Well, since I last blogged.... in the middle of april, some 4 months ago, I have been employed!
I applied, again, for a job at the co-op, and got the job within a week or so. Initially 20hrs/week, by week 2 I was 34 hrs, and from week 4 I was on 39 hours, full time. A good way to earn money (if you have no real expenditures...).
Of course, they didnt contract me any of these extra hours, which meant for a hoot in terms of pay ("extra hours" are paid on a 2 week delay.... silly co-op.)
Also, I only earnt holiday pay on a 20hr/week equivalent.
I worked there for 13 and a half weeks in the end, giving a weeks notice and then working one more beyond that.
Final payslip tomorrow, excellent.
Oh, funny story. Not.
They said I would be paid £5.85/hr. It said this in black and white in my contract, as well as on every paynotification slip, and I was told this orally by the store manager and his XO.
Alas, I was being paid marginally less, in the region of.... £5.8479857483............ And so on.
I asked the guy in charge of pay at the store about this, a few times, and got mocked and no answers. So I phoned up HR, known as "People Services."
After a while, I get through, and this charming but retarded girl on the phone doesnt understand.
I explain, I explain that doing 156 hours at £5.85/hr means my pay should be £912.60, and I was being paid but £911.99.
As was EVERYONE ELSE.
This missing 61pence is nothing, really, to one person over the course of a month. But apply it to every employee, over months, years.... it begins to add up.
So I ask her, her on the phone, and I get, "Its the system."
I explain, my pay is meant to be £5.85, why am I getting ripped off?
"Its the system."
Eventually she elaborates - my pay ISNT £5.85 - but indeed it is just "rounded up to £5.85" for the box on the payslip which says "rate".
I ask Why?
"Its the system."
I explain that my contract clearly says I will work 20 hours, at £5.85 and hour, equivalent to £117 a week, and that I'm not being paid as my contract says I am.
She asks if I have my contract in front of me - I do, afterall, I am prepared for this one.
I quote to her, "Remuneration. Your remuneration shall be....."
She mumbles something about not knowing what that word means, but claims it does NOT mean your rate of pay. I explain that it does, but she isnt having any of it.
"Its the system."
Bah.
She goes on to claim that my contract doesnt, at any point, detail my hourly rate, but only mentions my annual salary. Oh, contrare. My contract doesnt, at any point, mention an annual salary, but ONLY mentions an hourly rate, and what this is equal to per week.
It would appear that HR and the employee are given different versions of their employment contracts - certainly not a good practice.
I realise I am not getting anywhere with this, and explain I will have to consult more people and get back to her. I wanted to say Lawyers, but sometimes, I physically cant lie. Im not bringing lawyers into this. Hitmen, maybe... Nah, I kid.
I was thinking union, so I speak to the Union Rep in training at the store - she is outraged, a bit. (FYI, no one at the store, from manager to shelf stacker, had noticed this discrepancy before).
I ask for the phone number for the union, to see if they know anything about this - afterall, it no doubt affects all of their members.
Im not in the union, and therefore, I cant speak to the union, even if it is about their own members rights.
Clearly, the union is a pile of horseshit too.
Afterall, this union advertises itself as more a form of legal aid in case you fall off a ladder and lose a kidney than any sort of genuine representation for matters of employment.
Unions should ensure workers dont get injured. Prevention better than cure, and all that.
So yes, I abandon that idea.
It is suggested I write to the money section of The Times. I consider this, but ultimately im disheartend by the apathy of my co-workers, employers, the union and so on.
Still, if my final payslip isnt right to the penny, I shall be phoning them up, and demanding better answers.
Though, since I quit, they'll probably hang up on me...
-----
So yes, I left the co-op. Why? because I could, because I was tired of working 39 hours a week when I didnt have to? Because in 13.5 weeks the longest I had had off was 2 days, and that was but once. Let me tell you something - 1 day weekends are not to be envied. No sir.
Anyway, with my bank balance looking significantly more healthy, I set off on my way home. Well, yes. And for the last week and a half or so, I have had the easy life. Spending money here, a bit there. But ultimately not doing an awful lot.
Isnt that the life?
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