When is a pay rise not a pay rise?

Smiler2947

I am hoping someone can give me some advise. My son turned 25 in December so automatically went up a band in minimum wage - Great - he saw this in his ~January pay! Then in February he had his annual meeting with his employer where they give him a pay-rise between 1% and 3%, dependant on performance. He was advised he got 2% on this occasion. The 2% never appeared in his wages - when he has questioned it they have advised that they used Novembers Pay to work out his pay rise and he is not entitled to any more! Surely this can not be right? Can anyone help please?

moneysavinghero

Seems fair enough to me. He got a pay rise. 2 pay rises in the space of a few months is something we all would love but unlikely to get.

Andy_L

What does his contract say? Does it, eg, say that annual performance pay rises are back dated to/based on November.

[Deleted User]

If nothing is in his contract about how they go about calculating his performance then sounds like its down to a crappy move by the company to save some money. 

So if nothing is in the contract, then I guess its down to him knowing his worth and communication skills to put across to his boss that he feels its unfair and why so. 

JamoLew

Sounds a bit like the "big" payrise deal the NHS got that we keep getting told about- which actually wasnt because most of that was contractual annual increments points and ignore the fact the a reasonable % of staff are already at the top increment.

It sounds like a bit of a sneaky move by the company but nothing "illegal" about it or actionable.

Can we safely assume that he isn't in a union ?

Stenwold

moneysavinghero said:

Seems fair enough to me. He got a pay rise. 2 pay rises in the space of a few months is something we all would love but unlikely to get.

Really? It seems far from fair to me!

As others have said, sounds like bad form from the company, but nothing illegal. 

Smiler2947

JamoLew said:

Sounds a bit like the "big" payrise deal the NHS got that we keep getting told about- which actually wasnt because most of that was contractual annual increments points and ignore the fact the a reasonable % of staff are already at the top increment.

It sounds like a bit of a sneaky move by the company but nothing "illegal" about it or actionable.

Can we safely assume that he isn't in a union ?

Unfortunately no there is no union involved - they just seem to keep doing naff things. So he got his performance pay increase in March the last 2 years and then minimum wage went up in April both years so he didn't see that either. He has been at the same company for 4 years now and despite 4 'performance pay increases' he is still on minimum wage!!

JamoLew

I dont think theres much he can do to "force" the issue.

Might just be a case of accept it and start looking eleswhere for employment (if thats possible)

74jax

Smiler2947 said:

JamoLew said:

Sounds a bit like the "big" payrise deal the NHS got that we keep getting told about- which actually wasnt because most of that was contractual annual increments points and ignore the fact the a reasonable % of staff are already at the top increment.

It sounds like a bit of a sneaky move by the company but nothing "illegal" about it or actionable.

Can we safely assume that he isn't in a union ?

Unfortunately no there is no union involved - they just seem to keep doing naff things. So he got his performance pay increase in March the last 2 years and then minimum wage went up in April both years so he didn't see that either. He has been at the same company for 4 years now and despite 4 'performance pay increases' he is still on minimum wage!!

Is he looking elsewhere, if he's happy to stay there and take what he's paid then he's not in a bad position.  If he's not happy and wants to move then it's a case of looking and applying.  4 years is a long time in a job that keeps doing 'naff' things but if he's happy and enjoys his job otherwise I can see why he stays. NMW doesn't mean he should move on if he enjoys it.

Manxman_in_exile

Smiler2947 said:

JamoLew said:

I dont think theres much he can do to "force" the issue.

Might just be a case of accept it and start looking eleswhere for employment (if thats possible)

JamoLew said:

Sounds a bit like the "big" payrise deal the NHS got that we keep getting told about- which actually wasnt because most of that was contractual annual increments points and ignore the fact the a reasonable % of staff are already at the top increment.

It sounds like a bit of a sneaky move by the company but nothing "illegal" about it or actionable.

Can we safely assume that he isn't in a union ?

Unfortunately no there is no union involved - they just seem to keep doing naff things. So he got his performance pay increase in March the last 2 years and then minimum wage went up in April both years so he didn't see that either. He has been at the same company for 4 years now and despite 4 'performance pay increases' he is still on minimum wage!!

If you are saying that he's never received any pay increase except the minimum wage increases he would have been entitled to anyway, then any talk by his employer of "performance awards" is cynically insincere and dishonest - but not unlawful by itself.

Is he in a position to find another job?

moneysavinghero

Stenwold said:

moneysavinghero said:

Seems fair enough to me. He got a pay rise. 2 pay rises in the space of a few months is something we all would love but unlikely to get.

Really? It seems far from fair to me!

As others have said, sounds like bad form from the company, but nothing illegal. 

Think about it from the point of view of a 22 year old. They also get the 2% pay rise at the annual review. But it turns out his colleague the OP actually ends up getting a 8.09% pay rise. That would seem unfair to me and to them.

But good news for the OP, they wont have to wait long, they will get another 2.2% pay rise in April when the NMW goes up. But yeah i can see why they would want a 6.09% rise followed by 2% rise following by 2.2% rise all in space of a few month, i'd love that too.