confused about employment, help!!!

BArra

hey,

just a few querys because im getting sick of my job from the complete and utter lack of information about it.

ive been working in this place for nearly a year.

but its starting to annoy me a lot now with simple things,
no signed contract, just "assumed" employment i suppose
no pay slips
no documentation on tax paid, we got a p60 last week with nothing paid in some parts, but i assume that was because my earnings are too low?
cash in hand salary
run around regarding holiday pay and again with no documentation being provided to know about benefits and rights.
nothing at the christmas party
norm pay on sundays
never paid extra for public/bank holidays
the list could go on.....

i was told this week that on next saturday, paddys day, a public holiday i wont be getting paid extra for working the public holiday. i would be working this day normally anaway, but since its a public holiday i assumed i should be payed extra??

when asked why this was? i was told that because my employer already pays our PRSI and our 30minute lunch breaks that this was the reason why.

the funny thing being on some night shifts working from 6pm-2.30am, we wouldnt even get a lunchbreak.

anaway, i normally work 25.5hours per week on €8.35 p/h unless i get another shift or two which is rare due to college

from my understanding if u earn under €300 per week the employee does not pay PRSI?

im quite confused and would like some advice,

appreciate it

Wishbone Ash

BArra wrote:

no signed contract

There is no legal obligation on the employer to provide a written contract but they must provide you with your Terms of Employment within 2 months of commencing work.

no pay slips

no documentation on tax paid,

cash in hand salary

Illegal under the Payment of Wages Act 1991 http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/ZZA25Y1991.html

run around regarding holiday pay

never paid extra for public/bank holidays

i wont be getting paid extra for working the public holiday

working from 6pm-2.30am, we wouldnt even get a lunchbreak.

Illegal under The Organisation of Working Time Act 1997. http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/ZZA20Y1997.html

no documentation being provided to know about benefits and rights.

AFAIK your employer is not obliged to provide you with information about benefits etc. (but obvoiusly is legally obliged to abide by your rights).

nothing at the christmas party

Not sure what you mean by this.

norm pay on sundays

There is no legal obligation to pay extra for Sunday work.

since its a public holiday i assumed i should be payed extra??

Yes.

from my understanding if u earn under €300 per week the employee does not pay PRSI?

I'm not sure about that. Some of the more knowledgable posters may be able to answer this. (PRSI rates vary according to the nature of the work).

would like some advice

Bring it to their attention immediately or report them. They are in serious breech of employment law.

dudara

There are a lot of illegalities going on here. You need to head to an official department.

There is a limit, below which an employee does not pay PRSI, but an employer must still pay. I forget what it is, but a search on www.citizensinformation.ie should help you.

Alter-Ego

from my understanding if u earn under €300 per week the employee does not pay PRSI?

I earn more than €300 a week and i don't pay any PRSI. My employer does though.

BArra

yeah i checked that website, thanks

the problem is i got so sick of the place today i sent an email stating i was leaving and i was giving 3 weeks notice, but they just said it was alrite and i could go after work tonight.

now i have to get my holiday pay in the next week, what should i be looking to ask for?

- documentation of total hours worked for the year?
- how holiday pay is calculated?

what am i entitled to ask for as regards documentation, i would like to get anything i can because i just know they are gonna try and screw me.

id like to ask for in-lieu previous public/bank holidays worked on normal pay, but i doubt i would get very far with that.

can i still make a complaint against them since i dont work for them anymore? as whats going on is an organisation run by idiot troglydytes who treat their employees like crap and really dont care as long as the €€€ is being cashed in.

wexford12

If you have been employed for less than 12 months im afraid you havent a leg to stand on.Holiday pay is 20 days per year so devide by 12 but it will go down if your part time but by the sounds of your company and lunch hours etc i wouldnt hold my breath.Yes its wrong that people can get away with treating staff like this but the law is as they say an "ass' at times

Wishbone Ash

wexford12 wrote:

Holiday pay is 20 days per year so devide by 12 but it will go down if your part time

It's done on a pro rata basis. A part time worker is entitled to 8% of the hours accrued.

OP - you are on shaky ground there as payment cannot be made in lieu of holidays except in very exceptional circumstances eg. death of the employee or closure of employment.

You will need to clarify if you got your annual leave entitlements or are you saying that leave was granted but not paid.

Gazza22

Sorry for barging in, but just a related query i have about part time public holidays.

I'm a part-time employee, and after reading the info on this thread i stumbled upon:

"How to calculate an employee’s public holiday pay
Public Holiday Pay for employees (other than certain categories of
job sharer) –

Employees normally required to work on the day on which the public holiday falls

(1) If the employee works or is normally required to work during
any part of the day which is a public holiday, then –

(a) If the employee’s pay is calculated wholly by reference to
a time rate or a fixed rate or salary, the amount paid to
the employee for the public holiday is equal to the
amount paid to him/her in respect of the normal daily
hours last worked by the employee before the public
holiday. This payment includes any regular bonus or
allowance that does not vary in relation to work done,
but excludes any pay for overtime."

Does this mean i'm entitled to double pay this St. Patricks day, even though i work every saturday?

Wishbone Ash

Gazza22 wrote:

Does this mean i'm entitled to double pay this St. Patricks day, even though i work every saturday?

Yes and a day off in lieu.

Gazza22

Wishbone Ash wrote:

Yes and a day off in lieu.

I've just realised i'm not very up to date on employees rights, thanks wishbone.

So the day in lieu, i'm going to book a saturday off in may that i need for a family event, so this means i can claim this as a lieu day? You don't get paid right, it's just a break for hours worked.

Oh and none of this is affected by the fact i'm only a new employee of a few weeks now?

Wishbone Ash

Gazza22 wrote:

I've just realised i'm not very up to date on employees rights, thanks wishbone.

So the day in lieu, i'm going to book a saturday off in may that i need for a family event, so this means i can claim this as a lieu day? You don't get paid right, it's just a break for hours worked.

Oh and none of this is affected by the fact i'm only a new employee of a few weeks now?

You will have had to work a total of at least 40 hours over the 5 weeks preceding the holiday.

AFAIK if you work on the public holiday you are entitled to extra payment and a day off in lieu for that day. You should be entitled to be paid for that day that you take off (as you didn't get a day off for the public holiday).

Think of office workers on a standard Monday to Friday. They will get Monday off and get paid for it. They are not entitled to any extra pay as they did not 'work' the holiday but they still get a paid day off.

Protection of Employees (Par time Workers) Act 2001 http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/ZZA45Y2001.html

9.—(1) Subject to subsection (2) and (4) and section 11(2), a part-time employee shall not, in respect of his or her conditions of employment, be treated in a less favourable manner than a comparable full-time employee.

Gazza22

Wishbone Ash wrote:

You will have had to work a total of at least 40 hours over the 5 weeks preceding the holiday.

mmm maybe i'm not entitled so

On march 17th, i will have worked 4 weeks and at roughly 70 hours

dudara

The issue of bank holiday pay was the only bone of contention I had with my agency when I worked as a temp, even though they were excellent in every other way. I often had worked the required 40 hours, but lo and behold when my payslip came, the public holiday pay would be missing. I often had to chase it up.

I'd say that many other temps were not aware of this and didn't get paid, saving the agency a fair few bob.

Part-time labour law is a little different, and it pays to be aware.