Overdue back-pay entitlement at retirement?

GalDriver

Should pay rise back-pay be paid to an employee who's retired after the deal should have come into force but before it was agreed? It should be paid, pro-rata, shouldn't it?

lincroft1710

It will depend on so many things especially the contract of employment. How much money are we talking about?

sharpe106

If the pay rise was meant to come in to play in April, but did not until say July and you retired in May then yes you are entitled to the back pay for April and May the same as everybody else. Assuming you are working for the government as it is usually them that do that you would probably find you get it automatically. If not get in touch with the payroll department. 

GalDriver

I'm asking for an ex-work-mate who took early retirement 9 months after the talks started (and the pay rise was due). It's a big company (London Underground) and I've urged him to get the union onto it but thought I'd ask here too. My partner, who retired after the claim was agreed, got back pay. It doesn't seem right.

sharpe106

when was it due to start the pay rise and when did they leave?

GalDriver

Pay rise due (talks started) in April 2019, he left in January 2020. My partner left in May 2020 and got his back pay no problem. It seems unfair but the company are saying that because he left before the amount was agreed he's not entitled, but he was there 9 months past the date it should have been paid.

GalDriver

It seems that London Underground are saying that those who left before the final agreement aren't entitled to the pay rise that SHOULD have been paid while they were still there. I don't see how the company can get away with this.

Manxman_in_exile

He should be entitled to any pay rise that became effective from before he left and the date he left.  I'd expect it to be applied to his pension too.  That's all assuming London Underground contracts aren't subject to various "spanish practices" that nobody else can understand.

bap98189

GalDriver said: Pay rise due (talks started) in April 2019, he left in January 2020. My partner left in May 2020 and got his back pay no problem. It seems unfair but the company are saying that because he left before the amount was agreed he's not entitled, but he was there 9 months past the date it should have been paid.

It will depend on the wording of both the employee's contract and the wording of the pay agreement. I'm going to take a guess that the employer will say that only people who were employed at the time when the agreement was signed off will be entitled to benefit from it. Without knowing what is written down it is impossible to say.

GalDriver

That's what we think, thanks Manxman_in_exile. He'd been there some years so his contract was straightforward, I think. Yes, the new ones had hidden agendas :-(

Savvy_Sue

In any case, if he is / was in a union, he's likely to get a lot further with their help than with ours.