I think my boss is stealing from my wages

LegacyUser

Hello all,

I hope someone can help me. I started working in an office in Oct 14th on a 3 month contract. I got the job off fas.ie, had a phone interview and there was one other person working in the office. I have never met the owner of the company. He moved to the Channel Islands 2 years ago and hasn't come back. I am single, no dependants so just have the usual basic tax credits.

When asking for my payslips, my boss put up a huge struggle, (1st bad sign). He bullied me into doing a lot of overtime (way more than I was comfortable with - even worked over Christmas day, stephens day ect). I didn't want to because I have worked 2 jobs all year and was worried about how much tax I would be paying.

He didn't give me my payslips until mid Jan and I'm very suspicious of them.
First theres no brand on the Payslip, it could have been made on Microsoft Word.
My tax class changed each month.
Theres no mention of emergency tax (he says it doesn't come up on Payslips - don't believe this).

Heres the kicker tho. My gross pay in Dec was E2470 yet I got charged E840 worth of tax, up from E193 the previous month.
I went to the tax office and they said theres no way I should have been charged that much and I got E500 tax back.

He paid me E850 halfway through Dec, and then E1270 in Jan.
When he emailed me my payslips in Jan he said he overpaid me E500 and is now trying to take it out of this months wages.

Yet I don't think its adding up??

The other girl left after getting paid in Jan & I've found emails from other employees in the Channel Islands threatening to take him to court for not paying them.

seamus

Yes, lots of red flags there.

Just to clarify on two points; many payslips are issued without any kind of branding on them, they look like they were done up in MS word. This is quite normal and OK, as many people use 3rd party services like Thesaurus, who just issue plain payslips.
Emergency tax, afaik, is never specifically stated on the payslip, just the tax class(es) at which you were taxed. Afaik, if your tax class is "E", you've been taxed on an emergency basis.

What you need to do is start working it out yourself and see if you come up with the same figures that he does. Gross figure should be easy.

Also get in contact with Revenue to find out who is registered as your employer. If the company have not registered you as an employee and are taking tax from you, then kindly correct Revenue's records, but also start looking for a new job. A company who doesn't manage their payroll diligently can't be trusted and will be nothing but trouble for you.

murphym7

If the revenue were able to refund you 500 euro it seems to be incompetence rather than fraud. I doubt the revenue would be cutting you a cheque for monies they have not received in tax from your employer. What was deducted from you will all be on the screen in front of them.

Either way, Revenue will sort all this for you. BTW, Employer sounds well dodge.

LegacyUser

OP are you on a salary or hourly rate? You should know what gross pay you are due for each pay period so he can't tell you that he overpaid you if the gross pay is what was agreed by you and him. If there is an issue with the tax or PRSI he should be able to tell you how the error happened and you should see the adjustment in the tax section in your next payslip.

Tell him you will not accept any adjustments to your pay without a detailed calculation from him first explaining how it happened. He definitely sounds a bit dodgy so start looking for another job!