Wage reminder, is there such a thing?

[welshys90]

Some quick background information, i'm a apprentice technician (mechanic) and i started this job when i was 20 and got paid the beautiful sum of £4.20 an hour, which for a first year apprentice over 19 is sadly legal.

However, now i'm into my second year of my apprenticeship i should be on national minimum wage which is currently £6.08 an hour so i asked my boss about when my wage was due to increase and i was told that they normally get a 'reminder' letter from a company (didn't mention which company) when somebody is due a wage increase and then asked me if i had received one.

Is there a company which sends out a reminder letter when someone is due a wage rise? cause i have never heard of this in my whole life and i was wondering if they are basically stringing me along in the hope that i don't ask for back money and they get a few more months out of me at my cheaper rate as it were, if there isn't such a company is there anyone i can contact outwith my company to complain as it were to get a push on with my wage rise e.g. HM revenue & customs or the likes?

any information would be helpful thanks!

[Cyberprog]

Never heard from such a thing, though they may have outsourced their HR functions...

[anonymous-user]

Time to ask again a little more forcefully (but politely). If that doesn't work then remind them that they are breaking the law and tell them you will be seeking official advice.

[cal216610]

Hve you actually gone 21 yet?
£6.08 - the main rate for workers aged 21 and over
£4.98 - the 18-20 rate
£3.68 - the 16-17 rate for workers above school leaving age but under 18
£2.60 - the apprentice rate, for apprentices under 19 or 19 or over and in the first year of their apprenticeship
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees/T...

[anonymous-user]

Cyberprog said:

Never heard from such a thing, though they may have outsourced their HR functions...

A company' auditors would normally advise its clients of wage increases due because of legislative i. e. minimum wage, changes.

[Firefoot]

REALIST123 said:

A company' auditors would normally advise its clients of wage increases due because of legislative i. e. minimum wage, changes.

Um, no they don't! I have never been told by an auditor when to increase wages. It is not in their remit.

[Cyberprog]

cal216610 said:

Hve you actually gone 21 yet?
£6.08 - the main rate for workers aged 21 and over
£4.98 - the 18-20 rate
£3.68 - the 16-17 rate for workers above school leaving age but under 18
£2.60 - the apprentice rate, for apprentices under 19 or 19 or over and in the first year of their apprenticeship
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees/T...

I'm not sure where he was getting the £4.20 rate from, but presumably he'd step up to £4.98 as he was 20, and outside his first year of apprenticeship.
Edit: I'm assuming here that he's *still* 20, which he may not be, in which case £6.08 would apply.

[bristolracer]

Are you working directly for these people?

My step son has completed a carpentery apprenticeship, although working for small builders his apprenticeship was run by Carrilion (a very large building concern)
His "boss" just signed his timesheets and progress sheets but Carrilion took care of the pay.
In effect his apprenticeship was contracted out.May be worth checking out your status

Cheers
Nick

[anonymous-user]

Firefoot said:

REALIST123 said:

A company' auditors would normally advise its clients of wage increases due because of legislative i. e. minimum wage, changes.

Um, no they don't! I have never been told by an auditor when to increase wages. It is not in their remit.

Um, yes they do, if they're doing a decent job of things. If you understand their remit and what they take responsibility for in their audit, you will realise that they have responsibilities in making sure the accounts are true and accurate, despite the various disclaimers.

Part of that will be checking Personnel records, to make sure there are no 'bogus' employees being claimed for and that no laws are being broken in respect of the MW, which involves a check and reminder.

Maybe you need better auditors?

[Countdown]

REALIST123 said:

Firefoot said:

REALIST123 said:

A company' auditors would normally advise its clients of wage increases due because of legislative i. e. minimum wage, changes.

Um, no they don't! I have never been told by an auditor when to increase wages. It is not in their remit.

Um, yes they do, if they're doing a decent job of things. If you understand their remit and what they take responsibility for in their audit, you will realise that they have responsibilities in making sure the accounts are true and accurate, despite the various disclaimers.

Part of that will be checking Personnel records, to make sure there are no 'bogus' employees being claimed for and that no laws are being broken in respect of the MW, which involves a check and reminder.

Maybe you need better auditors?

Having worked as an Auditor in a previous life I have never come across anybody who thinks this is an Audit responsibility. It might be covered in passing as part of a Systems audit or by Internal Audit doing a HR/Payroll review (so they'll sample check 20/30/40 employee records from payroll --> HR or the other way to make sure the system is in place). If they find any errors it goes in their audit report. they would categorically NOT inform clients of statutory Payroll issues (unless they were providing a Payroll service). Its the clients responsibility to ensure compliance, the auditors job to report to the Board about the True & fair view of the Accounts (within which they might comment on the effectiveness of Internal controls)

[Countdown]

REALIST123 said:

Um, yes they do, if they're doing a decent job of things. If you understand their remit and what they take responsibility for in their audit, you will realise that they have responsibilities in making sure the accounts are true and accurate, despite the various disclaimers.

The Accounts being "True & fair" is not the same as confirming that everybody was paid in accordance with their Contract of Employment. To put it another way, they can confirm that the accounts show that Joe Bloggs got paid £100k, NOT that Joe Bloggs got paid what he was entitled to.

[welshys90]

hey guys,

yes im 21, was 21 in march, my apprenticeship went into its second year in September and we're nearly into december and im still on £4.20, is there anybody that i can contact about this that could give the company a boot up the backside?

the accountant for our company is in house, i spoke to him about the wage increase on two previous occasions and was told twice that they receive a reminder about it but haven't received one

[Cyberprog]

£4.20 used to be the Adult Rate back in 2002 - perhaps their system is setup wrong? Otherwise, you can raise a complaint with HMRC:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/nmw/complaint.htm


Edit: You may be out of time to take it to an employment tribunal - this must be done within 3 months of you being paid under NMW. However you should raise a formal grievance using the internal procedures of your employer.

Edited by Cyberprog on Thursday 17th November 22:05

[GeraldSmith]

REALIST123 said:

Um, yes they do, if they're doing a decent job of things. If you understand their remit and what they take responsibility for in their audit, you will realise that they have responsibilities in making sure the accounts are true and accurate, despite the various disclaimers.

Part of that will be checking Personnel records, to make sure there are no 'bogus' employees being claimed for and that no laws are being broken in respect of the MW, which involves a check and reminder.

Maybe you need better auditors?

No, really they don't do that. Auditors check what has already happened and confirm that things are correct, they aren't active in telling what you should do. They might pick something like this up after the event (in the months following the end of the financial year when they are doing their audit) but they aren't going to detect that someone has reached a certain age and needs a pay rise. That's a function for whoever runs the payroll.

[Countdown]

It sounds like the OP's firm have outsourced HR but have in-house Payroll.

Depending on their internal systems/procedures HR would usually notify Payroll about changes to pay. Even if Payroll know that a person's pay scale is incorrect, they cannot change it without authorisation from HR. Segregation of duties.