Not being paid for time worked

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I've been employed at the same business for 9 months. I work in a shop and my contracted hours of work are:

Monday: 4 hours
Tuesday: 4 hours
Wednesday: 4 hours
Thursday: 4 hours
Friday: 4 hours

+ every other Saturday: 7 hours

Actual time worked means I work two weeks a month 20 hours and two weeks 27 hours.

Averaging this total per month by dividing it into four, means I get paid for working 23.5 hours every week.

I've taken a few sick days over my period of work, not excessive, no period exceeding 3 days, if even that. I haven't been paid for ANY of them. It's up to my manager's discretion, and everyone else gets paid for sick leave. I'm not bothered by this, but she accuses me of lying, despite the fact I've come back to work with prescriptions from my Dr for antibiotics... Doesn't this suggest I WAS actually ill???

Anyway, so, on monday 17th of March I had to take a day off because my mum was extrememly upset about a personal issue. I went back to work on the tuesday.

That week + the week after, I worked 23 hours + 20 hours = 43 hours.

I checked my payslip (I get paid weekly) and for the first week I only got paid 18.8 hours. Working out from my usual pay of 23.5 hours, I should've only lost 4 hours, equaling 19.5 hours. I queried this and was told my pay was averaged out into 23.5 hours a week, and then averaged out further to 4.7 hours per day (23.5/5). Now I don't work 5 days every week. I work 5 one week then 6 the next.

I explained that I had in total worked 19.5 hours that week and only been paid for 18.8 of them and therefore I was owed 0.7 of an hours pay.

The stupid woman at the finance department (renowned for being a bit dim) doesn't understand. I explain and explain, tell her I PHYSICALLY went into work for 19.5 hours and I've only been PAID for 18.8 of them, therefore I've worked 0.7 hours for free!!!

Still doesn't understand.

This has been going on for a couple of weeks now, I've tried to get in contact with the director and he just doesn't answer his phone or reply to my messages.

How can I go about dealing with this AND getting the money I'm owed from previous sick days? I've obviously been losing 0.7 of an hour for every sick day I've had and not been paid for.

This has to be illegal, but I just can't seem to make this stupid woman understand how I'm losing out.

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There must be an Employee Relations Branch in your local or federal government or an ombudsperson who can intervene for you or at least tell you the rules.

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Re: Not being paid for time worked

honey_rose_cr wrote:

I've been employed at the same business for 9 months. I work in a shop and my contracted hours of work are:

Monday: 4 hours
Tuesday: 4 hours
Wednesday: 4 hours
Thursday: 4 hours
Friday: 4 hours

+ every other Saturday: 7 hours

Actual time worked means I work two weeks a month 20 hours and two weeks 27 hours.

Averaging this total per month by dividing it into four, means I get paid for working 23.5 hours every week.

I've taken a few sick days over my period of work, not excessive, no period exceeding 3 days, if even that. I haven't been paid for ANY of them. It's up to my manager's discretion, and everyone else gets paid for sick leave. I'm not bothered by this, but she accuses me of lying, despite the fact I've come back to work with prescriptions from my Dr for antibiotics... Doesn't this suggest I WAS actually ill???

It may suggest it but it doesn't prove it. I can get a scrip for antibiotics in under 15 minutes by making a phone call or two whether I'm sick or not. An actual doctors note stating that you were to sick to work is "normal" here in the states (usually only if you take 2 or 3 days though, nothing is usually needed for a single day.)

Quote:

Anyway, so, on monday 17th of March I had to take a day off because my mum was extrememly upset about a personal issue. I went back to work on the tuesday.

That week + the week after, I worked 23 hours + 20 hours = 43 hours.

I checked my payslip (I get paid weekly) and for the first week I only got paid 18.8 hours. Working out from my usual pay of 23.5 hours, I should've only lost 4 hours, equaling 19.5 hours. I queried this and was told my pay was averaged out into 23.5 hours a week, and then averaged out further to 4.7 hours per day (23.5/5). Now I don't work 5 days every week. I work 5 one week then 6 the next.

I explained that I had in total worked 19.5 hours that week and only been paid for 18.8 of them and therefore I was owed 0.7 of an hours pay.

The stupid woman at the finance department (renowned for being a bit dim) doesn't understand. I explain and explain, tell her I PHYSICALLY went into work for 19.5 hours and I've only been PAID for 18.8 of them, therefore I've worked 0.7 hours for free!!!

Still doesn't understand.

This has been going on for a couple of weeks now, I've tried to get in contact with the director and he just doesn't answer his phone or reply to my messages.

How can I go about dealing with this AND getting the money I'm owed from previous sick days? I've obviously been losing 0.7 of an hour for every sick day I've had and not been paid for.

This has to be illegal, but I just can't seem to make this stupid woman understand how I'm losing out.

The whole thing sounds illegal to me but then I'm not famaliar with Brit labor laws.

First of all, in your opening line you mention your employer and that you have a contract. Are you an actual employee or a contractor?

Secondly, it sounds like you are a quasi-salaried employee. This business of averaging out hours probably wouldn't fly here in the U.S. if an employee complained. We either get paid by salary or hourly. If you work hourly you get paid for the number of hours worked within the pay period. If you are on salary you get paid whether you work or not and there (usually) isn't any overtime pay.

But overall it seems to me that if they are using 23.5 hours/week as your pay basis then you are loosing out every other week and getting overpaid on the in-between weeks as it is.

I'd find a new job...

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Oh God, our company makes it as difficult as possible to know who's in charge or who you can contact for what. I've been passed from person to person...

Thing is, I went into work on the monday after being ill on the saturday, then rang saturday evening and told her my exact symptoms; she was the one that basically diagnosed me...loosely, so I went to Drs and seen as she is a pharmacist you'd imagine she'd know how difficult it is to get a prescript.

I had an infection, they can only give antibiotics after finding a positive indication (eg by urine test) that I had an infection. Then they did more tests and prescribed DIFFERENT antibiotics for a specific bacteria. It's not really something I just did quickly, they did specific tests and the prescript was sent direct to my Pharmacist boss. She will have known, seen as it's a specific antibiotic, that they'd done proper tests.

Umm, Drs shouldn't really be prescribing you antibiotics like that. Sounds like they've got too many patients to deal with, so they're going for the quick route "here have this. it might be the right thing, but at least I've dealt with you.." Confused

What the hell defines a contractor? Someone that just goes for temporary contracts? I can't even remember.

Anyway, I'm an actual employee, we all legally have to have a contract detailing our working hours, rights etc. It's a terribly written contract tho, awful wording, confusing and downright wrong. They're so shifty up there, they like to make things as difficult for us, and easy for them to say "Oh, but this part of the contract COULD be taken like this, so therefore....."

I get paid by the hour £5.83, but the way they work my hours is just wrong.

I'm trying to find a new job. Limited.

That's another thing, "overtime" at our company seems to be "hours when the shop isn't open".

My contracted hours are 9am til 1pm. If I work over that it's not deemed as "overtime", it's only sundays (when we're not open) and before 9am and after 5:30pm (eg, before we open and after we close). This is what I mean, the contract is ridiculous, it doesn't make sense, how can you work overtime hours that don't exist?

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Not being paid for time worked

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