Complaining about payrise losses from 2005/6? (Very long, but advice appreciated!!)

MoneySavingSapphire_:D

Basically, because my manager couldn't be bothered to complete my review when I started work, I was left 'on probation' for 11 months instead of 3, without being told coming off probation meant a pay increase (as soon as I knew this I pestered constantly for my review to be completed). The delay also led me to missing out on a 2.5% rise in April 2006, but my manager told me this was not the reason, the reason was that I was on the maximum pay for my job. However this April I get the end of year rise - so guess what? She was lying. She kept another guy who was here 14 months on probation constantly - I've worked out that that cost him about £200 :eek:

Anyway, I'm leaving in a month (being made redundant to save money, oh they're good at that...) so in a perfect position to write to HO with my grievances. But will I look petty? Or worse, just bitter at being made redundant? And it means I could never go into the shop again when she was there, and I do want to visit my other collegues! However, she's a !!!! manager (bullying, lying, only out for herself - staff morale is SO low atm) and she'll do it again - avoiding tasks she can't be bothered to do that end up costing the staff 100s of pounds in wages they could do with! But HO love her, she's well established and respected, so what would they do - just tell her? I'm just so annoyed she keeps getting away with this sort of thing... She tried to tell me today I wasn't eligable for redundancy until I checked it out on the goverment employment website! :mad:

I've written a letter to HR (below) - I think I really do need to send it while I'm still employed, but I might ring them tomorrow and see what sort of trouble it will cause, as I don't want hassle from her while I'm at work still. However £266 (is what it adds up to) is an awful lot, and I don't care if she hates me when I'm gone!


Dear HR MANGER'S NAME


I am writing because I believe that in the course of my employment with COMPANY I have been underpaid. The most recent pay rise (April 2007) has made me realise that information I was given concerning my eligibility for previous pay rises was incorrect, and that a delay in processing the end of my probationary period has caused me to miss out on a substantial amount of money in earnings.

I began my employment on 5th March 2005 at the Solihull store and was informed that for the first three months I would be on a probationary period, at the end of which a review would decide my future with the company. When this time came, my manager (HER NAME) said that my work was very good – including a mystery shop in my first few weeks that confirmed this - but that she would just keep me ‘on probation’ to avoid the review. I was assured this would not disadvantage me in any way. I continued on probation, being paid £5.50 an hour, until Head Office specifically requested my workbook and review be completed. It was then that I was informed that that coming off probation would result in a 25p pay increase to £5.75 an hour – a fact that had I known I would have pushed for my review to be completed at the correct time.

My workbook and review were finally completed in August 2005, but not sent to Head Office until in the New Year. I eventually got my pay rise in February 2006, months after I should have been eligible. From my calculations, based on my payslips and considering that my pay rise probably would have come into affect in my July pay after a June review, this delay cost me £138.38.

Additionally, when April 2006 came I was informed that I was not eligible for the 2.5% pay increase awarded to all employees with over a year’s service. I asked my manager if the reason for this was because I had received a rise only in the February, and if so could she inform Head Office that this rise was overdue from 2005 and see if they could do anything. After weeks of asking her to follow this up for me, my manager told me that she had been told by Head Office that £5.75 was the maximum pay for my job and that was why I had not been awarded the rise.

I accepted this until this April, 2007, when I did receive the end of year pay rise – obviously my pay was not at the maximum, so either my manager or myself were misinformed. Realising that the information I had been given was incorrect, I asked my assistant manager, who confirmed that the reason I would have missed out on the April 2006 increase was, as I thought, due to me having received a rise already that year in the February – despite, as I had asked my manager to clarify with Head office, this being well overdue from the previous year.

Consequently, the delay in my initial pay rise also cost me the April 2006 increase, so in addition to the aforementioned amount I lost £120.05 in the period April 2006 – March 2007, when I should have been earning 14p more than I did. April 2007’s 4% pay increase should have, if I had got the previous year’s rise, taken my pay to £6.12 – not, as I am on, £5.98. This has cost me £8.10 in April 2007’s pay.

In total, the inertia and misinformation that have caused me to miss out on seven months of one pay rise and lose another altogether have cost me £266.53 in earnings – an amount that as a student I sorely begrudge failing to benefit from.

It seems that delaying reviews and the pay rise is a common practice, as a colleague who worked at my store from November 2006 ended his employment after fourteen months still on his “three months” probation and his initial pay.

