I'd like your opinion on this but it's not horse related

MrA

MrA

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Feb 8, 2012
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Just over 2 weeks ago I emailed my boss asking what my new rate of pay will be from 1st April due to the minimum wage increase. And also querying a mistake with the rota and the amount I got paid for overtime last month which I think I have been underpaid.

A week later I followed this up with a second email to check she had received the first and still got no response.

Since then I have tried to talk to her twice in person and both times she has got very defensive/ angry and said she is far too busy currently to respond.

There's no HR or anything, she is the top of the company so I'm not sure what I do now. Short of just waiting like a mug for some sort of response is there a way I can deal with this. In my opinion it would take minutes to reply to my email so over 2 weeks is plenty of time to address it.

I don't really have anywhere else to ask and I'm sure the horse world is rife with questionable bosses so maybe a good place to ask for advice
 
Is this at the vet practice. Who does your pay is it the boss or someone else. If its your boss. Id possibly wait and see what they pay you for this month then query with whoever does it. Whats in your contract re pay increase. Are you on minimum wage only. If your above that then i suspect unless its in your contract that they review your pay in april you might have trouble getting an increase until they decide to do a review.

Have they been advertising for new staff at all do you know. If so keep your head down as its an excuse to get rid of some people in some companies.
 
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If there’s an administrator that runs the payroll I’d reach out to them, clearly mentioning you asked the boss but they have said they’re too busy to respond. Alternatively I would request a meeting with the boss to discuss your situation, and I’d make that request in writing.
 
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chunky monkey said:
Is this at the vet practice. Who does your pay is it the boss or someone else. If its your boss. Id possibly wait and see what they pay you for this month then query with whoever does it. Whats in your contract re pay increase. Are you on minimum wage only. If your above that then i suspect unless its in your contract that they review your pay in april you might have trouble getting an increase until they decide to do a review.

Have they been advertising for new staff at all do you know. If so keep your head down as its an excuse to get rid of some people in some companies.
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It's the bosses husband but he isn't contactable. Nothing in my contract about them. I'm on minimum wage +1%, minimum wage went up the 1st April. No adverts for new staff
 
Jessey said:
If there’s an administrator that runs the payroll I’d reach out to them, clearly mentioning you asked the boss but they have said they’re too busy to respond. Alternatively I would request a meeting with the boss to discuss your situation, and I’d make that request in writing.
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It's the husband but he's not contactable. Okay yes I will try that, thank you for the idea
 
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I think you need to stay professional but consistent here. I would request a meeting and then explain to her that her lack of response to your emails has left you feeling undervalued and unimportant.

If your contract states explicitly that your wage is “minimum wage plus 1%” then I would expect it to automatically go up. I presume that payrole would be outsourced to a contractor as I can’t imagine the head of a vet practice doing admin work like this. Who sends out your payslips? Is there mention of an external company on here?
 
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Mary Poppins said:
I think you need to stay professional but consistent here. I would request a meeting and then explain to her that her lack of response to your emails has left you feeling undervalued and unimportant.

If your contract states explicitly that your wage is “minimum wage plus 1%” then I would expect it to automatically go up. I presume that payrole would be outsourced to a contractor as I can’t imagine the head of a vet practice doing admin work like this. Who sends out your payslips? Is there mention of an external company on here?
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Sorry - just realised her husband does this. All you can do is keep trying to talk to her, but have a concise speech ready for when she finally decides this is important enough to dedicate 5 minutes to!
 
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it is the end of the tax year 5th April and many businesses have a 31st March year end so a busy time, so they may be doing a lot of end year stuff as well. No excuse but it can be a bit hectic. They need to give you year end documentation etc so if you don't get anything in a week, put it politely in writing
 
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You can be as nice as you like, so say that you understand she's busy etc, but once you make a request she ought to respond. I imagine that as the minimum wage went up by quite a lot, you are actually now being paid less than the minimum wage? Any employer will know that's illegal.
 
