Pay Review & Back Pay

whiskeyman

Hi,

I hope someone can shed some light on this.
My workmate was due his yearly pay review in Feb, but only got it last week as my boss was always "too busy" to meet him.
He got a pay increase, but the boss has said that this will not be back-paid (for Feb & March), but is only effective from next month.

Is the boss acting legally here?
If it is legal, he's being very unfair. :mad:
Anything that can be done?

any help?

Thanks folks

Eoin

I would imagine it depends on what's in your friends contract - i.e. is it guaranteed increments at a specified time (like someone working on a grade: teacher / An Post employee etc)? If so, then maybe he has grounds to complain. Maybe someone knows the legal aspects of it?

TBH, your friend did get a pay increase, which is a lot more than can be said for a lot of people out there, so I would be happy enough with that. Have him work out what he would get into his hand for 2 months, and he can decide if that amount is worth pursuing.

Also, does your friend have a HR department he can contact?

WhiteWashMan

it really depends on when the company sets for pay increases to be given.
if they are to be given infebruary, and paid out from end of feb onwards, then yes, he is entitled to back pay.

of course, it all depends on what the proceedure is.

i suspect that is legal what he is doing, but probably just very mean and unfair.

whiskeyman

thanks for the reply Eoin.
It's not in the contract - pay is just reviewed on yearly basis.
It's a tricky one, coz we feel we're being screwed on so many issues.
We dont have a HR dept... the boss says he's the HR dept.
I had to force him to provide access to a pension plan, as he is legally obliged to in my situation. Nothing is forthcoming at all.
I see your point in relation to getting a raise anyway. But, the raise was a given : myself and another colleague got ours, and got them backdated. We get no other benefits at all and his salary is way below market expectation.
TBH, we're all looking elsewhere on the market, but we dont want to throw away good jobs (perhaps not in pay, but in experience anyway) so easily without trying to ensure we get what we have a right to.

Eoin

whiskeyman wrote:

thanks for the reply Eoin.
It's not in the contract - pay is just reviewed on yearly basis.
It's a tricky one, coz we feel we're being screwed on so many issues.
We dont have a HR dept... the boss says he's the HR dept.
I had to force him to provide access to a pension plan, as he is legally obliged to in my situation. Nothing is forthcoming at all.
I see your point in relation to getting a raise anyway. But, the raise was a given : myself and another colleague got ours, and got them backdated. We get no other benefits at all and his salary is way below market expectation.
TBH, we're all looking elsewhere on the market, but we dont want to throw away good jobs (perhaps not in pay, but in experience anyway) so easily without trying to ensure we get what we have a right to.

Well, it looks like their was a precedent set when you and another colleague got the pay back dated, so I suppose that is grounds to make a strong argument.

I see your point in relation to getting a raise anyway

Sorry - that was a flippant remark in the first case, you are talking about 2 months backpay which is a sizeable portion of the year.

I had to force him to provide access to a pension plan, as he is legally obliged to in my situation. Nothing is forthcoming at all.

That doesn't bode well, when even legally required benefits are not forthcoming.

Is it the manager, or the company (or are they much the same thing) that is causing the problem? If things are that bad, and your friend is looking elsewhere anyway, then go above him if possible.

Presuming you have email and the manager has someone above him:
1) your friend should put the request for the backdated pay in an email to the boss
2) if the boss does not respond, or responds unfavourably - send an another email, and CC his boss
3) If the same happens as above, email the managers boss directly.