Looks like the contracts we have are wrong too looking at the guide as no pay details hours details etc at all, also more a case of getting the figures wrong as opposed to deductions most of the time even though they have the hours worked on our time sheets

Hi!

I was hoping to get some clarification in regards to my spouses work conditions.

Her employer is deducting £4 a month "administrative charge" from her wages citing the cost of processing pay slips. She has not been asked in writing to approve such deductions or informed that they would be taken when she started her job. Can an employer make such a deduction?

Second, her deductions for her National Insurance are higher than what the HMRC calculator states that it should be. In effect, even though the personal allowance increased in April 2012, her take home pay has not changed. Her employer are refusing to discuss this situation saying that they have "drawn a line under it" and refuse to take it further. What could she do in such a situation.

Thanks in advance!

Hi, i am looking for advise on working hours contract..my husband reduced his working week from 5 day to 3 after knee surgery and ongoing knee problems ment he could no longer maintain a 5 day week, 15 months he has now been on a 3 day week and has never been provided with a new contract, but has had his hoildays changed to reflect new hours and was only paid company sick pay and ssp for a 3 day week after further surgery last year.

Work has now sent him to a company doctor as they are wanting to know when a 5 day week can start again, we feel they are looking for a way to finish him on ill health and are not happy with the report a company doctor that has never seen him has wrote. My question is after 18 months on the new reduced hours can they finish him on the grounds he can not maintain a 5 day week, even though they have never asked if he can increase his hours again since?

He also has mental heath issues that his boss does not address even though they have been informed of this, the stress from the company doctor and the lack of communication is making his depression and panic attacks worst and my husband cant speak to his boss about it as he finds it hard to communicate with him as he has such a awful manner and atitude to this subject.

Redundancy Question....

I am writing on behalf of my sister.

She has worked at a small gift shop since July 1st 2007 and has outlasted two previous owners and is now on her third.

She works 32 hours over a 2 week period, so 16 per week on average - working at weekends.

She has today been given a letter informing her that she is being made redundant.

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They are giving her 4 weeks notice (to Friday August 17th).

Q1 Should they be giving her 5 weeks notice? 01/07/07 to 17/08/12 is 5 years service not 4 years.

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The business is owned by a lady (only her name on the Particulars of Employment, business cards and wage slips).

She has told my sister that her husband (who does some hours in the business but has a full-time job elsewhere) will now be working my sisters hours.

Q2. As the wife owns the business, can my sister be made redundant and be replaced by the husband who is just an employee as he does not own the business with his wife? The husband would effectively be doing the same job as my sister (including cashing up and being a keyholder etc).

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The owner had a brief chat with my sister a couple of weeks ago and stated that they may have to change her hours. Nothing more was said until the letter was given to her today.

Q. Is my sister entitled to a Consultation Meeting to discuss any alternatives to the redundancy? Can she also take her Union Rep to that meeting?

She is only 1 of 2 staff (the other is the owners mother) and both are being made redundant.

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My sister is currently 40 years old and is 41 in late August.

The Termination Notice gives her final notice date as being August 15th (4 weeks) but I think it should be 5 weeks (August 22nd).

Q. If my sister insists on the Consultation Meeting, what would be a reasonable length of time to allow her Union Rep to make arrangements to attend? Would it be unreasonable to ask for a date in 2 weeks time?

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THANK YOU for your help on this.

Hi, the firm I work for went bankrupt a few months ago and the assets were bought by the same directors + 1 other one. I have been with the company for over 20 years and they asked me if I wanted to stay with the new formed company, which I agreed to. The new business is not doing well and I fear that they will make me redundant soon. I have been thinking of starting up my own business while still being employed by the ailing company but now I am worried that this might go against me when I claim redundancy payment through the National Insurance fund. The firm I work for will not have money to pay me any redundancy and as it is I am finding it hard to survive on what they pay me, I can't really afford to wait 6 weeks for the redundancy money to be paid out by NI. Should I start my own business from home while still working full time for my employers or should I wait till I am made redundant? I got the RP1 form in anticipation of the redundancy and for guidance but it is not clear what they mean in chapter 8 (about self employed). Could you please clarify this for me, thank you. I have checked the CAB website and can't find anything relating to redundancy payments in case of new self employment.

