Gross monthly salary less than expected?

rpg_2

So I started a new job at the end of July, and have since received 2 x monthly paychecks.

However, my monthly gross salary (without any tax, NI or other deductions) is about 2.5% less than my annual salary divided by 12. I am paid on the 26th of every month.

I know it might not seem like much but that missing few quid is actually ~6% of my disposable income monthly, after rent/bills/council tax etc. So I want to know where it's going!

Should I be contacting payroll about this, or is this standard? I would have expected if you are paid monthly, that your gross monthly salary is exactly 1/12th of your annual salary.

theoretica

My payslips show my annual salary too - do yours? And yes my basic pay a month is exactly 1/12 of the annual so worth a perplexed query.

JReacher1

rpg wrote: »

So I started a new job at the end of July, and have since received 2 x monthly paychecks.

However, my monthly gross salary (without any tax, NI or other deductions) is about 2.5% less than my annual salary divided by 12. I am paid on the 26th of every month.

I know it might not seem like much but that missing few quid is actually ~6% of my disposable income monthly, after rent/bills/council tax etc. So I want to know where it's going!

Should I be contacting payroll about this, or is this standard? I would have expected if you are paid monthly, that your gross monthly salary is exactly 1/12th of your annual salary.

I believe this is one of the plots of superman 3!

Is it possibly pension deductions? Some companies do clever accounting where your gross salary is not exactly your gross salary as they use it to fund your pension. By not having it as your gross it reduces the amount of tax the company has to pay.

rpg_2

theoretica wrote: »

My payslips show my annual salary too - do yours? And yes my basic pay a month is exactly 1/12 of the annual so worth a perplexed query.

No, unfortunately not. Just my monthly gross.

JReacher1 wrote: »

I believe this is one of the plots of superman 3!

JReacher1 wrote: »

Is it possibly pension deductions? Some companies do clever accounting where your gross salary is not exactly your gross salary as they use it to fund your pension. By not having it as your gross it reduces the amount of tax the company has to pay.

Now that you mention it - that is a possibility. I opted out of automatic pension contributions for the time-being, so maybe there's been an administration error. I better contact payroll.

Thanks for the information.

mgdavid

rpg wrote: »

......... I opted out of automatic pension contributions for the time-being,........

not a smart move, as your employer will make a contribution alongside your own, so why turn down free money?

rpg_2

mgdavid wrote: »

not a smart move, as your employer will make a contribution alongside your own, so why turn down free money?

I do see the benefits but they only contribute 1%. Also, I'm on a 1-year fixed term contract, and once the year elapses, I will be moving abroad permanently.

So I was thinking it was more hassle than it's worth (for the year) especially as I'm on a reduced salary anyway (training scheme).

But maybe it's easy to transfer my pension abroad? I'm lacking the necessary details to make an educated decision! All I know is that Legal & General is the company's pension provider.

JReacher1

mgdavid wrote: »

not a smart move, as your employer will make a contribution alongside your own, so why turn down free money?

Problem with paying in a pension is that you can't benefit from the money for say 20-30 years when you retire. By then I think aliens will have invaded and enslaved us all.

I am not certain that our new alien overlords will honour any pension you may have accrued

elsien

I'm not sure about new starters, but when automatic enrolment came in for us, people were opted in (whether they wanted to be or not) then were opted about again a month or two down the line if they wanted. We were told that it had to be done that way, but the payments were refunded after opt out.

getmore4less

Pension deductions should be itemised on a payslip.

As you are on a fixed term 1 year contract for an annual amount you could ask how they plan to make up the shortfall at the end of the contract.

JReacher1

Have a read of this. This is what I was alluding to earlier. Some companies reduce the employees gross salary to avoid paying national insurance. Possibly they have done this to you.

http://www.unitetheunion.org/unite-at-work/pensions/unitebriefingsontopicalissues/salarysacrifice/

mgdavid

JReacher1 wrote: »

Problem with paying in a pension is that you can't benefit from the money for say 20-30 years when you retire. By then I think aliens will have invaded and enslaved us all.

I am not certain that our new alien overlords will honour any pension you may have accrued

People that thought like this 20-30 years ago are:
a) proven to be wrong, and
b) wondering how they will live on £8k SP per annum