London weighting - need help!

husky68

I have a problem and don't know where or what to do next, any help or info would be much appreciated. Here goes...

I work for a large delivery company within London. I was a delivery driver for them for around 4 years, in that time may wage was broken down on wage slip and showed my basic pay and London weighting allowance. Through a back injury I was offered a job in the dispatch/clerical side of things and my wage slip from then up until now stopped showing any London weighting. I was given another contract showing a basic yearly sum, nothing about London weighting as my previous contract had shown. I have asked numerous times about this and for the first time got to talk to HR about it the other week. I was told I get an allowance within my wage to reflect working in London. I asked how much this is, I was told it isn't a set figure. But if I do get London weighting how do I calculate my hourly rate? I was told it is calculated including this so called allowance with my wage. When or if I do overtime it is calculated including this so called allowance, which I find strange. All clerical staff within London is done like this but the drivers, operational staff have a basic plus London weighting breakdown within their wage slip. I don't believe we get London Weighting for one second and wonder how my employer can split the workforce pay structure this way and make you feel not hard done by or very confused. I was also told by my HR representative that if I look at another employee working in my position around the country my pay will be more. But they don't work in the flagship centre in London so that's obvious. I feel that this is just another answer to put me of the question of "How much London weighting/allowance do I get and why isn't it shown in my wage slip"????

Where do I go from here? What or anything can I do?


Husky68

Hammyman

OK, I used to work as a Linehaul driver for Geopost (Parceline/Interlink - now DPD) All the Linehaul drivers throughout the entire UK were on the same hourly pay - didn't matter what depot you ran out of. You were paid by the main hub pay office at Smethwick, not the local depot. The drivers who were in London got London weighting allowance which was shown as a separate item on their wageslip.

Now the depot staff were paid differently. They were paid by the depot. Therefore the London depot staff got a higher hourly rate rather than London weighting allowance.

And a final note about working in London. There is no right to a weighting allowance and it gets my goat that some people who work in London for large companies think they should be entitled to it just because they're stupid enough to live/work in the most expensive place in the UK. Just because you work for a national company and work in London doesn't mean you're entitled to LWA. Think of it as a nice bonus but don't think of it as a right. You are NOT getting a London weighting allowance in your pay - you're getting a higher hourly pay and if you don't like it, leave.

husky68

Hammyman wrote: »

OK, I used to work as a Linehaul driver for Geopost (Parceline/Interlink - now DPD) All the Linehaul drivers throughout the entire UK were on the same hourly pay - didn't matter what depot you ran out of. You were paid by the main hub pay office at Smethwick, not the local depot. The drivers who were in London got London weighting allowance which was shown as a separate item on their wageslip.

Now the depot staff were paid differently. They were paid by the depot. Therefore the London depot staff got a higher hourly rate rather than London weighting allowance.

And a final note about working in London. There is no right to a weighting allowance and it gets my goat that some people who work in London for large companies think they should be entitled to it just because they're stupid enough to live/work in the most expensive place in the UK. Just because you work for a national company and work in London doesn't mean you're entitled to LWA. Think of it as a nice bonus but don't think of it as a right. You are NOT getting a London weighting allowance in your pay - you're getting a higher hourly pay and if you don't like it, leave.

Thank you for your angry reply. Some of us have reasons for living in London without being stupid. And no I don't feel I should get LWA or its my right. But when you are lied to that you do get it and you obviously don't then that is a different matter.

anamenottaken

Husky68 they are paying you the rate for the job.

Where a London weighting is specified it is generally for jobs which have been assessed at a level of responsibility and there is a national scale for that level. The employer then acknowledges that if it wants workers in London they need a higher rate of compensation.

Employers don't have to offer a formal London weighting (or can choose which jobs they select). However, if they want staff in London they need to pay an appropriate rate.

If you get the same rate for additional hours as you do for standard hours, then you are actually benefitting if you think that London weighting would be paid only on standard rate hours.

Working in a "flagship centre" doesn't in itself really change the job - and your Union rep has confirmed that you are paid more for the same job. You are getting a London weighting because you are being paid more than if you worked elsewhere, it's just not done in the way you expected.

husky68

anamenottaken wrote: »

Husky68 they are paying you the rate for the job.

Where a London weighting is specified it is generally for jobs which have been assessed at a level of responsibility and there is a national scale for that level. The employer then acknowledges that if it wants workers in London they need a higher rate of compensation.

Employers don't have to offer a formal London weighting (or can choose which jobs they select). However, if they want staff in London they need to pay an appropriate rate.

If you get the same rate for additional hours as you do for standard hours, then you are actually benefitting if you think that London weighting would be paid only on standard rate hours.

Working in a "flagship centre" doesn't in itself really change the job - and your Union rep has confirmed that you are paid more for the same job. You are getting a London weighting because you are being paid more than if you worked elsewhere, it's just not done in the way you expected.

Thank you, I do understand but as I said to Hammyman, its the fact that I am told I get London weighting/allowance but cant be told how much it is, I feel its bending the truth a little. If I was told I don't get London weighting but my wages reflects working in London then that is a different matter.

Hammyman

husky68 wrote: »

Thank you, I do understand but as I said to Hammyman, its the fact that I am told I get London weighting/allowance but cant be told how much it is, I feel its bending the truth a little. If I was told I don't get London weighting but my wages reflects working in London then that is a different matter.

Are you, working in London, getting a higher hourly rate than someone doing the same job in another of their offices outside of London? Yes - you've even said so. Therefore your wages reflect working in London.

If the York office was getting £6/hr and you were getting £6/hr with no LWA then you'd have a reason for saying you weren't but even your union rep - usually the first people to have a go about such things - says you are getting elevated pay because you are in London.

LittleVoice

husky68 wrote: »

Thank you, I do understand but as I said to Hammyman, its the fact that I am told I get London weighting/allowance but cant be told how much it is, I feel its bending the truth a little. If I was told I don't get London weighting but my wages reflects working in London then that is a different matter.

Ask your Union rep what the pay is for equivalent role elsewhere. Deduct that from your hourly rate. Bingo!

SarEl

Realistically, even if you are being lied to - so what? What are you going to do about it? This is the rate for the job that you do. If you don't accept it's a good rate for the job, the same avenue is open to you that is open to everyone else. Get another one. I'm afraid this is the wage - however it is calculated. And provided it is above the minimum wage, then there is nothing you can do about it.

Sambucus_Nigra

Richieahughes...

Why have you bumped an 18 month old thread?

And to tell someone off who is already PPR-ed?

SarEl

Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »

Richieahughes...

Why have you bumped an 18 month old thread?

And to tell someone off who is already PPR-ed?

Oops - I must read dates...

jobbingmusician

Building post count, at a guess. Post reported on this basis - let the forum team decide!