Paying wages

bernyh

My hubby works for a small enough family business, not a great atmosphere there, none of the family talk to each other, so there is no communication between the directors of the firm.

There have been a number of issue's re wages, the director responsible for paying wages has been known in the past to "forget"/ (or claim online banking to be down) to pay the wages on a Friday and leave them unpaid till Sunday/Monday.

It has also been noted that what is on the wage slip is not neccisarily what will be paid into the bank (generally in the company's favour).

A couple of months ago my hubby and his work mates got together and told him that this practice of paying wages whenever he feels like it is causing them problems and should be addressed, we have had a few bank charges due to unpaid dd's on a Friday etc...

Today he had the audacity to say to one of the young fellas in a flippant way "sure u's will be ok till Tuesday for your wages!" the young fella told him no, and that he would have DD's comin out of his wages that would go unpaid if he had no wages....

Is this guy for real? Most working class people are living week to week as it stands.

Is there any legislation that covers the payment of wages? Or is it just a case of at least they get paid at some point?

tenchi-fan

Sorry, but this is a complete mountain out of a molehill situation.

Yes, it's bad form paying wages late. It's even a bit disrespectful.

But at the end of the day, you're talking ONE WORKING DAY, or not even a full working day if they pay him on sunday.

Never mind about the family situation between the directors, or the young staff member who has all his DDs set up for the day after he's meant to get paid. If you want to avoid unpaid DD fees I suggest you phone your utility companies and ask them to collect the DD one day later, or arrange an overdraft facility with your bank so you would pay a small interest charge for a day or two rather than a penalty for going overdrawn.

Info on late payments here: http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employment/employment_rights_and_conditions/pay_and_employment/when_you_are_regularly_paid_late.html
As you can see, not much you can do.If it's in his contract that payment should be made before 5pm on Friday and they don't pay him until 2-3 weeks later, fair enough, but as it is they seem to be paying him fairly promptly.

As for payslips: they should show the correct deductions and net pay. I'm not sure why the company would make a mistake "in their favour" because there will be a clear audit trail from the payroll system, to the P30s, to the bank. If they overstate his wages on the payslip they will be hit with a high tax bill and it will be clear from the bank statements that they did not pay him enough. And if they understate his wages on the payslip questions will be asked as to why all that extra money went out of the company's bank account. Get your facts together (payslips, bank statements), then ask your husband to contact NERA if there is a problem. See http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employment/employment_rights_and_conditions/pay_and_employment/pay_slip.html

bernyh

Sorry feeling a bit defensive here, I think to say you are making a mountain out of a molehill is a bit much.. we live week to week, his income is our main source of income where mine can be sporadic, so if he isn't paid on time this can cause a problem. If we have plans we have to make sure he has been paid before we can commit to anything. This wasn't such an issue before I lost my job but as we are dependant on his income now it is becoming and issue.

But you have answered the question as to legislation, we won't be going down the roads of Nera etc, as I'm sure a job that's paid a bit late is better than no job at all.

LoanShark

How can techni fan be so flippant???
The wages are supposed to be payed on Friday, then Friday when they should be paid..
No questions about it..
Families live hand to mouth every day of the week in this country and it is only fair that wages should be paid on time. Because people budget for the week, paying a man on Sunday doesnt put food on the table on Saturday!!

OP your husband and his work mates need to confront the boss and let them know that it's not on for them to screw up their finicial positionings...

sue345

tenchi-fan wrote: »

Sorry, but this is a complete mountain out of a molehill situation.

Yes, it's bad form paying wages late. It's even a bit disrespectful.

But at the end of the day, you're talking ONE WORKING DAY, or not even a full working day if they pay him on sunday.

Its not JUST ONE WORKING DAY!

Its a long weekend and if they werent open on Good Friday your looking at 4 days off without any wages and then you have to assume that if hes that same bank as his employer that it will go straight into his account, if hes not it can take up to 2 working days which might bring us to Wednesday or Thursday before he sees any money at all....

Clearly you've never had to live week to week to make such a ignorant comment!

Mimojo

I agree with the above, you are CERTAINLY NOT making a mountain out of a mole hill. I know exactly what it is like to live week to week. My wages were late due to an admin error 3 weeks ago, and I incurred additional charges as I overdrew (over my limit) due to direct debits. This was a one off, but there was uproar as many people were faced with the same.

If you have dds coming out then the penalties can be severe, especially if it is the 4th or 5th time it has happened in a certain time frame, the penalties rise and if this is a regular occurrence then it is unacceptable.

I think it is best to raise the issue as a workforce with the boss, and explain exactly the penalties incurred, and the realities of living without wages for a cetain number of days. As a previous poster noted if you are a different bank to the boss then it can take several days to clear already.

As for the comments above, clearly the poster has no idea of what it is like to loose a job and have to rely on one wage, which should be paid on the same day per week, very flippant comments indeed.