He works for a company that pays a low amount for the first 50 hours of the week, then pays a figure of around time & half for over time. They were getting an overnight allowance and a weekly bonus (equivalent to a night out basically).
New TM has come in and changed everything, they now get what looks to be the full amount for overnighting, now have a meal allowance and get a small amount back for uniform cleaning, the weekly bonus has disappeared. Since this has come in, the ‘salary’ part of the his wage has been over all the place but has now settled on the same amount each week, which does turn out to be 50 hours basic pay.
His wage slips are emailed to me, and I was sat figuring it out this morning, and it seems that he is not being paid for anything over 50 hours, the TM told them all that this new tax free structure would make them all better off, but it’s not when you lose 15 hours overtime in a week. He made it sound like he was taking some of the overtime and juggling it into the tax free stuff to ‘help’ the drivers.
I belive that anything of the ‘tax free’ things are what drivers are entitled to, am I right with this, and also does the company claim this back from the tax man or does it come out of the company’s own money?
I’ve tried reading up on this to help him, but to be honest I am tying myself up in circles with it all, so any help or pointers in the right direction of finding the proper information would be great.
I’m salaried, so don’t get paid any overtime at all, I can do 90hrs in a week and still only get my basic, this is 100% legal.
As long as he’s happy with the number in the bank at the end of the week / month, then it’s not a prob, if he isn’t and wants to earn more, it sounds like he’s working for the wrong company.
He’s definatly not happy with the amount in the bank each week, this week he is down around £100 overtime.
They weren’t salaried, but they were supposed to get paid 50 hours minimum each week, and then any hours over were paid at overtime, usually right to within around 15 mins or so.
Apparently it’s not the TM, this is all down to the owner, (I have since been corrected on that).
So do these tax allowances come from the company’s money or does the company claim them back? Cos I am thinking that he is disguising the lack of overtime payments in these new allowances they are giving them, and 9 times out of 10 the driver is worse off.
Trucker’s Girl:
So do these tax allowances come from the company’s money or does the company claim them back?
Allowances are paid from the companies own money, they are an expense to the company paid to you. The “allowance” part means you are allowed it without having to pay tax on it. (Thats a simplified version)
He’s never had a contract, well not one that has been signed, it was more you work we pay you type of verbal.
Contracts have been mentioned a couple of times, usually when they want to take any money off him ('it’s all in your contract), but so far they have never put one in front of him.
He is now only paying tax and insurance on his ‘salary’ that is one thing I have been checking on his wage slips.
He’s waiting to speak to either the big man or the payroll person. (neither is currently available)
Despite no paperwork a contract is in force here, the fact that you work and he pays is enough and the norm is what is in force.
On that basis any change in terms and conditions has to be done correctly ie; advance notice of change in writing.
However there is always a reason for these things and poking your head above the parapet could be asking for trouble at some point.
SD
A company must by law give a contract of employment within 13 weeks of starting employment, The government allow companies to pay its staff expenses ie; nights out, but these are limited by the tax man as to offset them against tax, and employee should not pay tax on this figure ( unless its over and above the limits laid down by HMRC ) which is around £30 for a trucker ( i may be corrected on this )
If his employment has been changed( it shouldnt have without prior consultation, for it is changing his contract of employment, if he has one ) if not thats down to him to get one, so a notification to the employer, should remedy this, or a letter to the right department will sort this out.
If he is being paid for 50 hours only, then only work 50 hours, an employer cannot expect a driver to take a drop in wages, but still maintain the work ethic, tell the company of your intention, and also start looking for another job, for it seems they are seeking to save money, at the employees expense, rather than their own profits.
Just spoke to him (I’ve been at work all afternoon) and he has spoken to the boss, who is trying to say the wages are correct, and that now they have put the night out money up by £5 a night, that is paid instead of some of his overtime
He’s gonna go into the office when he get back to base and find out what’s going on, I have told him only to do 50 hours, either they pay what he works, or he works what they pay, simple as that! It’s not as if it’s rocking money anyway. I work in retail and am getting more an hour than he is!
But, it was a locla company and they took him on pretty much as soon as he got his licence, although he has now passed the ‘magic’ two year barrier.
If you take home less for doing the same or more hours, then you’ve had your pay cut.
I’ve not come across any company who actually pays tax expenses out of their own pocket. It’s an allowance from HMRC which informs the company that they need not deduct PAYE tax from that section of one’s pay, eg. fuel allowance for mileage.
Whereas the night out allowance is actually paid by the company, (although a shift allowance is probably better!) I believe that other stuff like meal allowances, uniform, mileage are just a tax deduction and doesn’t warrant any actual company putting their hand in their pocket…
Eg. Wages basic £400 with 5x£20 night out allowance + £150 of other expenses doesn’t mean you grossed £650. You grossed £500, and got taxed on £250 of it. It looks like the firm is paying you more, but in fact you’re just paying less tax at HMRC expense. From the firm’s point of view, this is a great wheeze for hiding a pay cut just less than the amount extra you get to take home as a result of the tax deductibles…
Umbrella outfits use this same method to hide their £27 per payslip charge for doing nothing more than moving paper across a desk.
HMRC ‘allows’ an employer to pay an agreed amount of expenses tax free. These may be night’s out, meal allowances etc etc.
The actual allowance comes from the company - their saving is the NI that they would have paid (roughly 11% of wages over £150 a week).
As a driver he may or may not be better off. Even if his TOTAL GROSS pay and allowances may be reduced, the fact that he pays less tax may make up for it and in some circumstances he could be better off. The only way to tell is to look at the bottom line - the NETT take home amount of pay plus allowances.
I think that employers doing this will shoot themselves in the foot. The natural consequence would be that drivers will not want to do any work after the 50 hours are up - this might lead to more nights out or missed deliveries etc.
Trucker’s Girl:
He’s never had a contract, well not one that has been signed, it was more you work we pay you type of verbal.
Contracts have been mentioned a couple of times, usually when they want to take any money off him ('it’s all in your contract), but so far they have never put one in front of him.
He is now only paying tax and insurance on his ‘salary’ that is one thing I have been checking on his wage slips.
He’s waiting to speak to either the big man or the payroll person. (neither is currently available)
Ref contracts…Excuse me if I’m incorrect on this ( laws might have been changed) but I went to court over an unfair dismissal about 10 years ago the company’s barrister showed me legislation to prove that once I’d worked a certain amount of hours over a period of 13 weeks it became standard working practice.i pointed out that I had a contract and in his words “it’s not worth the paper it’s written on” because I’d worked regular overtime and therefore had accepted the terms and conditions of the job. Just saying be wary, having no contract doesn’t mean to say they cant change the rules