I would appreciate an investigation into this matter, and a payment of the money that I would have earned once my claims are substantiated.

Yours Sincerely,

ME


Is this okay? I am going to ring HR tomorrow and ask them the procedure, telling them specifically that I fear for repercussions if my manager finds out while I'm still there! But - £266!!! I only get £300 a month! Can they back pay me for this sort of thing? I was definately eligible for the rises I'm referring to. Grrr....

crazy_guy

MoneySavingSapphire_:D wrote: »

Basically, because my manager couldn't be bothered to complete my review when I started work, I was left 'on probation' for 11 months instead of 3, without being told coming off probation meant a pay increase (as soon as I knew this I pestered constantly for my review to be completed). The delay also led me to missing out on a 2.5% rise in April 2006, but my manager told me this was not the reason, the reason was that I was on the maximum pay for my job. However this April I get the end of year rise - so guess what? She was lying. She kept another guy who was here 14 months on probation constantly - I've worked out that that cost him about £200 :eek:

Anyway, I'm leaving in a month (being made redundant to save money, oh they're good at that...) so in a perfect position to write to HO with my grievances. But will I look petty? Or worse, just bitter at being made redundant? And it means I could never go into the shop again when she was there, and I do want to visit my other collegues! However, she's a !!!! manager (bullying, lying, only out for herself - staff morale is SO low atm) and she'll do it again - avoiding tasks she can't be bothered to do that end up costing the staff 100s of pounds in wages they could do with! But HO love her, she's well established and respected, so what would they do - just tell her? I'm just so annoyed she keeps getting away with this sort of thing... She tried to tell me today I wasn't eligable for redundancy until I checked it out on the goverment employment website! :mad:

I've written a letter to HR (below) - I think I really do need to send it while I'm still employed, but I might ring them tomorrow and see what sort of trouble it will cause, as I don't want hassle from her while I'm at work still. However £266 (is what it adds up to) is an awful lot, and I don't care if she hates me when I'm gone!


Dear HR MANGER'S NAME


I am writing because I believe that in the course of my employment with COMPANY I have been underpaid. The most recent pay rise (April 2007) has made me realise that information I was given concerning my eligibility for previous pay rises was incorrect, and that a delay in processing the end of my probationary period has caused me to miss out on a substantial amount of money in earnings.

I began my employment on 5th March 2005 at the Solihull store and was informed that for the first three months I would be on a probationary period, at the end of which a review would decide my future with the company. When this time came, my manager (HER NAME) said that my work was very good – including a mystery shop in my first few weeks that confirmed this - but that she would just keep me ‘on probation’ to avoid the review. I was assured this would not disadvantage me in any way. I continued on probation, being paid £5.50 an hour, until Head Office specifically requested my workbook and review be completed. It was then that I was informed that that coming off probation would result in a 25p pay increase to £5.75 an hour – a fact that had I known I would have pushed for my review to be completed at the correct time.

My workbook and review were finally completed in August 2005, but not sent to Head Office until in the New Year. I eventually got my pay rise in February 2006, months after I should have been eligible. From my calculations, based on my payslips and considering that my pay rise probably would have come into affect in my July pay after a June review, this delay cost me £138.38.

Additionally, when April 2006 came I was informed that I was not eligible for the 2.5% pay increase awarded to all employees with over a year’s service. I asked my manager if the reason for this was because I had received a rise only in the February, and if so could she inform Head Office that this rise was overdue from 2005 and see if they could do anything. After weeks of asking her to follow this up for me, my manager told me that she had been told by Head Office that £5.75 was the maximum pay for my job and that was why I had not been awarded the rise.

I accepted this until this April, 2007, when I did receive the end of year pay rise – obviously my pay was not at the maximum, so either my manager or myself were misinformed. Realising that the information I had been given was incorrect, I asked my assistant manager, who confirmed that the reason I would have missed out on the April 2006 increase was, as I thought, due to me having received a rise already that year in the February – despite, as I had asked my manager to clarify with Head office, this being well overdue from the previous year.

Consequently, the delay in my initial pay rise also cost me the April 2006 increase, so in addition to the aforementioned amount I lost £120.05 in the period April 2006 – March 2007, when I should have been earning 14p more than I did. April 2007’s 4% pay increase should have, if I had got the previous year’s rise, taken my pay to £6.12 – not, as I am on, £5.98. This has cost me £8.10 in April 2007’s pay.