Hi
Statutory Redundancy Pay only relates to:

• how long you have worked for your employer
• your age
• how much you were paid

Whilst they may not be able to give specific advice the
· Redundancy Payments Helpline

· Phone number

0845 145 0004

may be able to assist you further.
We would suggest that you may need further advice in person from your local CAB. You can find their details on www.adviceguide.org.uk - click on England and you will then view a page with "Get Advice" on the right. Click here and you can search by postcode for your nearest bureau.

Hi

Your enquiry seems to be about the notice of redundancy your sister has been given, the procedure followed and what she might be able to do about it.

There is a lot of information on the Citizens Advice website - www.adviceguide.org.uk. on the opening page click on England and then follow
Work
Work comes to an end
Redundancy

From the information you give it would seem that your sister would be entitled to 5 weeks notice. Regarding consultation, look at "Redundancy !!!8211; procedures your employer must follow" on Adviceguide information.

ACAS - www.acas.org.uk
The opening page has a tab for Redundancy and Notice.

If your sister feels that she needs further advice she can find details of her nearest CAB from Adviceguide - follow the link "Get Advice".

Any ideas?

Hi

Your enquiry appears to be about disciplinary procedures at work. This is not an area we are able to help with on this board at the moment I'm afraid.

Do try posting your question on the Employment, Jobseeking & Training board (http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=141) or contacting your local bureau.

Hi

Your enquiry seems to be about whether an employer can make a certain deduction and that your wife is concerned that her National Insurance deductions are not accurate.

You do not say if this if this is a large employer with a dedicated payroll department or a small employer.

There is a useful factsheet on our website www.adviceguide.org.uk regarding deductions from pay.
On the home page select 'England'.'work' and type in 'deductions from wages' in the search box in the top R hand corner. Half way down the resulting page you will see 'Employer witholds your pay'.

Your wife may want to speak to theNational Insurance Contributions Office
Address
HMRC
Benton Park View
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE98 1ZZ
Phone number
0845 302 1479
Opening Hours
Monday to Friday 8.00 am to 5.00 pm

Hi

Although your husband has not been issued with a new contract reflecting the reduction in his working hours the fact that he has worked these hours for a considerable time demonstrates that he has accepted the terms and conditions. There is a good fact sheet of our website www.adviceguide.org.uk on Changes to Employment Contracts. Follow these links from the home page:
England home
Work
Rights at work
<LI class=li-breadcrumb-last>Contracts of employment
and scroll down to 'changes to contract'

There is also useful information at:
Work
Time off work
<LI class=li-breadcrumb-last>Off work because of sickness

You do not say how long in total your husband has worked for this employer. An employer can argue that it is a fair reason for dismissal if an employee cannot carry out his duties because of sickness, however your husband has been able to carry out some duties, albeit on reduced hours.

It is not ureasonable for the employer to seek an independent medical report. However, it is unfortunatel that this was upsetting to your husband. There is further information on Adviceguide - see above.

Your husband might want to talk to his local CAB, details of which can be accessed from the home page of Adviceguide - 'Get advice' on the right of the screen and put in the post code.

Hi folks

Can I make a request that this thread is only used for people to ask a question and for the official CAB representative to reply.

It's great that so many want to try and help answer questions but we would like to keep the sticky threads as official as possible.

This doesn't apply to non sticky threads in the CAB board where any replies you are able to give are appreciated.

Thanks all

Hi

I was made redundant at the end of April 2012 due to the company relocating and needing less staff. Just before the redundancy, staff were asked if they could stay a further month (end of April). Me and my family were moving house on 11th May and I asked if I could work up to that date and was told it was all of May or nothing. Obviously, moving house is time consuming so I made the decision to leave at the end of April. I was told that if any job opportunities arose within the company, they would contact those made redundant.

