Agency cut my weekly pay by €80 without notice

Pompous

I've been working with an agency for the last few months. Today my payslip came through short €80.

The story that the agency and the company are both telling me is that I have in fact been overpaid since the beginning and they are just now correcting their mistake.

I usually get paid 45 hours per week (40 basic 5 overtime). My shift is 8am-5pm. They say I have been mistakenly paid for my lunch.

When I was hired, nobody discussed whether I would be paid for breaks and there is nothing in the contract regarding this. My manager told me they could even take all that overtime pay back from me if they wanted but they won't, since it is Christmas.

I think I'll just quit. Anyone want to chime in with an alternative or have some legal insight? Can companies just decide one day that you have been overpaid if you don't have a contract outlining pay?

Dave_The_Sheep

What's in your contract?

That's the golden rule.

Pompous

Dave_The_Sheep wrote: »

What's in your contract?

That's the golden rule.

Damn, the last sentence says lunch breaks will not count as working time.

Ah well, time to quit I suppose!

wonski

First of all what is the deduction on your payslip?

Lunch for full time worker would generally be 30 minutes minimum, so 2.5 hours a week.

That's more than 10 hours a month so if you worked there for last few months that figure of 80 euro doesn't add up, unless it was some additional 15 minutes brake that was paid for by mistake that they are looking at.


Most decent companies and agencies would let it go, though and just set new rules from when they discovered the error.

You really need to look at your payslip and see where the money is deducted and what for.

Many people on paye have lower wages at the end of the year when they hit the higher tax threshold of 40%.

I hear it all the time, especially when bonus payments are made in December.

Pompous

wonski wrote: »

First of all what is the deduction on your payslip?

Lunch for full time worker would generally be 30 minutes minimum, so 2.5 hours a week.

That's more than 10 hours a month so if you worked there for last few months that figure of 80 euro doesn't add up, unless it was some additional 15 minutes brake that was paid for by mistake that they are looking at.


Most decent companies and agencies would let it go, though and just set new rules from when they discovered the error.

You really need to look at your payslip and see where the money is deducted and what for.

Many people on paye have lower wages at the end of the year when they hit the higher tax threshold of 40%.

I hear it all the time, especially when bonus payments are made in December.

I'm basically getting paid for 40 hours per week now, whereas before it was 45. That difference is €80.

Jim2007

Pompous wrote: »

I'm basically getting paid for 40 hours per week now, whereas before it was 45. That difference is €80.

And were you actually working 45 hours a week plus being paid for your lunch breaks as well???

Generally speaking companies pay you for the hours you work, so leaving because a company is not paying you for hours you did not work will sound a little strange, if you have to explain it to anyone.

Pompous

Jim2007 wrote: »

leaving because a company is not paying you for hours you did not work

Leaving because I'm now being paid substantially less. There are many bad things about this job, the pay was the one thing keeping me there. It's no longer worth it.

_Brian

Very common actually normal not to be paid for lunch breaks.

What I’d say is explore alternative options before just quitting this job, I think you will find that this is really common.

tiredblondie

in my job 12 years, we don't get paid lunch, paid for a 35 hour working week (as opposed to 40 hour!)

unless i'm taking it up wrong, they aren't taking back the money the over paid you, correct?
they are now just paying you for the "correct" hours instead?

Jim2007

Pompous wrote: »

Leaving because I'm now being paid substantially less.

You were being paid substantial more because of a mistake, not because you were entitled to it.

wonski

To be fair op they made a mistake before, now they correcting it without asking you to pay it back even, so it looks like it's OK.

You were overpaid 5 hours a week which is quite a lot tbh.

Up to you, but don't just quit the job until you find a new one.

Many, if not most companies don't pay for lunch breaks btw.

If they have been paying the increased amount for a reasonable period of time then under contract law they are probably obliged to continue paying it go forward.
As the loss to you is €80(per week I assume) I advise you consult a Solicitor for legal advice. I do not advise going to court as you will ruin an ongoing relationship with your employer.

_Brian

Deleted User wrote: »

If they have been paying the increased amount for a reasonable period of time then under contract law they are probably obliged to continue paying it go forward.
As the loss to you is €80(per week I assume) I advise you consult a Solicitor for legal advice. I do not advise going to court as you will ruin an ongoing relationship with your employer.

I’d be surprised if that were the case.

TheChizler

Pompous wrote: »

I'm basically getting paid for 40 hours per week now, whereas before it was 45. That difference is €80.

How many hours are you working and how many are you taking for lunch?

Wheety

[Deleted User] wrote: »

If they have been paying the increased amount for a reasonable period of time then under contract law they are probably obliged to continue paying it go forward.
As the loss to you is €80(per week I assume) I advise you consult a Solicitor for legal advice. I do not advise going to court as you will ruin an ongoing relationship with your employer.