In total, the inertia and misinformation that have caused me to miss out on seven months of one pay rise and lose another altogether have cost me £266.53 in earnings – an amount that as a student I sorely begrudge failing to benefit from.

It seems that delaying reviews and the pay rise is a common practice, as a colleague who worked at my store from November 2006 ended his employment after fourteen months still on his “three months” probation and his initial pay.

I would appreciate an investigation into this matter, and a payment of the money that I would have earned once my claims are substantiated.

Yours Sincerely,

ME


Is this okay? I am going to ring HR tomorrow and ask them the procedure, telling them specifically that I fear for repercussions if my manager finds out while I'm still there! But - £266!!! I only get £300 a month! Can they back pay me for this sort of thing? I was definately eligible for the rises I'm referring to. Grrr....

Sounds fine to me from a quick read of it, however if your serious about claiming your money i would insert a clause stating:

Please note that unless payment is received in full within 14 days from the date of this letter I will commence legal proceedings without further notice at which time I will seek to recover my costs and interest on the outstanding amounts.

But if you do i'd suggest that if you dont hear from them you actually follow through with your threat which is quite easy to do either through an employment tribunal or through the moneyclaim court website - just make sure you get the money your owed to an exact figure

MoneySavingSapphire_:D

Ooh do you think? That sounds a tad forceful! Could I not see what happens and if they seem to be dragging their feet then threaten legal proceedings?? I still have to work there until May 31st :S (I think its great advice, btw, just a tad scared of ploughing in there all guns blazing...!) Its true about interest though, and the fact my bonus payments would have been more, but they might say that I should have complained at the time re: the first rise (the one delayed for 7 months) as it was over a year ago...

LittleVoice

If you can establish that your pay now should be higher, because of the knock-on effect, perhaps your redundancy pay would also be higher.

Have you looked at your company's grievance procedure? You have a grievance so should follow the procedure.

Good luck!

MoneySavingSapphire_:D

Oh yes good point! (ETA - ok, it works out at about £2 more, as I'm only 21 I'll get 1 weeks pay for the 2 years I was there). I'm not sure what our grievancy procedure is - I threw out the handbook a couple of weeks ago as I knew I was leaving and it was cluttering my room... I only ripped out the bits that applied to me (redundany and pay) Would HR chat to me about my options if I rang them do you think? Preferably without telling my manager!

lynzpower

also bear in mind , if you take them to court nad they dont give you the money before proceedings, youll be entitled to 8% interest, from the dates you were diddled out of it.

MoneySavingSapphire_:D

Would it work if I sent the letter after I'd left then? Cos then I'll have no problem being mean and legal on them!! I just have a feeling they're more likely to do anything when I'm still on payroll? Although I am on notice now.

LittleVoice

I should think HR would talk with you on a confidential basis.

For one thing I think you could check with them the question about your being told last year that you were at the top of the pay scale and not eligible for an increase when it appears that may not have been the case.

They could also confirm what you would need to do if you wanted to raise a grievance - to whom you should address it.

By the way, the statutory grievance procedure begins with the employee informing their employer of the grievance in writing. If you wished to use a grievance as the basis of a complaint to an employment tribunal then you would need to have at least completed this first step.

MoneySavingSapphire_:D

Is my employer the company or my manager? I don't want to write to her telling her she's cheated me out of payrises! _pale_
Also, I'd forgotten to thank you all, all done now

LittleVoice

Your employer is the company - that's why speaking with HR is probably the way forward.

MoneySavingSapphire_:D

Phew, cheers! Okay, I'm going to ring today - *nervous* - I'll update when I've spoken to HR.

UPDATE - Okay, I rang, waffled on for ages until she got very confused and so I just told the whole story from the beginning...:o Anyway, she seemed genuinely concerned, although she did explain that payrises for coming off probation are not automatic, so I'm thinking my claim may only be valid from when I was told a payrise was to be given. Anyway, she mentioned that it was a while ago but that there were reasons for me bringing it up now, and that if she doesn't think anything can be done she may still want to investigate my manager - at this point I told her she had done it with another SA. I've emailed her my letter and she's going to get back to me on Thursday or something. She was so nice and confirmed that my manager did not have to know until it needed to be investigated, and said that she would need to have started the investigation while I was still employed, so a good job I sent it off! So we shall see....