Basic Pay question

Jellybaby1

My daughter works full time, gets two week days off each week which means she works every weekend. Supposed to be on basic pay but when it is calculated she thinks its a good bit below it, she's finding it hard to cope with rent and bills. I wonder if she is calculating it correctly. Some days she is so busy she doesn't get time for lunch and is starving when she gets home. Should she exclude lunch period in her calculations or include it if she doesn't get time to eat. Quite often she has complete responsibility for the premises alone when her manager is off. There is just the two of them there. Personally I think this amount of responsibility deserves more reward than basic pay. Holidays have to be taken when her employer tells her to and she has been turned down for time off when her partner can take a holiday. She is beginning to feel very down and losing weight, and I am worried about her. If she is being underpaid and her employer refuses an increase to a living wage what can she do about it, who should she contact. I would like her to go down the right route about this, but first want to help her calculate her wages correctly. Can someone advise please?

myshirt

She should take her lunch. Ensure she eats a breakfast, some fruit or snacks, and a nice dinner. This is a low skilled job, if she moves on to anything paying more she is going to have to manage her time better, but the important thing is she takes care of herself. 8 glasses of water a day, eat often, and go see the doctor if it persists. Presumably she is a young girl, so don't worry, these basic life skills will come. She will learn.

Lunch is not included in the calculations and should be 15 mins break every 4 hours, or a half hour break in the middle of a 8 hour day.

As to holidays, it is up to the employer as to when she can take time off, not her.

JennyZ

Is she getting her payslips, indicating tax deductions etc? It should be easy enough to work out whether she is being paid the right amount.It doesn't sound like a great place to work for if there is no flexibility around holidays at all.

Jellybaby1

myshirt wrote: »

She should take her lunch. Ensure she eats a breakfast, some fruit or snacks, and a nice dinner. This is a low skilled job, if she moves on to anything paying more she is going to have to manage her time better, but the important thing is she takes care of herself. 8 glasses of water a day, eat often, and go see the doctor if it persists. Presumably she is a young girl, so don't worry, these basic life skills will come. She will learn.

Lunch is not included in the calculations and should be 15 mins break every 4 hours, or a half hour break in the middle of a 8 hour day.

As to holidays, it is up to the employer as to when she can take time off, not her.

myshirt: Thank you for replying so quickly. She does have a breakfast, and dinner when she gets home in the evening. I never said it is a low skilled job, just that she is on basic pay. 'Managing her time better' doesn't come into it but you are unaware of all the details of the job. If she had time to drink 8 glasses of water a day she would have time for lunch. She has had to go to the doctor a few times already this year as well. You also say 'eat often', but sometimes she doesn't have time to eat! No she is not a young girl at all, she is in her thirties and quite sensible. Thank you for the information on calculations. Yes, we understand the employer can say when she takes holidays, I just included that information to explain how all of this is effecting her along with the stress and worry of trying to get along on less than low pay.

JennyZ wrote: »

Is she getting her payslips, indicating tax deductions etc? It should be easy enough to work out whether she is being paid the right amount.It doesn't sound like a great place to work for if there is no flexibility around holidays at all.

JennyZ: Funny, I just assumed she is getting payslips, something to check with her, thank you for reminding me. I don't think it is a particulary good place to work either and I can see her looking for better before the end of the year, but in her field there is little on offer here. Thank you.

silent_spark

From your original description I was expecting your daughter to be very young and in her first job, not a grown woman in her 30s - at this stage she should really be able to understand her payslips and have the confidence to take her lunch breaks, even when it's busy. You say she's on 'basic wage', do you mean minimum wage? This is €9.25 per hour, excluding breaks. The 'living wage' isn't a requirement by any law, and is just a calculation of what is considered by some to be a fair wage for a reasonable standard of living. Regardless, if she isn't happy in her job she should start looking for something else that offers better pay, it's not worth staying in a job where you're not happy.

Jellybaby1

silent_spark: Thank you. All understood. Its just difficult to explain her situation here in great detail. She has been hinting that its time to leave Ireland and try for better elsewhere. Just wanted to know what route does she go down if she is being paid less than the minimum wage. Is that legal?

Stheno

Jellybaby1 wrote: »

silent_spark: Thank you. All understood. Its just difficult to explain her situation here in great detail. She has been hinting that its time to leave Ireland and try for better elsewhere. Just wanted to know what route does she go down if she is being paid less than the minimum wage. Is that legal?

How many hours does she work and how much does she gross? Excluding breaks