Have been ripped of my wages

poppyscorner

I work for the NHS and I have been on Maternity leave from 17th dec 06 to 17th june 07 from then I had four weeks annual leave to take straight after so I should therefore have had 17days mat leave (SMP and my employers own) and 13days holiday pay for my June wage paid to me on 28th June however all that was in there was my maternity pay I rang personnel last Tuesday as thats when I got my pay slip they said my manager had failed to send in a form which returns me to work from my maternity leave so they didn't pay me I was fuming with my manager and rang my area manager who said that she had sent it weeks earlier and had documentation to prove it personnel denied receiving it and demanded an email from my area manager.
The emailwas sent along with a second copy of the documentation I was then told by personnel (in a snotty manner) that the only thing they could do was put a bacs payment through to me which would take ten days this has made me late with my rent and council tax who have rang me today to see what is happening I explained and they were OK I left those till last because if I returned other payments I would have been charged by those companies and rent and CT are local authority payments who tend to be ok.
Based on what they said last week I expect payment will be made by Friday but what if it isn't where do I stand I can't really afford to be without it and don't think it is right that I am left to sort out something which is about me but has nothing to do with me after all I can't sign a form returning myself to work can anyone tell me where I stand.

TIA

Poppy

LittleVoice

You have my sympathies.

As the BACS system moves money in 3 days, an additional week for your employer to arrange a BACS payment is ridiculous.

I know the NHS are strapped for cash, but they could even have arranged a CHAPS payment as they have withheld payment rightly due to you. You are correct in saying that it is not your fault that their paperwork wasn’t sorted out.

If payment is required in your account by Friday, get confirmation from your employer as to when the payment is leaving their account, that is tomorrow (Wednesday) at the latest assuming your bank account is with a “proper” bank which doesn’t take an extra day to process the payment. If they cannot confirm that it will be in your account on Friday, I would insist on being paid the minimum that you require to meet your bills and this should then be treated as an advance of salary for July.

I hope that in fact the money is already on its way to your account and there is no need for additional action.

poppyscorner

Ihad no idea bacs payment happened that quickly and just took what they said as gospel had I known I would have pointed that out to the lazy sods in personnel.
What is a CHAPS payment I haven't heard of it ?

My bank is Natwest are they proper or are they likely to also hold me up I am really annoyed at my employer and considering lodging a grievance with them on my return they know full well I have two young kids and can't afford to be without my wages none of us can !

Never thought I'd say it but thank god for tax credits without it we wouldn't have eaten this week!

LittleVoice

As it's NatWest, the BACS transfer should be the 3 days.

CHAPS is a "real time" payment method - money leaves one account and arrives in the other on the same day. The bank's charge (more) for a CHAPS payment than for a BACS one. Maybe £20 for a single CHAPS payment.

Savvy_Sue

The 10 days allows time for the payment to be approved and authorised internally before it's entered on the 'puter: there may be a weekly 'run' of such things because it is more efficient to do a batch than individual transactions.

I'm not saying it's not a right pain in the posterior, or that it would have been impossible to process it any faster, but that's probably the fastest they normally do things. I work for a very small organisation and we do a lot of internet banking transactions: I used to enter them as soon as anyone asked for one, but now I batch them all up as it's much faster. Plus, however fast I do it, I've still GOT to find someone else to authorise the payment, and 'same day' is not always possible. So it's better for me to tell people that it may take just over a week for their payment to reach them than promise them a same day service.

I hope you can get it sorted out quickly!

poppyscorner

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

The 10 days allows time for the payment to be approved and authorised internally before it's entered on the 'puter: there may be a weekly 'run' of such things because it is more efficient to do a batch than individual transactions.

I'm not saying it's not a right pain in the posterior, or that it would have been impossible to process it any faster, but that's probably the fastest they normally do things. I work for a very small organisation and we do a lot of internet banking transactions: I used to enter them as soon as anyone asked for one, but now I batch them all up as it's much faster. Plus, however fast I do it, I've still GOT to find someone else to authorise the payment, and 'same day' is not always possible. So it's better for me to tell people that it may take just over a week for their payment to reach them than promise them a same day service.

I hope you can get it sorted out quickly!

I hope so too Savy sue thanks for your input I am just really cheesed off with them I don't think the attitude from them helps matters or the fact that as they always do they tried to blame some other unsuspecting soul for their error either instead of just Oh I am so sorry for that I will sort it ASAP etc etc.
Thanks again
Poppy

Jarvisma

It sounds very similar to situations that happened in my old company alot (unfortunately). All down to depts not communicating with each other and then being more worried about pining the blame on someone else when it comes to light than helping the poor disadvantaged employee!

I would only agree with what has been said already, but would question who it was you spoke to in HR? If they were rude and unreasonable I would certainly complain to both their manager and yours. I would also go further up the line if I got no joy from those two.

It is true that a BACS payment takes 3 days to arrive in your account and the last CHAPS (same day) payment I did cost £30. However I would add that alot of banks insist on companies 'scheduling' their BACS days in advance so in such a situation you wouldn't be able to perform unscheduled BACS runs.

Ten days however, is unacceptable in my opinion. As a payroll manager my prority would be making sure my staff were paid on time and if that didn't happen as quickly as possible, NOT ten days later.

I think you should call back and speak to someone VERY senior, as high as you can go and explain that you have been placed in financial difficulty because of the beurocracy between HR and other Dept and you would like to know if you can be paid quicker than 10 days, you should mention a CHAPS payment and ask if this is possible. If they insist it will be 10 days you could also enquire if they are willing to reimburse you for any fees or penalties you incur as a result of their mistake. Whatever the outcome I think you should raise the issue in writing, if not for the delay then the unhelpful nature of whoever you spoke to in HR!

Good luck x

Savvy_Sue

Jarvisma wrote: »

However I would add that alot of banks insist on companies 'scheduling' their BACS days in advance so in such a situation you wouldn't be able to perform unscheduled BACS runs.

That's also very true, and in a large organisation like the NHS getting a cheque raised isn't a trivial matter either. Definitely worth asking about having any charges repaid, which is the very least they should do.

I remember when I was working for a Housing Association, they tried to tell me that if we employed a temp, she wouldn't be paid until the end of her 2nd calendar month, which for her would have been 7 weeks after starting. Because payroll has to be run at least a week before the month end they didn't like to pay temps in their first month, in case they left unexpectedly. I said there was no way anyone would take the job on those terms, and they found a way round it!