Any links to employment law stating this?

Besides, it's only been a few months.

_Brian

_Brian wrote: »

I’d be surprised if that were the case.

I'd consider the initial higher wage than mentioned in contract to be an accepted change to a contract on the part of the employee especially if they have been in receipt of it for many, many months.

Salary Negotiator

Deleted User wrote: »

If they have been paying the increased amount for a reasonable period of time then under contract law they are probably obliged to continue paying it go forward.
As the loss to you is €80(per week I assume) I advise you consult a Solicitor for legal advice. I do not advise going to court as you will ruin an ongoing relationship with your employer.

I doubt that, there's a contract in place and it's obvious that an error was made so there was no intention to create an amendment to the contract.

Wheety

Wheety wrote: »

Any links to employment law stating this?

Besides, it's only been a few months.

It isn't employment law. It is contract law.

Salary Negotiator

Salary Negotiator wrote: »

I doubt that, there's a contract in place and it's obvious that an error was made so there was no intention to create an amendment to the contract.

The party to the contract is induced to continue honouring their contract due to an established weekly payment which they find satisfactory. If it ceases to be satisfactory due to reduction in amount paid then I'd argue the other party is in breach. 2 or 3 months would be hard to argue. 10 or 11 I'd say the employee has come to rely upon the higher level of payment.

wonski

With few months at agency I doubt this would happen.

I know exactly what would happen instead

h2005

Did you not notice on your first payslip that you were being overpaid?

TheChizler

h2005 wrote: »

Did you not notice on your first payslip that you were being overpaid?

Would have made sense if they thought they were being paid for lunch.

Dav010

[Deleted User] wrote: »

The party to the contract is induced to continue honouring their contract due to an established weekly payment which they find satisfactory. If it ceases to be satisfactory due to reduction in amount paid then I'd argue the other party is in breach. 2 or 3 months would be hard to argue. 10 or 11 I'd say the employee has come to rely upon the higher level of payment.

Employment contracts often state the employer can recover overpayments either during or at the end of employment. The op also has a contract of employment stating lunch is unpaid, as is the norm under employment legislation. If the employer informed the op when the error was identified, it would be hard to argue against the employment contract which the op would have agreed to when commencing employment.

Like others, I see this less of a deduction and more of a correction. I might have missed it, but are they insisting the op pay back the overpayments, which would be their right? 5 hours a week may well add up to a weeks wages after 2 months, so if the op doesn’t have to repay, he/she is lucky.

@OP

Neither you nor I have seen the employment contract. It warrants investigation. @OP, go to a solicitor and get proper contract law advice. It shouldn't be too expensive.

theyre perfectly entitled to cease paying you the higher amount in error

entitled to seek recoupment of the moneys paid in error also

best practice to inform you in advance, tbf

Deleted User

Deleted User wrote: »

theyre perfectly entitled to cease paying you the higher amount in error

entitled to seek recoupment of the moneys paid in error also

best practice to inform you in advance, tbf

Quote the line in the contract which was entered in to in the past which backs this statement up.

Dav010

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Neither you nor I have seen the employment contract. It warrants investigation. @OP, go to a solicitor and get proper contract law advice. It shouldn't be too expensive.

The op has, he/she corrected the opening post after reading it. Now and again, common sense costs less than running to a solicitor, maybe the op should read the contract before spending money.

Dav010

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Quote the line in the contract which was entered in to in the past which backs this statement up.

I would suspect that would come under the payment/remuneration paragraph in the contract. The op has already confirmed that lunch is unpaid. The employer is therefore paying what was agreed in the contract of employment.

The Payment of Wages Act 1991 allows for deductions in the case of overpayments.

https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employment/employment_rights_and_conditions/pay_and_employment/pay_slip.html

Dav010

Dav010 wrote: »

The op has, he/she corrected the opening post after reading it. Now and again, common sense costs less than running to a solicitor, maybe the op should read the contract before spending money.

Now and then paying a solicitor a small fee while avoiding court at all costs pays dividends.

Dav010

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Now and then paying a solicitor a small fee while avoiding court at all costs pays dividends.

I think you may be trying to tap a nail with a sledgehammer.

There is no statutory requirement to pay for lunch break, the ops contract states he is not paid for lunch, unless I missed it, they are not looking to recover the overpayments, but they are correcting an error, the op is there only a couple of months and has few rights under the UDA, is probably in probationary period and is considering leaving anyway, why on earth would he spend money on a solicitor in this situation? What would he gain?

I'm a believer in engaging professionals when reasonable.
For example €100 for tax advice has saved tens of thousands in tax going forward.
A consultation with a Doctor can be excellent value for money rather than living with illness or discomfort.
Likewise a Solicitor can offer a competent service for little outlay and at 80 euro loss per week it is well worth spending a small amount to get good advice.