Can my employer make me work 2 weeks in hand after 1 year of employment?

normiestormie

Hi

I have been with my current employer for 1.5 years now and they have recently said that due to an admin oversight, I will need to work “2 weeks in hand”.

The owner has advised me that when I first took the job on they “forgot” to make me work 2 weeks in hand and so they paid me the time I worked. I have now been there 1.5 years and now they need me to work 2 weeks unpaid to help straighten up their admin? 

The company has said since I questioned this matter that everyone they take on will always work 2 weeks unpaid however this was not mentioned to me when I took on the job. 

Is this legal? Please can someone advise me?

thanks 

EnPointe

unpaid or 'in hand ' ? 

seems  weird anyway 

Savvy_Sue

I'd understand this NOT to mean that you work 2 weeks without pay, but that the employer wants to alter the relationship between when you're paid, and what you're paid for.

So their intention may have been that if you started work on 1st January, and were to be paid monthly at the end of each month, that your first month's pay would be for half the month only, say 1st - 15th Jan. At the end of Feb you'd be paid for 16th Jan to 14th Feb. And so on. 

When you leave, you receive that first 2 weeks pay. So let's say you leave on 31st December. You're paid for 16th November to 31st December. Possibly it comes in 2 instalments, with the odd 2 weeks paid after the December payment. 

And yes they can do this. HOW they do this should be negotiable, I'd ask for a reduction over 4 months, personally, rather than 1.

Are you in a union? Maybe time to join. Or start job hunting.

maman

Although working two weeks in hand might feel like unpaid it's not. That money is kept 'in hand' by the employer and paid to you after you leave. 

It does seem odd that they don't have their payroll set up that way for all employees and just 'forgot'. 

I'd certainly be asking for it to be phased over time as it was their error at the start. 

Peter999_2

I've always been paid in arrears, usually it's a month in arrears.   When I have left the jobs I would then get that months pay after I've left a month.     

prowla

I get paid at the end of each month's work, ie. a month in arrears.

The upside is that you get a final pay packet when you leave.

sheramber

How are you paid?  Weekly / monthly?

EnPointe

prowla said:

I get paid at the end of each month's work, ie. a month in arrears.

The upside is that you get a final pay packet when you leave.

a month on arrears or paid at the end of the month  for that month's basic  and  the month before;s variable pay elements? 

other than agency  work, the only job  i've been paid in genuine arrears  is a well known fast food company, they pay you on the thursday of week 3 for all  the pay  in weeks 1 and 2  and so on ... 

Savvy_Sue

EnPointe said:

prowla said:

I get paid at the end of each month's work, ie. a month in arrears.

The upside is that you get a final pay packet when you leave.

a month on arrears or paid at the end of the month  for that month's basic  and  the month before;s variable pay elements? 

other than agency  work, the only job  i've been paid in genuine arrears  is a well known fast food company, they pay you on the thursday of week 3 for all  the pay  in weeks 1 and 2  and so on ... 

Actually the other question we haven't asked is whether the OP always gets the same amount; whether there's a basic 'always the same' amount plus variables; or whether it's always variable.

NOT allowing enough time to calculate variables is a nightmare, requiring corrections to previous months and inevitably mistakes and disagreements.

Even when it's a regular amount, if the cutoff date is too close to the payment date, unexpected absences / changes end up needing correction. 

Whereas if you're paying for an earlier period (eg 2 weeks in hand), then you have fewer corrections to make. 

prowla

EnPointe said:

prowla said:

I get paid at the end of each month's work, ie. a month in arrears.

The upside is that you get a final pay packet when you leave.

a month on arrears or paid at the end of the month  for that month's basic  and  the month before;s variable pay elements? 

other than agency  work, the only job  i've been paid in genuine arrears  is a well known fast food company, they pay you on the thursday of week 3 for all  the pay  in weeks 1 and 2  and so on ... 

I don't get your point there; paid in arrears means being paid after the services have been delivered.

As opposed to being paid in advance (ie. before you have delivered the services).

For corollary, my contract of employment states:

The Employee's salary shall accrue from day to day and be payable monthly in arrears on or about the last day of each month that banks are open for business in England directly into the Employee's bank or building society.

EnPointe

prowla said:

EnPointe said:

prowla said:

I get paid at the end of each month's work, ie. a month in arrears.

The upside is that you get a final pay packet when you leave.

a month on arrears or paid at the end of the month  for that month's basic  and  the month before;s variable pay elements? 

other than agency  work, the only job  i've been paid in genuine arrears  is a well known fast food company, they pay you on the thursday of week 3 for all  the pay  in weeks 1 and 2  and so on ... 

I don't get your point there; paid in arrears means being paid after the services have been delivered.

As opposed to being paid in advance (ie. before you have delivered the services).

For corollary, my contract of employment states:

The Employee's salary shall accrue from day to day and be payable monthly in arrears on or about the last day of each month that banks are open for business in England directly into the Employee's bank or building society.

generally in the UK if you have contracted hours  you get paid monthly / lunar you that periods's contracted hours on  that payday  not in the next  month... 

I had a job ( in the NHS not that it mattered) when the first day was the 11th of the month  as that was when the induction and  training school started )  they ensured that everyone  had submitted their pay  details  the week before , so they could pay people  at  the  end of that  month for the  basic hours between the 11th and the nd of the month