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diplomaticandtactful said:
it is the end of the tax year 5th April and many businesses have a 31st March year end so a busy time, so they may be doing a lot of end year stuff as well. No excuse but it can be a bit hectic. They need to give you year end documentation etc so if you don't get anything in a week, put it politely in writing
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This is a good point, I will make a note to ask for year end things if not been provided with them soon, thank you
 
Jane&Ziggy said:
You can be as nice as you like, so say that you understand she's busy etc, but once you make a request she ought to respond. I imagine that as the minimum wage went up by quite a lot, you are actually now being paid less than the minimum wage? Any employer will know that's illegal.
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This is my worry, I get paid monthly so I sent the email in the first place to make her aware that minimum wage is different and to forego any potential underpayment come end of April
 
Mary Poppins said:
I think you need to stay professional but consistent here. I would request a meeting and then explain to her that her lack of response to your emails has left you feeling undervalued and unimportant.

If your contract states explicitly that your wage is “minimum wage plus 1%” then I would expect it to automatically go up. I presume that payrole would be outsourced to a contractor as I can’t imagine the head of a vet practice doing admin work like this. Who sends out your payslips? Is there mention of an external company on here?
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My contract simply states my yearly earnings
 
Mary Poppins said:
I wonder how much she gets paid? Minimum wage for the work that you do is really rubbish!
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It really is, which is why I am keen to find out what I am on now, an extra £100 a month or however much it is going to make a huge difference to me.
 
I dont think anyone here is expert on contracts. I know a solicitor who specialises in contracts but before paying out fees, in your place, I might go to Citizen's Advice.
There is government advice on employment contracts
www.gov.uk

Employment contracts

A contract is an agreement between employee and employer setting out implied and explicit terms and conditions - written statement of particulars, collective agreements
www.gov.uk www.gov.uk

But if your contract states your annual earnings without any mention of increases, the end of one year wont make any difference to the rate? What might make a difference is if it then resulted in your being paid less than the minimum wage.
However you mentioned finding a post where you were doing a course to qualify as a vet nurse? If you have in work training, that might affect the amount they are paying you as part of that package.
I would advise you also to make any formal enquiry on paper and keep a copy rather than in an email.
 
Skib said:
I dont think anyone here is expert on contracts. I know a solicitor who specialises in contracts but before paying out fees, in your place, I might go to Citizen's Advice.
There is government advice on employment contracts
www.gov.uk

Employment contracts

A contract is an agreement between employee and employer setting out implied and explicit terms and conditions - written statement of particulars, collective agreements
www.gov.uk www.gov.uk

But if your contract states your annual earnings without any mention of increases, the end of one year wont make any difference to the rate? What might make a difference is if it then resulted in your being paid less than the minimum wage.
However you mentioned finding a post where you were doing a course to qualify as a vet nurse? If you have in work training, that might affect the amount they are paying you as part of that package.
I would advise you also to make any formal enquiry on paper and keep a copy rather than in an email.
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The reason I'm querying my pay with my boss is that minimum wage increased a large amount so I should be on at least that. I am an apprentice yes but I still get minimum wage.
 
I've sent an email to her asking for a meeting when she has time for one, will see if I get any response. As part of my apprentice contract I am supposed to have them weekly and haven't but that's a separate matter that college are aware of.
 
Hmmm. You haven't had the meetings which form part of your apprentice contract and your manager has refused to meet you to discuss your rate of pay, which you believe is below the national minimum wage. That's really not good.

If I were you, I would make an appointment with Citizens Advice to ask about the exact wording of your contract and whether the training you are receiving might be held to make up for the lack of minimum wage. It takes time to get a meeting. If your boss meets you in the meantime and you are satisfied with her responses, you can cancel. If not, go to the meeting, and ask their advice.

If they suggest that you should escalate, you could go to an industrial tribunal. This is a big thing but they provide good support to employees. You might need a solicitor, but there are briefs who will take on industrial tribunal cases under Legal Aid or no win no fee.
 
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I was thinking about this this afternoon, have they said they are not increasing your wage to meet new minimum wage?

If not, would it not be fair to trust that they will meet the legal requirement and only chase this portion of your query if they fail to do so, ie after your next pay slip? Unless you have reason to believe that they will intentionally defraud you?

Absolutely they owe you answers regarding the overtime query, but pursuing the pay increase query before they have had the chance to process anything at the new rate could be seen as a bit pushy.
 
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