Why do Employers always get the hours wrong?

charitycase

I recently started working as a casual employee at a university. The work started on the 19th of May and the employer did NOT pay me for the month of May stating that I had missed the payroll cut-off date. So I waited another four weeks, and today they have paid me for less than half the number of hours I have actually worked!

I emailed my Manager but there has been no reply so far. Payroll informs me that I have to take this up with my manager. They also informed me that any balances to be paid wont be paid till the end of next month!
I have recently come out of unemployment after a period of almost 2 years and I was anticipating this salary to start sorting out my debts. It looks like I';ll again have make excuses with my creditors. :-(


My questions here are:
1. Why do employers always mess up the hours worked? Is this intentional in order to gain some benefits for themselves?
2. Do I have any rights in this situation?
3. Are there any grounds for me persuade the employer to pay me ASAP?

Thank you for any replies.

:shocked:

duchy

How long have you been waiting for your manager to reply ?


What makes you think "ALL" employers do this ?


As to "Do I have any rights ?" You have the right to be paid - but you don't have the legal right to demand a mistake is corrected before the next payrun-although asking nicely can often help.
You don't really have any other legal rights as a casual employee of one month's standing and obviously could still be let go at any time.

charitycase

I have waited two hours for my manager to reply. :-)

I may be wrong in thinking that ALL employers do it, but it does seem to be the norm rather than the exception. I have worked for five other employers in the years before I became unemployed and it was a constant feature, especially with the NHS.

I am trying to figure out if there are an tax advantages for the employer in doing this, because I believe that it isn't due to incompetence.
Then again, we ARE talking about the public sector.

charitycase

duchy wrote: »

How long have you been waiting for your manager to reply ?


What makes you think "ALL" employers do this ?


As to "Do I have any rights ?" You have the right to be paid - but you don't have the legal right to demand a mistake is corrected before the next payrun-although asking nicely can often help.
You don't really have any other legal rights as a casual employee of one month's standing and obviously could still be let go at any time.

Oh, and thank you for explaining my rights to me. I shall try the 'ask nicely' method. :-)

duchy

Two hours feels like a long time to you - but they could have the morning off, be in a meeting, off site, doing a task that doesn't allow email access or simply be busy ...........or even be working on a solution for you. Breathe !!


Stop looking for conspiracies where none exist.....someone has made a mistake inputting your hours -nothing more , nothing less. The kind of money you are talking about is a tiny amount comparative to the sort of budget a university runs on - there is no tax advantage

BillJones

charitycase wrote: »

My questions here are:
1. Why do employers always mess up the hours worked? Is this intentional in order to gain some benefits for themselves?

TO answer this point, they don't. Some do, sometimes. This is because humans are involved in the process, and humans make mistakes. For example, I've heard of a guy who arrived late at work once. Unforgivable, I know, but it really happened. Can you believe that?

charitycase

duchy wrote: »

Two hours feels like a long time to you - but they could have the morning off, be in a meeting, off site, doing a task that doesn't allow email access or simply be busy ...........or even be working on a solution for you. Breathe !!

It's not easy to breathe with this debt burden on my shoulders. :-)

I suppose I'll just have to wait and see what happens. It'd be a miracle if things actually got sorted today and the drones in Payroll actually pay me the balance by Monday. Ah, pipe dreams.

charitycase

BillJones wrote: »

TO answer this point, they don't. Some do, sometimes. This is because humans are involved in the process, and humans make mistakes. For example, I've heard of a guy who arrived late at work once. Unforgivable, I know, but it really happened. Can you believe that?

I'm assuming they got his hours wrong, too.

charitycase

duchy wrote: »

Two hours feels like a long time to you - but they could have the morning off, be in a meeting, off site, doing a task that doesn't allow email access or simply be busy ...........or even be working on a solution for you. Breathe !!


Stop looking for conspiracies where none exist.....someone has made a mistake inputting your hours -nothing more , nothing less. The kind of money you are talking about is a tiny amount comparative to the sort of budget a university runs on - there is no tax advantage

It just intrigues me that every other employee in my place of work warned me about this happening on the first month because all of them had the very same problem with their pay when they joined.
What gives?

getmore4less

One of the first things you do in a new job is ask about the pay system.

Timesheet system
Pay period
Pay date
Payroll cutoff for time sheets/overtime/expenses.
Form to make sure payroll have the bank details.
P45/P46 to make sure the tax is right.

duchy

charitycase wrote: »

It just intrigues me that every other employee in my place of work warned me about this happening on the first month because all of them had the very same problem with their pay when they joined.
What gives?

They don't have a good system for joiners .....
Have these fonts of knowledge told you that it always gets sorted out too ? Have they told you how and when ? Why are you asking us and not them ?


If you were warned that it was likely to happen I'm really not sure why you are so surprised that it did ?