Employer Messing Up Wages

stefantelope

Hi, I'm new on here and hoping for a bit of advice. I hope it's not too confusing, because I'm at my wits end.

I work for a cleaning company and back in the summer I did some days at another site to cover someone on holiday. When payday came I was missing some money, specifically those days at the other site. So I talked to my manager and apparently I was missed off the time sheets (even though I had signed in and out on that site's time sheets). £150 was put into my bank account.

Along comes my next payday and they've taken the £150 back out saying it was an advance of money. I get onto them again explaining it was actually my hard earned wages, not an advance. In the £150 goes again a few days later.

Now the next payday, to counteract the £150 coming back out, they add on some extra hours to total £150 which bumps up my actual hours worked that month therefore I pay more tax than I should have. I was told the tax had already been taken off to make the £150, a £150. I call them again trying to explain and I get palmed off and told every excuse under the sun of whose fault it is.

In the end they tell me they actually owe me another £74 which they pay in to my bank. Surprise surprise, this month they've done the same thing and added extra hours totalling £74 which has bumped up my hours worked so I've paid more tax again and some of my student loan.

Is it legal for them to be doing this? I've got to call Head Office tomorrow to try and make sense of it all but I was wondering if anyone had any help or advice first.

Thanks, sorry its so long and boring.

MissSarah1972

You will only pay tax on the money they pay you so not sure how they have taken too much tax?

You need to ask why they are paying you the short fall in wages then taking it back

stefantelope

Thanks for replying.

I was told the money they were putting into my bank had already had the tax deducted from it, I have no idea how. But on my payslips its made to look as if I've done more hours so I pay more tax, so every time the money comes back out and in and out and in, I'm paying a bit of tax on it and not getting the whole £150 or £74, if that makes sense.

They pay me the extra bit but it goes on their system as an advance (as if I'd asked for a loan to tide me over so to speak). I've told them so many times its not an advance but they add on the hours to counteract the 'advance' coming back out automatically.

Would it be worth going to CAB?

MissSarah1972

stefantelope wrote: »

Thanks for replying.

I was told the money they were putting into my bank had already had the tax deducted from it, I have no idea how. But on my payslips its made to look as if I've done more hours so I pay more tax, so every time the money comes back out and in and out and in, I'm paying a bit of tax on it and not getting the whole £150 or £74, if that makes sense.

They pay me the extra bit but it goes on their system as an advance (as if I'd asked for a loan to tide me over so to speak). I've told them so many times its not an advance but they add on the hours to counteract the 'advance' coming back out automatically.

Would it be worth going to CAB?

It would only have the tax and ni taken if the hours and rate on the pay slip was correct and the net pay was correct too, then the amount that hit your account was less

OR

Say you were short paid 10 hours at £7 an hour (for aguments sake) = £70 Gross pay - your company work out the tax an ni manually then pay you the net

What one is it?

MissSarah1972

Oh yes if they say the NI and TAX has already been deducted then they should have issued a re done payslip, did they?

stefantelope

I assume my company did it manually as I was told it was the amount of £150 after tax deductions by my manager.

It's not exactly easy to get them on the phone and then to explain everything. Its like they deliberately make it confusing, its a struggle just to get them to send a payslip on time.

stefantelope

MissSarah1972 wrote: »

Oh yes if they say the NI and TAX has already been deducted then they should have issued a re done payslip, did they?

Nope. See above.

Jaybee_16

Do you know how many additional hours you worked?
Do you know your hourly rate?
If not, ask payroll.
From that, you can work out the gross amount you should be paid for the additional hours. Payroll will deduct tax and NI from that and pay you the net amount.
It would be prefectly normal to provide a corrected payslip showing the additional amounts. If they haven't provided it, it is perfectly reasonable to ask for it.
You shouldn't need CAB for something so simple if someone wants to actually do it.
Having run payroll in the past, these things do happen and on an occasion when I messed up like this, I sent the employee revised payslips but then needed to put together a spreadsheet with all details on it, then phone and explain it.

stefantelope

I know my hourly rate and the hours I worked but the payroll department for this company are useless. You hit a brick wall whenever you try to call them, you get passed from person to person. Every month there are at least two of us with wrong wages and it takes weeks to get it sorted.

I'm half tempted to just leave it as this the last month with this company, we are being taken over by another.

MissSarah1972

Put in a grievence for deduction in wages

chrisbur

Without the full details of these payslips I cannot be certain but from what you have said your wages could well now be correct.

I think it very likely that the money paid into your account was an advance of wages based on what they thought this extra payment would be worth after tax an NI were deducted, these advances were then taken back and the gross figure was then added to your wages. Overall it seems from what you have said that every time a payment was made it was then taken back when your wages were paid so they cancel out; the only extra payments you recieved were the £150 added to your gross and the £74 a total of £224 which would be worth just over £150 after tax and NI.

Was the amount that you were owed £224 gross?

Can you give full details of all the payslips affected to include gross, tax, NI, gross to date and tax to date, to check this?