On 13th June, the company contacted me asking me if I was employed and if not, would I be interested in going back as the new unit was struggling and that the place where I worked would be staying open for the foreseeable future. At that time I was still out of work and said I'd be happy to return. The date given was 18th June and everything was sorted for my return except what shift I'd be going on to and that would be confirmed. I received a call on 15th June saying that unfortunately, the Operations manager had put a block on me returning.

I emailed HR and the Group Operations director asking why this had happened. The reply was that an investigation would be opened. This took a while and I received a reply from HR on 2nd August stating that the person who contacted me didn't have the authority to offer me a job as this was all done via HR, even though I was told originally that they had been consulted. Also, it was said that the company found it easier to have temp staff as it was less time consuming for HR to do the admin and payroll!!

Basically, what I'm trying to explain is that my job title is not redundant as the factory is still open as well as the new unit, which is also taking agency workers. I have also found out that the new unit needs more permanent staff to cover a night shift. The selection process for redundancy was done on a scoring process and I was the person with the highest score not to be kept on. When I left I was told that the people leaving with the highest scores would be contacted if jobs arose.

Do I have a case to present to them about the situation?

Sorry if it looks like I'm making no sense but I really want to find an answer.

Hi,

My holiday entitlement (25 days at 8 hours plus 8 days stat) runs from Sep - Aug. I used some before going on maternity leave and I have now returned to work.

I have reduced my working hours from 40 to 24 upon my return after 8 months maternity.

I am a bit confused as to how the holidays should be calculated. I thought I would accru 8 months of holiday at 40 hours and then have 4 months holiday at 24 hours and a pro rata of bank holidays.

I can find information to say the holidays accru whilst you are on maternity leave and at the hours you were on but my employer has calculated them at my changed hours. Who is right and can I find any paperwork to support myself if I am correct?

Much Appreciated.

On Monday August 6 I was given a letter informing me that I am to be made redundant as of August 18. I have been employed with the company since May 2009; am I correct in thinking that the redundancy notice is far too short?

Hi

The issue here appears to be the redundancy selection procedure and subsequently the actions of various staff members involved in the process. There is useful information at www.adviceguide.org.uk-
work>work comes to an end>redundancy>redundancy - procedures you employer must follow

The ACAS website also has extensive information on Redundancy & Notice. www.acas.org.uk

Hi

You say you have accessed information regarding how holiday entitlement accrues during maternity leave. The resolution of you problem may depend on when you and your employer agreed on the revised hours of working. As this could be complex we suggest you contact your nearest CAB - details can be found on www.adviceguide.org.uk - on the right-h side of the home page click on Get Advice and put in your postcode.

Hi

Statutory notice (what the law states as the minimum) is 1 week for each complete year of service up to a maximum of 12. Contractual notice can be more generous, but it cannot be worse.
So, if you began your employement 01/05/09, by 01/08/12 you would have completed 3 years of service and thus be entitled to 3 weeks notice.

There is useful information on Redundnacy on www.adviceguide.org.uk

Follow the links from the home page (England): Work>Redundancy>

I would really appreciate some redundancy help / advice please.

There has been talk of voluntary redundancy at my place of work (NHS), I have been advised I would get approx £19,500. I really want to retrain and go into mental health nursing as a mature student; this would be the perfect opportunity for me BUT I have an IVA which was started in January 2012.

Can anyone advise me what would happen if I took redundancy, would I have to pay off what I owe (around £13,000). Idealy I would like to use the money to fund my training and apply for a bursary once this had run out.

I havent spoken to my debt management company about this yet as firm redundancy decisions have not yet been made. I kind of want to keep all options open but my long term goal is to re-train to better myself and this seems like the right time to do it. I have thought about bankcrupcy but you cant be declared bankcrupt if you are a nurse (apparently!)

Hi

This is actually a debt question , not employment but in any event if you do receive the redandancy payment this is something that the IP would need to be informed about.

The IVA itself my also contain a provision for what happens in the event of a change in circumstance so you should examine it to see what it says.

Suggest that you also contact the insolvency service helpline and pose the theoretical question. Their number is detailed below :

Insolvency Enquiry Line: 0845 602 9848 (Monday to Friday from 8.00am to 5.00pm)