially told it was delayed until lunchtime on Monday 21st.

Another point, we normally get paid on the last of the month, and I've been told that because they still paid us before that, they've fulfilled their side of the contract. Can I still pursue something even though we were told we'd be paid on a different day?