Resigntion- work is saying I owe them £300

hopefulmoneysaver94 · 2 February 2018 at 3:27PM

I have been in employment with my company for just over 18 months. I started the job on a 0 hour contract, and as of March-October 2017 I was given a 20 hour contract, and now as of October, I am back on a 0 hour contract.

I have quoted the letter that was sent to me from my employer;

"The issue occurred when your contracted hours ended and you returned to your variable hour contract. As variable hours are paid the month after they are worked, this situation results in a low pay period which Is why we took the decision to issue you with a loan."

She sent me another email suggesting that they take £80 a month from my pay to repay this. Something that i am not comfortable doing considering i only get around 20 hours a month on minimum wage.

I was wondering if they've admitted their mistake (They've also admitted their mistake on over paying an Expenses payment too, and are saying that they're going to take an extra £45 off of me) if they can actually do that?

Also, I am in the process of resigning from this employer. Would they still take the money when I am no longer working for them? (considering I will only get £400 for last months work)

Any help is greatful!

Hopefulmoneysaver

elsien · 2 February 2018 at 3:30PM

I'm not entirely sure what the question is, but are you disputing that you've been overpaid?
Or do you acknowledge the overpayment but feel you shouldn't have to pay it back?

Even if they've made a mistake in the payments they are still entitled to rectify the situation. If it was the other way round and you'd been underpaid, you wouldn't be saying "they've made a mistake so leave it as it is" would you?

hopefulmoneysaver94 · 2 February 2018 at 3:38PM

Sorry, i'm very confused over the situation so putting it forward in writing, i find very hard.

They are saying that they will take the "loan" repayments at £80 a month starting from this month. I am leaving the company this month.

Will they take it all out of my last payment from them or can they still take the repayment plan?

Diamandis · 2 February 2018 at 4:07PM

They can take back whst has been overpaid but you would really need to discuss with them whether they will allow you to pay it over a few months if you're leaving.

seatbeltnoob · 3 February 2018 at 10:51PM

I hope you kept a diary of hours worked and how much you were paid.

Regardless of the contract you get paid by the hour. So it doesn't make sense why they'd need to underpay you and supplement it with a loan.

Red-Squirrel_2 · 4 February 2018 at 12:38AM

seatbeltnoob wrote: »

I hope you kept a diary of hours worked and how much you were paid.

Regardless of the contract you get paid by the hour. So it doesn't make sense why they'd need to underpay you and supplement it with a loan.

It sounds like salaried hours are paid in the month they are worked, while variable hours are paid the following month. This isn't unusual, my employers do something similar.

However, if you swapped from a salaried role to one that was purely variable hours on say, January 31st, you would get your usual salary on January payday, then nothing at all in February, and your wages for the variable hours you worked in February would be paid on the March payday.

I presume the employer offers a loan to cover the 'missing' month and then expects it to be paid back in installments. Is that right OP? If so did you not realise you were getting a loan? Were you asked?

seatbeltnoob · 6 February 2018 at 1:51PM

I presumed a salaried was someone who works full time and would work a normal 7/8 hour a day work pattern and would sometimes need to work longer in order to get work done without overtime. Such as teachers who get no overtime and need to fulfil their roles whatever hours they work.

Someone with a hourly contract, whether it's 0 hours or 20 hours would be paid hourly. So the pay will not be fixed per month but vary depending on the hours they've worked. So they would have to be paid on accural basis, regardless.

Comms69 · 6 February 2018 at 2:24PM

seatbeltnoob wrote: »

I presumed a salaried was someone who works full time and would work a normal 7/8 hour a day work pattern and would sometimes need to work longer in order to get work done without overtime. Such as teachers who get no overtime and need to fulfil their roles whatever hours they work.

Someone with a hourly contract, whether it's 0 hours or 20 hours would be paid hourly. So the pay will not be fixed per month but vary depending on the hours they've worked. So they would have to be paid on accural basis, regardless.

Salaried doesn't mean 9-5, nor fulltime. Nurses are salaried, police are, etc. - some are pro rata'd too for working off days.

sangie595 · 7 February 2018 at 11:17AM

seatbeltnoob wrote: »

I presumed a salaried was someone who works full time and would work a normal 7/8 hour a day work pattern and would sometimes need to work longer in order to get work done without overtime. Such as teachers who get no overtime and need to fulfil their roles whatever hours they work.

Someone with a hourly contract, whether it's 0 hours or 20 hours would be paid hourly. So the pay will not be fixed per month but vary depending on the hours they've worked. So they would have to be paid on accural basis, regardless.

Your have presumed incorrectly. Some salaried staff are able to claim overtime, others are not. If someone has an hourly contract, if that says they have 20 hours, then the employer is obliged to pay them 20 hours even if they work less. Your interpretation of what hourly paid means is also interesting, but not correct. Hourly contracts are fixed amounts too. Variable hour contracts or zero hour contracts are not.

In the UK, the distinction between salaried and hourly paid is almost non-existent now, and more often than not relates to a mythology around terms of employment which UK law did away with many years ago.

Your definition is more in line with US law, such as it is, and not applicable here

hopefulmoneysaver94 · 5 June 2018 at 10:27AM

The only time i found out that a loan was taken out was when i open my pay slip that month.

I had a word with the managing director and he said that he couldn't explain it because it went over his head.

I have only paid £50 of this, and they haven't bothered me since, which i find very strange considering they were so uptight about me paying it!

A variable hour contract is what i got told a 0-hour contract is. I got taken off of a 0-hour (earning between 400-1400 a month) to a 20 hour contract where i earnt a flat rate of 650 a month.

CakeCrusader · 5 June 2018 at 12:14PM

Could they have converted your salaried wage into a loan? It does sound iffy, especially as they hadn't told you that they'd done this. It might be wise to give ACAS a call to see where you stand; http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1410

Resigntion- work is saying I owe them £300

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