Advice on pay

Wrongstuff

Hi 

sorry but this may be a long post

my hubby works in the construction industry, he is paid for what he actually does and normally earns around £1000 a week, if he is waiting for materials or inspections and can’t do any work then he is NOT paid for his time.

he is now on furlough but his boss is saying he earns £80 a day and is only paying him 80% of that, as you can imagine this is a major drop for us and won’t even cover our mortgage never mind our other living costs.  We have applied for the mortgage holiday from our bank but that doesn’t kick in until next month.

my main question is is his boss working this out correctly, my hubby has worked for him 9 years so feeling like he’s really dropped us in it.

thanks in advance

mattyprice4004

It depends on how his rate is worked out - unless he's stealing the extra money then the rest of the £1000 has to be agreed somewhere. 
This will need clarifying before anyone on here can help. 

Wrongstuff

mattyprice4004 said:

It depends on how his rate is worked out - unless he's stealing the extra money then the rest of the £1000 has to be agreed somewhere. 
This will need clarifying before anyone on here can help. 

It is just his boss saying £80 a day, that’s all he gives as holiday pay as well

for example

hubby works Monday to Friday, he is waiting all day Monday for materials to be delivered so doesn’t get paid for this even though it’s out of his control and he can’t do any work until Tuesday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday he completes job ready to start next one on Friday. He will only be paid for what he has done, he won’t get any pay for Monday.

does that make sense, he only gets paid for how many square metres he completes not for anything else

m

calcotti

If needed look at eligibility for Universal Credit https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/universal-credit/. 

There are online calculators to help you assess entitlement  https://www.gov.uk/benefits-calculators

Be aware that claiming UC will end any Tax Credits, Housing Benefit or other means tested benefits you currently get. If you are getting these try and check your entitlement before deciding whether to claim UC.

You will be excluded from UC if you have savings over £16,000.

You may also be able to claim Council Tax Reduction from your local council

Wrongstuff

We wouldn’t qualify for UC 

Jeremy535897

I assume he is paying PAYE and is not in the construction industry scheme. His pay should be worked out as per the guidance to employers, which says:

"Employees whose pay varies

If the employee has been employed (or engaged by an employment business) for a full twelve months prior to the claim, you can claim for the higher of either:

• the same month’s earning from the previous year
• average monthly earnings from the 2019-20 tax year

If the employee has been employed for less than a year, you can claim for an average of their monthly earnings since they started work.

If the employee only started in February 2020, use a pro-rata for their earnings so far to claim.

Once you’ve worked out how much of an employee’s salary you can claim for, you must then work out the amount of Employer National Insurance Contributions and minimum automatic enrolment employer pension contributions you are entitled to claim."

If you don't think your employer is paying the right amount, guidance to employees says:

"If you are concerned that your employer is not paying you what you are entitled to then you should raise this with your employer in the first instance, then with Acas (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service)."

Wrongstuff

So far today I have rang ACAS and HMRC, neither of these can help me so it looks like his employer is getting away with it

Jeremy535897

I suspect ACAS won't be able to help until you can show actual evidence of past payslips and reduced payments.

Wrongstuff

Jeremy535897 said:

I suspect ACAS won't be able to help until you can show actual evidence of past payslips and reduced payments.

I can show this but they won’t do anything unless it goes to court apparently they are a neutral organisation, hubby isn’t in a union either 

Potbellypig

I dare say you won't be alone in this. Some companies will no doubt be trying to get away with paying the minimum (sometimes through lack of knowledge and sometimes through unscrupulous behaviour). But the reality is that right now you can't force your husbands company to pay you correct, you can only ask for it and explain the legalities behind it. Later on when this is all clear, I'm sure there will be court case after court case with people in the same position as you trying to get money back they are owed. Sorry I can't really help, but on his pay slip, what does his basic pay say? That might give you an indication as to why his boss says £80 a day?

Undervalued

Wrongstuff said:

Jeremy535897 said:

I suspect ACAS won't be able to help until you can show actual evidence of past payslips and reduced payments.

I can show this but they won’t do anything unless it goes to court apparently they are a neutral organisation, hubby isn’t in a union either 

That is correct. 

If, for example, your husband was to make an employment tribunal claim against his employer ACAS would automatically become involved and attempt to mediate a settlement without it going to an actual tribunal hearing. They have a helpline but that is staffed by relatively junior people and it is not in an way a substitute for proper legal advice.

Does your house insurance provide access to free legal advice, many policies do and often people don't realise.