Can my employer legally take all of my salary and leave me with nothing to live on

hardworker2010

I currently work for an NHS trust as a Band 6 Nurse and have been employed by them for the last 10 months. Prior to that I was employed by another NHS trust and during that employment took out a lease car which I transfered to my current employment. For the first 4/5 months of being with my current Trust they did not deduct my contribution of about £300 (due to a change in my business miles the payments increased). I think its their fault for not deducting the money but they are also saying its my responsibility - I guess thats neither here nor there. Due them not deducting the money straight from my salary I fell behind with my payments. They have been deducting about £489 from my salary leaving to try and bring me up to date I cannot afford to pay my rent bills etc. I then decided to terminate the lease because it was not cost effective.

Now I have another job which I am due to start in mid January 2011. The outstanding balance on the lease car is £1800 - including penalties for excess mileage. They have said, they will deduct £1500 from my December Salary and the rest from the salary due to me in January. I have proposed to pay what I am owing over a 6 month period and have given them authority to liaise with my next employers payroll to deduct the money directly from my salary - which i feel is reasonable given that I am a single mother, have other bills to pay and December is christmas but they have declined my request and will be leaving me with nothing to live on - not even my rent. I am devastated, I have always worked hard and paid my way _ i have not refused to pay them back and I feel they are being unreasonable.

Are they legally allowed to take all my salary and leave me with nothing to live on despite me agreeing to set up a payment plan. I am in a good mind to call in sick for the rest of this month and get a cash in hand menial job so I am able to give my family a decent christmas.

Please help!!!

LauraFoster

The error is their fault, however they are right in saying that some of the responsibility falls with you. You should have been aware that they hadnt taken it and therefore set the money aside somewhere rather than spending it.

You say it was 4 or 5 months before it was sorted. Did you raise the issue with them after the first incorrect month? If so then i would expect them to cover an arrears charge if they were made aware and still didnt correct the issue. However if you didnt bring it up with them then its an error on your side as much as theirs.

If you have appealed in writing to them regarding the payment and they have rejected it i would suggest going to your local citizens advise and see if they can assist you.

Hope you get it sorted - December is a lousy month for it to happen.

Gordon_Hose

Did you not think to say anything when you noticed they weren't taking the money for the lease car?

Pretty sure they can't take money that is needed for mortgage payments etc. Have you spoken to HR about it?

SarEl

In short, because these are within final salaries, and you have signed for this debt to your employer, then the answer is yes - they can decline your proposal and take the full amount from your salary. And whilst I have some sympathy with your going sick and taking a job during this time to pay for Christmas - be very very careful. If they find out (and they may go looking as soon as you go sick - it doesn't take a genius to work out that you are likley not sick) you may be charged with theft and fraud. That will not help you one little bit. You might try appealing the decision to refuse a repayment over 6 months - but be aware that any agreement that you make and fail to keep may result in your being taken to court for debt with all the usual impacts on cerdit scores etc.

SarEl

Gordon_Hose wrote: »

Pretty sure they can't take money that is needed for mortgage payments etc.

Yes they can.

paddedjohn

"I am in a good mind to call in sick for the rest of this month and get a cash in hand menial job so I am able to give my family a decent christmas."

And we wonder why the NHS is in such a state!

Gordon_Hose

SarEl wrote: »

Yes they can.

Your employer putting your house at risk for the sake of a lease car. That seems pretty harsh.

Saying that, the OP should have put the money aside when they failed to deduct the payments for the car. It not a nice thing to happen at this time of year, but it's the individuals responsibility to ensure these things get sorted ASAP.

Tankrizzo_2

What happened to the extra 300 quid a month you were getting for five months?

Uncertain

hardworker2010 wrote: »

I am in a good mind to call in sick for the rest of this month and get a cash in hand menial job so I am able to give my family a decent christmas.

Two wrong never make a right!

You can only go sick for more than a week if your doctor will sign you off. If he will it will be hard for them to argue with this in the short term and, as you are leaving, I doubt they will bother.

However, as SarEl says, if they found out you were working elsewhere whilst off sick this is another matter. Part of your sick pay is SSP so, in effect, you would be stealing from both your employer and the DWP!

By all means go sick if your doctor agrees (but don't lie to him!) but this only give you some free time, not immediate money.

hardworker2010

paddedjohn wrote: »

"I am in a good mind to call in sick for the rest of this month and get a cash in hand menial job so I am able to give my family a decent christmas."

And we wonder why the NHS is in such a state!

Its an absolute last resort because I still have a family to feed - if they go ahead and take this money then I will still need to come up with money to pay rent and bills and I have offered a payment plan which they are refusing - so what am I to do???

hardworker2010

Gordon_Hose wrote: »

Did you not think to say anything when you noticed they weren't taking the money for the lease car?

Pretty sure they can't take money that is needed for mortgage payments etc. Have you spoken to HR about it?

I did raise it with them but they said they were still waiting for information to be passed on from my last employer this is why it took so long to set up the payments