Should I speak up or keep my mouth shut?

smartpicture

I'm in a new-ish job in a small company, so far all going well.

However - I work part-time irregular hours, and they've calculated my holidays wrongly to the tune of 2 days a year. I'm happy to go along with it for myself, because I negotiated a decent package, I don't want to rock the boat in a new job, I believe it's a genuine mistake, and I can take extra unpaid leave if I need to. And also, because they have been using the same spreadsheet calculations for every part-timer's holiday for some time, if I pointed it out it would cost them thousands of pounds to sort it out, which labels me a troublemaker right at the start of a new job. And I would be getting the person who does all the company holiday calculations into trouble - who is also my immediate boss. So best to keep quiet.

The problem is, having made that decision, I find it's playing on my mind quite a bit. Not for myself, but for the other part-timers who perhaps don't earn as much and/or a couple of day's extra paid holiday or a couple of years' back-pay for the missing ones could make a difference.

So - keep quiet or speak up?

specialboy

How do you know the rest of the part timers are on the same package? It may just be your holidays that are shirt.

TELLIT01

If you get on well with your boss then speak to them directly and privately. Explain that you think the holiday calculation is wrong and see where it goes. It is possible that your calculation is wrong, not theirs.
Also, you refer to it being a small company, and the holiday difference being a couple of days per person. It's hard to see how correcting that would cost them "thousands of pounds". You don't even know if the current spreadsheet being used for calculation is the same one used in previous years.

shortcrust

I think it's a bit crazy not to mention it. This is all you need to say:

"I wonder if you could check my leave entitlement again. I think there might be a mistake - here are my own calculations which show two additional days".

Mistakes like this happen all the time. They're identified and fixed. It's not a massive deal.

SeduLOUs

I'd probably act like I'm the one in the wrong, saying something like "when you have a minute, can you help me understand how the holiday works. I'm getting a different number to you and I'm not sure where I've gone wrong"

When in the chat, the boss might realise the mistake themselves when working through it with you, and if not you can innocently nudge with a "oh, but I thought you did X with that bit, are you sure that's right?" Hopefully problem solved!

If you come out empty handed you can leave 'confused' about it and then go back a few days later saying "I've had a look into it, and I think your sheet is incorrect".

At least this approach gives you an innocent way of weighing up the situation, and giving you a better idea of how the boss is likely to react rather than ploughing in and possibly getting a defensive reaction.

ACG

Im an employer. Probably not as big as your employer but still.
If the lad I took on came and told me his holiday pay was wrong I would not mind, hes entitled to it. My accountant does all of that for me, so if its wrong its my accountants fault and we correct it.

Admittedly I would not be a fan of having to correct numerous employees pay over a number of years but if its wrong, its wrong. If it were me I would not want to be out on my entitlement so why should I expect my employees to be?

Personally I would say something.

SeduLOUs

ACG wrote: »

Im an employer. Probably not as big as your employer but still.
If the lad I took on came and told me his holiday pay was wrong I would not mind, hes entitled to it. My accountant does all of that for me, so if its wrong its my accountants fault and we correct it.

Admittedly I would not be a fan of having to correct numerous employees pay over a number of years but if its wrong, its wrong. If it were me I would not want to be out on my entitlement so why should I expect my employees to be?

Personally I would say something.

Similar. I'm not an employer, but I calculate the holidays and process payroll. I'm human and have made mistakes, and when staff have questioned anything I've dropped what I'm doing and bent over backwards to check it thoroughly and either rectify it if it was wrong, or explain to them how my figures are calculated in order to reassure them that the figures are correct. Nothing has ever escalated beyond an informal chat.

Some managers REALLY don't like to be questioned or corrected though. We have some of them here, and staff come to me with issues to do the questioning/correcting on their behalf!

Tygermoth

I was not a new starter but noticed that there was an issue with AL. I brought it up pleasantly and politely with my TL.


Next thing I know I was being penalised in staff reviews as a 'trouble maker' as the union had been brought in by an member of staff (not me but they thought it was me) as it had been messed up for years.


My head of department made my life very very difficult for quite some time after as the cost to the company was rather large and she had been embarrassed. I never progressed after that and ended up leaving.


full thread here


https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5068321