Employer not paying expenses?

RBizz

Good Morning,

Hoping this is the right forum for this but I need some help (well my husband does!) in relation to employee expenses.

He works for a mid-sized business whos accounts team have never really been overly reliant, but his expenses typically for the first year of employment have been paid within a month/6 weeks. However, over the past 6 months, they haven't been able to process employee expenses (claim not enough staff to do it...) at all.

My husband has been chasing daily to no avail, he now has tens of thousands of pounds on his credit card, unable to be cleared because the expenses cover the card payments and is now starting to accumulate a lot of interest, he is also not able to use his card for personal expenses since the work expenses have taken up his credit limit.

I was wondering if there were any protections for employees in this position, whether employers have to pay employee expenses within a certain time frame, the expenses do not require approval just payment at this stage.

TIA

engineer_amy

I wouldn't be sure on any legal protection, however what does it state in the handbook about timescales for repayment of expenses?


I would be refusing to incur any further expenses on a personal card, and if asked by management why, I would explain that I had no available credit or funds to use as £x had already been incurred and not reimbursed yet, and direct them to the accounts department for an explanation.


Lastly, I would also be submitting an expenses claim to your manager for the interest incurred due to the late payments . it may not be approved, but it may focus their minds a bit to rush a payment through - or at least a partial payment on account to free up some funds/credit until they are able to reconcile and process the full claim

ohreally

From this point forward a company credit card should be supplied. This state of affairs is unacceptable and needs urgent review.

RBizz

engineer_amy wrote: »

I wouldn't be sure on any legal protection, however what does it state in the handbook about timescales for repayment of expenses?


I would be refusing to incur any further expenses on a personal card, and if asked by management why, I would explain that I had no available credit or funds to use as £x had already been incurred and not reimbursed yet, and direct them to the accounts department for an explanation.


Lastly, I would also be submitting an expenses claim to your manager for the interest incurred due to the late payments . it may not be approved, but it may focus their minds a bit to rush a payment through - or at least a partial payment on account to free up some funds/credit until they are able to reconcile and process the full claim

A handbook doesn't exist unfortunately and he has been sending monthly updates on the interest to the owner of the business (who is his line manager so to speak) to no avail. He has stopped putting anything else on it for the past few weeks which has led to a few threats (so he is looking to leave anyway but that doesn't help the current issue)

engineer_amy

could the issue potentially be a cashflow problem (for the company)? Maybe they don't have the funds to pay it right now and is in trouble? Are other suppliers getting paid regularly, and wages on time?


Just something to be aware of. Keep records of the expenditure and proof that it has all been approved, in case you need to submit a claim as a creditor if the company goes t!ts up

Blatchford

OMG. If there is nothing at all in writing then there is no way that he can claim that these are authorised expenses. Which means that they could simply deny payment of anything, never mind the interest. To say nothing about how this will affect his credit score with the new changes that are being introduced for people maintaining high balances on personal credit cards. The fact that threats are being issued only makes me more worried. I honestly think he needs to take some legal advice. I very much doubt that there is no time six months to process expenses payments, and I would be far more worried about whether they have the money to pay them at all.

Blatchford

engineer_amy wrote: »

could the issue potentially be a cashflow problem (for the company)? Maybe they don't have the funds to pay it right now and is in trouble? Are other suppliers getting paid regularly, and wages on time?


Just something to be aware of. Keep records of the expenditure and proof that it has all been approved, in case you need to submit a claim as a creditor if the company goes t!ts up

If the company goes under then there won't be anything to claim! Creditors for insolvent companies notoriously get nothing or very little. Certainly not tens of thousands of £s run up on personal credit cards. If the company had any money I'd be taking action to get the cash now before somebody else does.

LilElvis

Blatchford wrote: »

If the company goes under then there won't be anything to claim! Creditors for insolvent companies notoriously get nothing or very little. Certainly not tens of thousands of £s run up on personal credit cards. If the company had any money I'd be taking action to get the cash now before somebody else does.

∆∆∆ This!

I would also check that his online tax account is current - that they have been declaring his earnings and payroll deductions. Also check that pension contributions have been paid. The chances are that if they are stiffing their employees on their expenses then they are also failing to meet other obligations. None of this bodes well for the security of his job.

RBizz

engineer_amy wrote: »

could the issue potentially be a cashflow problem (for the company)? Maybe they don't have the funds to pay it right now and is in trouble? Are other suppliers getting paid regularly, and wages on time?


Just something to be aware of. Keep records of the expenditure and proof that it has all been approved, in case you need to submit a claim as a creditor if the company goes t!ts up

Definitely not a cashflow problem, husband is in the leadership team so has a good view on whats coming in and out I wish it was that simple so there was a least a reason, but at the moment its the non information making him and then in turn me worry a bit!

RBizz

Blatchford wrote: »

OMG. If there is nothing at all in writing then there is no way that he can claim that these are authorised expenses. Which means that they could simply deny payment of anything, never mind the interest. To say nothing about how this will affect his credit score with the new changes that are being introduced for people maintaining high balances on personal credit cards. The fact that threats are being issued only makes me more worried. I honestly think he needs to take some legal advice. I very much doubt that there is no time six months to process expenses payments, and I would be far more worried about whether they have the money to pay them at all.

They are authorised expenses as far as the owner of the business has signed them off and emailed accounts to pay them (6 months ago) but there is no handbook, no contract to speak of which might outline timeframes for payment

Blatchford

RBizz wrote: »

They are authorised expenses as far as the owner of the business has signed them off and emailed accounts to pay them (6 months ago) but there is no handbook, no contract to speak of which might outline timeframes for payment

Honestly, that is no protection at all! The owner of the business can get them paid if they want to. The fact they don't want to is what is getting everyone here exercised. Accounts departments do not simply say they are too busy to pay things - no matter what those things are. The boss calls the tune, not them. If he wants to issue threats, then the threat to issue would be "get those expenses payments made or you will be looking for another job, because six months is ridiculous". The fact that your husband is the one getting threats because he is refusing to accrue more debt for his employer should be screaming "there is something very wrong here".