Asking about the monthly payment of salary

[krisC64]

Hello.
I have a payment question. My contract is based on an hourly rate but is paid as an average (I don't know how calculated) 173.3 hours per month. And for example, at £ 14.5 an hour, I have £ 2,513.33 a month.
In the whole period when I work for the company (since 2007) it turns out that when I count all the working hours, I lose about 1750 pounds.
Is this method of payment legal?
If I previously accepted such terms of the contract, are they binding? (I received my first contract last year, before that, only the general terms and conditions of work).
Sorry for mistakes, my english is not good.
Kind Regards
Krzysztof

[ULA]

Hi krisC64 I need to be know what is in the terms of of the contract you accepted saying how you will be paid. Can you type up that section for me please leaving out any personal information or the name of the company you work for.

You also mention general terms and conditions which you also had I would need the same information from them as well.

[krisC64]

Hello,
Thank you for your response.
I am enclosing a scan excerpt from the documents.
The first - general conditions (information on the amount of annual earnings has been entered only since 2014, there is no such information before).
Second - information that is entered in the current contract, PAY point.
I think it will help.
Krzysztof

[ULA]

So in the document numbered 6 and point 6.1-6.4 is set out your hourly rate.

Where you paid at that hourly rate for the hours you have worked, given that this was pre 2014 if you were not checking that you were being paid the hours you worked at that rate then there is very little you can do about it now as you are out of time.

With regard to the new terms this set out your hourly rate and the annual equivalent is the hourly rate x 40 hours per week by 52 weeks. So at £14.5 per hour x 40 x 52 = £30,160 per annum which divided by 12 months is £,2513.33 as a monthly salary which is correct.

In terms of the 173.3 hours per month this is correct. The sum is 40 hours per week x 52 weeks = 2080 per year. Divide 2080 by 12 months = 173.3 hours per month.

I think everything is fine for you.

[krisC64]

Hello.
Thank you for the explanation and help. Now I understand the calculation method.
Kind regards
Krzysztof

[Manxman]

This might be nit-picking, but I think the OP might be getting screwed over ever so slightly here, together with any other employees in the same boat.

There are 52.143 weeks in a year, not 52.

So if somebody is contracted to work a 40 hour week, that comes out at 2085.72 hours actually worked pa (not 2080) and 173.81 per month (not 173.3).

Yes, it's only 5 hours and 43 minutes pa in this case, but if there are 10, 20, 50, or 100 other employees in the same boat, the employer is potentially benefiting from an awful lot of unpaid labour. This is all too common a problem when pay is expressed in terms of hourly rates and hours worked per week, but the wages are actually paid monthly.

Of course it isn't worth the OP sticking their head above the parapet and rocking the boat by querying this with their employer just for the sake of getting paid an extra 5 hours and 43 minutes per week...

But it is very annoying.

(PS - I used to be involved at a local trust level with the administration of the NHS superannuation scheme where knowing exactly how many weeks there are in a year and exactly how much people got paid in a year were both very important)