Company have not paid me my Maternity Pay

Googlewhacker

donnalou wrote: »

Thanks for the helpful replies.

The wages are now done from a different office which is 150 miles away from me so going there would not be a option and sending the money to my office would not be a option as it's 130 miles away. I recieved written conformation from them 15 weeks ago stating when my Maternity Pay will start and when I'll be paid it.
Googlewhacker it is pay that I'm entitled to whilst on Maternity Leave and it's the Goverment that set the rates not me or my company. So saying I may have to wait until January can not be legal. I certainly will kick up a fuss until it's sorted.

I'm just hoping that they can sort it and do a Bacs payment tomorrow

I deleted my post because whilst I think you are wrong in what you are doing unfortunately legally you are probably in the right.

However I am not sure !!!!ing of the company when they have said they would rectify it will help your cause in the future (ie if you want to return to flexible working etc).

Also there is very little you could do if they refused to sort it out until the next payroll.

SarEl

donnalou wrote: »

. So saying I may have to wait until January can not be legal. I certainly will kick up a fuss until it's sorted.

Yes, it is. They made an error. An error must be rectified. But you have no right to demand that it is rectified now. They must rectify it as soon as possible - but at this time of year I would honestly not expect that to be achievable before January. If it can be sorted quicker, that's very good for you. But they haven't done or said anything unlawful.

donnalou

SarEl wrote: »

Yes, it is. They made an error. An error must be rectified. But you have no right to demand that it is rectified now. They must rectify it as soon as possible - but at this time of year I would honestly not expect that to be achievable before January. If it can be sorted quicker, that's very good for you. But they haven't done or said anything unlawful.

I think that not paying Statutory Maternity Pay is unlawful.

SarEl

donnalou wrote: »

I think that not paying Statutory Maternity Pay is unlawful.

They have not refused to pay it so they have done nothing unlawful. They have made a mistake - mistakes are not unlawful unless they refuse to rectify them - and they haven't refused.

Now you can rant and rave at them, and you can sue them for not paying your SMP (which will probably get a court date a few months after they have paid it), but It won't get you anywhere and will probably alienate people. Yes, you have £300 less than you expected to have this week - but you actually have your normal wage already, it isn't as though they haven't paid up at all or taken the money out of your normal wage. They've said they will sort it. What else do you expect them to do? If they do not have the correct paperwork then they cannot authorise the payment. It is two days until the Christmas weekend, and half the world is on holiday for a week or just over.

I don't see the employer is being utterly unreasonable - and they definitely aren't acting unlawfully.

somethingcorporate

I agree with the above. Whilst it is an inconvenience if you over-react you could cause real harm for yourself in your current position.

At the end of the day it is only £300 and it is only going to be a few weeks late. You can come out guns blazing for the sake of this amount of money and annoy a lot of people or you could be patient and solve it amicably. Bandying around terms like unlawful etc is not going to win you any friends.

mountainofdebt

I'd also remember that tax and NI have to be taken out

donnalou

It's actually £300 after tax and national insurance. This situation will not have any effect on me returning to work or flexable working hours as the wages are run from a different office which only deals with payroll. My manager and general manager will have no idea whats going on anyway and will probably not be informed of it at all.

When I spoke to the Payroll dept I told them I thought it was unacceptable which I believe is the only way to deal with these people. I didn't rant and rave I just made my point clear and hopefully it will be sorted out tomorrow.

mountainofdebt

donnalou wrote: »

It's actually £300 after tax and national insurance. This situation will not have any effect on me returning to work or flexable working hours as the wages are run from a different office which only deals with payroll. My manager and general manager will have no idea whats going on anyway and will probably not be informed of it at all. Wouldn't be too sure of that ....ever heard of the Office grapevine?

When I spoke to the Payroll dept I told them I thought it was unacceptable which I believe is the only way to deal with these people. I didn't rant and rave I just made my point clear and hopefully it will be sorted out tomorrow. remind me never to cross swords with you - understanding and acting rational doesn't seem to be a personality trait. .[/QUOTE]
Hopefully they will send you a cheque which by the time you get it and it clears, it will be January anyway

Quillion

I got my wage slip today and it did not have the maternity pay value on it and was 250.00 short of what i was expecting. Due to the fact that my maternity starts on 24th Dec and wage slip was created but paid up to and including the end of the month the maternity therefore had not kicked in. My HR manager and wages clerk just changed the date on my slip and reprinted me a new one. THe money in the bank due to be paid on Friday was correct. Hope this helps xx

donnalou

It's a huge company they wouldn't send a cheque it would be bacs payment.