What do I do if I’ve been underpaid?
4 Simple Steps to follow if you‘ve been underpaid
There’s no worse feeling for a shift worker than finishing a string of back-to-back 12-hour shifts, sleep deprived, and fed up with Tesco meal deals only to get to payday and your payslip is incorrect. On average 46% of hourly-paid workers have been underpaid, this can cause huge amounts of stress and worry resulting in unpaid bills, cancelled social events, and even difficult conversations with your manager.
If you have found yourself in this unfortunate situation, you’re in the right place. This blog will offer a step-by-step guide on how to prove you’ve been underpaid and put yourself in the best position when it comes to getting your hard-earned wages back.
Underpayment can occur for a number of reasons such as:
– Out-of-date or poorly managed processes – One example is recording rotas and hours on paper which can result in human error when inputting into the payroll system
– When overtime hasn’t been recorded correctly – those 15 minutes after each shift soon add up and can leave you out of pocket
– Shift swapping and last-minute rota changes
– Worst-case scenario, if you have a mean or unfair employer
So what do you do if you’ve been underpaid? Don’t worry the team at WAC have you covered and are here to help.
1. Don’t Panic!
Firstly, keep calm and don’t make any rash decisions whilst you’re feeling frustrated or upset. Although it’s important to get this sorted as soon as possible, emotions can easily run wild when you feel let down by your employer. So, take some time away to destress, whether that’s a five-minute breather, a heavy gym session or catching up on your favourite Netflix show – we will need their cooperation later down the line.
Remember: There is always a solution and we’re here to support you.
2. How to prove you are underpaid
In order to have the best chance of getting your wages corrected we will need to provide evidence. Ideally, you will have recorded your hours somewhere. If not, it will be hard (but not impossible) to make things right. To find out how, please read on:
If you’re already using WAC, the world’s best work tracker, well done to you! Please follow the ‘WAC users’ steps below highlighted in purple. If you haven’t downloaded WAC, what on earth are you doing!? Download our totally free app right away to take control of your work and money, pronto. In the meantime, you can follow the ‘Non-WAC user’ steps below:
Step 1 – Check your rota
WAC users: Head to your Rota from the WAC home screen and review your shifts for the relevant pay period. This will give you a good idea of how many hours you worked during this pay period.
Non-WAC users: Find your rota/s for the relevant pay period. This will give you a good idea of when you were expected to be at work during this pay period.
Step 2 – Check you hours
WAC users: Check your WAC payslip estimate from your Home screen, or you can head to your Records to see a clear breakdown of individual shifts. Compare your shifts to your rota and try and find the hours in question. Does it look like any overtime has been missed? Having a clear idea of where the error might be will help you feel more confident when you speak with your employer.
Once you’ve checked your payslip estimate, download a shift report:
Head to the app and tap Records
Export your shift report to prove you’ve been underpaid
Non-WAC users: Hopefully, you have a record of your hours or maybe a way of finding out, whether that’s your Notes app, calendar or god-forbid till roll and compare it against your original rota. Does it look like any overtime has been missed? Having a clear idea of where the error might be will help you feel more confident when you speak with your employer.
3. Is your payslip incorrect?
Before taking your concerns further try your best to find the cause yourself. After you’ve confirmed the hours you’re expected to be paid for, check your payslip. There could be an issue with your gross pay (before deductions) which will be a discrepancy with your hours/earnings and that will need to be resolved with your employer.
Alternatively, there could be an issue with your net pay (after deductions) which will most likely be an issue with tax. Firstly, check if your Tax Code is correct. If you’re in the UK, you can find out what your tax code means here.
If you believe you are on an incorrect tax code you can update it by contacting HMRC and they will help you to resolve the issue.
Before you go all guns blazing to demand your missing cash from your manager or HMRC, there are a few areas for you to check in your payslip. Ensure you’ve accounted for any additional payments that would affect your ‘net pay’ such as your workplace pension, student loan or any company benefits you’ve signed up for (e.g. medical insurance or a cycle-to-work scheme)
4. Inform your employer
Once you’ve exhausted all areas and you are certain you’ve been underpaid, it’s time to contact your employer. This can be overwhelming and feel scary, but don’t worry – you’ve got this and we’re right beside you!
We would recommend contacting your employer by email so you have a written trail in case you need to take it further. To make the process super simple we’ve created email templates for you to choose from.
These templates vary in tone as 42% of shift workers feel like they’re been taken advantage of at work, so be sure to pick the one best suited to your situation.
First-time underpayment
Oh no, it happened again! 🤨
Are you actually kidding me? 😤
Once you’ve copied the text into an email and edited the relevant details; hit send, hold tight and wait for a response.
5. Raise a grievance
Hopefully, your employer has resolved your underpayment, if not the next step is to raise a grievance. Thankfully we’ve already written about this in a previous blog where you can find out how to raise a grievance.
6. Raise with ACAS
If you’ve still got a problem at work that you can’t resolve or you think your employers have done something that’s against the law, then you might want to make a claim to an employment tribunal.
To make a tribunal claim, you’ll need to get in contact with ACAS and complete an online form to make a claim against your employer. ACAS is a government-funded body that supports workers in workplace disputes. They will first support you through a process called ‘early conciliation’ to help you reach an agreement with your employer before you make a tribunal claim.
ACAS will act as a mediator between both parties to discuss the desired outcome to avoid going to an employment tribunal. Starting early conciliation doesn’t mean you have to make a tribunal claim if you’re unable to settle your dispute. However, this will be the next step if you decide to.
7. Download WAC & track hours
Congratulations on following up a potential underpayment, most people wouldn’t have the confidence to question their employer. However, you’re within your rights to question possible underpayments to ensure you’re being paid correctly for your time.
In future, the best way to avoid underpayment is to ensure you’re accurately tracking your hours, and the easiest way is to download the WAC app for free and track your hours between each payday. 59% of our users would or have used the app to claim back lost wages, so let us support you to help make your work life better, and help you feel confident you’re getting paid right every payday!