Advice needed- employer is not paying me

burnoutbabe

do other people get payslips? if they do and you do not, that is very suspect as they'd all be produced at same time by the payroll company.

So speak to them

SeduLOUs

Don't stress out too much about contacting HMRC immediately - it needs to be done soon, but they aren't going to come knocking your down down and it can wait a few days.

Good luck with everything - it sounds like ACAS are ready to step in and help out. I'd love to hear how you get on with it all.

miss.j_2

Hi Everyone (I thought you might be interested in an update of my situation)

I sent a formal letter of grievance to the company demanding payment (November wages) and outstanding payslips within 10 days. They replied immediately with an apology and accepting this date (Jan 5th!).

That day was yesterday, and they claimed that they made the payment into my account for both November, and December wages (2 days early?) However this has not appeared in my account. I know it can be a few working days across banks however we both bank with Natwest and online transfers are normally instant or a couple of hours at most.

I have contacted them to say the money was not received and asked for visual confirmation of the transaction. The employer then sent me a screenshot of their online banking with 2 payments of £1,700 (My GROSS wage?) however there are no account details/reference numbers connecting me in the picture, so this could be a payment to anyone. Why have they suddenly decided to pay me a gross amount? Am I not entitled to PAYE and have my tax/NI deducted from my wage? How do I now go about paying myself?

No payslip was received just "Payslip to follow shortly" at the end of an email.

If they have in fact attempted to pay me, but have not provided any payslips, then they have still failed to meet a resolution to my grievance, therefore can I contact ACAS to begin early conciliation to retrieve them, even though they have 'promised' they will be provided soon?

I still have NO payslips for the 4 months I have been employed, and it has also dawned on me that I never received a letter from HMRC with "my new tax code" which I have always had in the past when starting new employment- AM I REGISTERED AS AN EMPLOYEE? I did fill out a p46 when I started.

If I am not, then the tax which has been deducted from my wages in the past has gone into the employers pocket not to HMRC!

This is worrying for me, as I was un-employed for some time at the start of the tax year, and will have earned less then the £10,000 tax free allowance by April 6th, therefore I am entitled to a refund on tax... how can I get this if its never been paid?

Is it time for me to contact HMRC?

They always seem to be one step ahead of me trapping me in- they knew yesterday was their deadline to pay me before I involve ACAS, so what do they do? Say they have paid me with payslips to follow to keep me hanging another few days?

I don't want to start early conciliation at this point as the process allows them a further 4 WEEKS to resolve the issue before a tribunal. What else can I try as a last attempt?

They have also done this to former employees. How can they be able to get away with this behavior? Can't anyone go in to investigate them for it? Trading standards? As otherwise they will never see and repercussions and will continue to treat others like this in the future

silverwhistle

As you've already noted, that screenshot doesn't mean a thing. I'd get on and contact HMRC: your employers are obviously dodgy and have had long enough to sort the issue out.

When things start getting interesting they'll no doubt say : "But don't you trust us?" Your reply: "I only trust facts"....

Slinky

nazza725 wrote: »

Cerca di camminare sempre a testa alta

Which apparently means

Try to walk more and head-on

Slinky

From what you've said about them, they appear to be some sort of media company? Are they trading through a Limited company?

It may be worthwhile registering with Duedil (it's free) and checking out the company and the directors. If there's signs of lots of different companies being started and closed down, it will probably confirm what you already suspect that they are playing the systems well.

SeduLOUs

You are clearly an employee and as such they have a legal obligation to pay your wages via payroll.

Phone HMRC and explain what is going on, it should get some eyebrows raised. HMRC aren't exactly fast movers though, so I doubt they will be banging the door down to sort your employer out in the near future.

You should be chasing to be paid back your 'tax' £300 amounts back so that worst case scenario you have got all of your gross pay can resolve your own tax issues later. They obviously haven't paid these over to HMRC and as there are no payslips they are obviously not reporting to HMRC either, so you will not get a tax refund via that route if you do not his tax threshold.

State to employer that you are happy to return the correct tax and NI amounts to them on receipt of payslips which detail the amounts (which I suspect they are never going to provide).

You could use a PAYE calculator to type in your earnings for the year to get an idea of how much money you should be putting to one side for NI and tax (if you hit threshold).

I still think you should be looking for another job, although I do appreciate it's not always as simple as it sounds.

miss.j_2

Slinky wrote: »

From what you've said about them, they appear to be some sort of media company? Are they trading through a Limited company?

It may be worthwhile registering with Duedil (it's free) and checking out the company and the directors. If there's signs of lots of different companies being started and closed down, it will probably confirm what you already suspect that they are playing the systems well.

Correct! Yes it is a Limited company. Thank you for the advice I will check out Duedil now x

miss.j_2

Hi again,

I have just been given 4 very dodgy payslips for all the wages received over the last 4 months but they are riddled with errors- the only thing correct is my name!)

The things I know are wrong:
- Gross pay amount
- Deductions for tax (All totally wrong- the employer just guessed!)
- Net pay

The things I need to check:

- Date: The dates on each slip are the last days of the month.... however my pay period is 7th-7th of each month and I SHOULD be paid on the 7th, however every payment was made LATE (one a whole month late)

So which date should appear?
The date I should be paid or the date I was paid?
The last day of the month really has no reference to my pay so it shouldn't be there.

- Multiple Payments: One month I was paid 1/2 my wage one week, and the rest 2 weeks later... should these payments appear separately on my payslip as they came from two different accounts and at two different times?
Also, when they paid me they guessed at the tax and deducted a straight £300 from my £1700 gross... so should each separate payment have a calculation for tax or is it ok to lump them together?

- Method of Payment: Each of my payslips says BACS, however the methods used were a mixture of CASH, OTR (Online banking transfer) and BACS.
Is it required by law that a payment method appear on a payslip? I would rather it say nothing then say something which is not true.

- Not sealed: I'm all my previous employment I've had to rip open a seal on my payslips- is this a requirement? These were just scraps of paper inside an envelope!


These payslips now state that I have earned more then I have and also that I have contributed more tax/NI then has actually been deducted.


My plan is to write a formal letter to the company outlining all these issues with the payslips and ALSO call HMRC to find out what their records say... does this seem like the best idea?

Thanks for your help!

SeduLOUs

miss.j wrote: »

My plan is to write a formal letter to the company outlining all these issues with the payslips and ALSO call HMRC to find out what their records say... does this seem like the best idea?

Thanks for your help!

Yes - keep ploughing!

I don't think it's the end of the world (at least not immediately) if the dates aren't exact or even if the payments have been split, but it is absolutely essential that the gross amounts are correct, and that the total net pay reflects the amount you have actually been paid - this is your priority.

I believe the date that 'should' appear would be the last day you are being paid for in the payroll period. I don't believe payment method or even sealed payslips are a legal requirement, but obviously confidentiality is an issue so they shouldn't be left lying around for anyone to find (ours are emailed to us, so no seal as such). Again, this is probably something to tackle later when you get the 'important' stuff rectified.

Do the payslips seem to have been generated from payroll software or is it likely that they have just cobbled something together in a word document? Does it include your NI number, as well as year to date figures for gross pay, tax etc and your tax code?

It's all just far too bizarre isn't it!