Holiday pay and P45

JenRM31

I have recently left employment after maternity leave, my last official day was 3rd July. I have received my last maternity pay however am still awaiting my P45 and holiday pay. I would have expected the holiday pay to go in today as a normal pay would but nothing. When I contacted HR last week they told me that it was being processed. How long is a reasonable time to be expected to wait? Concidering they had 8 weeks notice of me leaving in the first place? Of course I appreciate things will have been slightly delayed due to coronavirus but to my knowledge all of head office is now open. Thanks! 

Undervalued

JenRM31 said:

I have recently left employment after maternity leave, my last official day was 3rd July. I have received my last maternity pay however am still awaiting my P45 and holiday pay. I would have expected the holiday pay to go in today as a normal pay would but nothing. When I contacted HR last week they told me that it was being processed. How long is a reasonable time to be expected to wait? Concidering they had 8 weeks notice of me leaving in the first place? Of course I appreciate things will have been slightly delayed due to coronavirus but to my knowledge all of head office is now open. Thanks! 

Depends what you mean by reasonable!

The problem is that beyond asking nicely your only option it to grind through the legal process which will take many, many months at least in the current situation.

So unless you think they are being deliberately obstructive all you can do is gently remind them. I assume there is no dispute (as far as you know) about how much is owed?

JenRM31

Undervalued said:

JenRM31 said:

I have recently left employment after maternity leave, my last official day was 3rd July. I have received my last maternity pay however am still awaiting my P45 and holiday pay. I would have expected the holiday pay to go in today as a normal pay would but nothing. When I contacted HR last week they told me that it was being processed. How long is a reasonable time to be expected to wait? Concidering they had 8 weeks notice of me leaving in the first place? Of course I appreciate things will have been slightly delayed due to coronavirus but to my knowledge all of head office is now open. Thanks! 

Depends what you mean by reasonable!

The problem is that beyond asking nicely your only option it to grind through the legal process which will take many, many months at least in the current situation.

So unless you think they are being deliberately obstructive all you can do is gently remind them. I assume there is no dispute (as far as you know) about how much is owed?

I know and I didn’t really want to go down that route, I would have thought three months after informing them I was leaving was reasonable though? 

I also know that a colleague who handed their notice in after me has already received her P45 and holiday pay entitlement so am unsure as to why mine is taking longer. 

No as far as I know there is no dispute as to how much I am owed however I’ve had no communication about how much they think I am due or will be paying me so I am unable to make sure it is correct. 

Savvy_Sue

There are often various levels in the payroll process. 

Where I work, people often think that if they tell me something like "I'm leaving in three months time" then I will be able to process payroll appropriately. I can't. They need to tell their manager, and their manager needs to tell me, in writing, "X is leaving in three months, this is how much holiday they are owed / they owe us." 

And actually what the manager often does is tell me (verbally) "you know X is leaving in three months?" And my response is "yes, now could you please put that in writing, you know where the form is, you'll need to talk to my colleague to confirm how much leave we owe them / they owe us." 

And let's just say that some managers are better at handling the paperwork than others, but without the paperwork, I'm doing nothing, because even if I act on a verbal message, my manager will not authorise it without the paperwork. 

So, if your colleague's manager is more on the ball than yours with whatever the process is for your employer, that may explain why they've had their P45 and you haven't. 

If your company's normal payday has passed, I'd say it was worth checking with HR, or with your manager if you're on good terms. I (personally) would always want to know BEFORE my final salary and P45 was issued how much holiday pay they thought I was due, because if you disagree with their sums it's easier to do so before the P45 has been issued.