Under Paid but Not Sure

livingoracle on 24/08/2020 - 14:48
Last edited 24/08/2020 - 14:49

I was an employee of the Corporate world until I lost my job due to covid. I was jobless and then came across a Job in a transport company. I was happy to take it as it paid bills even though it didnt pay like my last job. I was told I will have a 10 hour per day contract which I didnt understand then. I thought I have to work 10 hours per day.

When I receive my payslip, I work 10 hours each day which equates to 50 hours but my payslip shows 38 hours only. and if I work 11th hour, they pay me overtime.

Is this legal in anyway to make an employee work for 50 hours a week and show payslip of 38.

They say the contract will show 10 hours per day, but I have not yet received it.

I dont want to lose the job by asking too many questions, want to know for myself if its legal. bad situation and I have to put food on the plate.

Poll Options expired

  • 2
    LEGAL
  • 8
    NOT LEGAL
  • 11
    UNSURE
Education & Work

Comments

  • PissLUR on 24/08/2020 - 14:51
    +1

    so how can we help?

  • Switchblade88 on 24/08/2020 - 14:55
    +4

    What's your contract say?

    What award are you paid under?

    Did you submit your hours as they expected?

    It could be an honest mistake of the payroll person using default figures for a new employee. Never assume malice where ignorance can be blamed.

    Ask the payroll or HR people to explain without making any accusations, and get it all in writing/contract pages etc.

  • POTATO10 on 24/08/2020 - 14:56
    +5

    Try sending fairwork and email, they will be in a better position to give you an answer.

  • CheapandUsed on 24/08/2020 - 14:57
    +1

    The Transport Workers Union remains one of the strongest unions in the country. I assume when you joined they gave a contact number for such enquiries.

    From an outsider though working 10hrs and only getting paid for 7.6hrs can GTFO.

  • livingoracle on 24/08/2020 - 14:58

    I spoke to HR and there is no mistake. I log in on a time log machine and log in and out for 11 hours everyday and get paid for 38 hours + 5 hours overtime pay per week in my weekly pay slip. Contract yet to receive, its been 3 weeks i am working.

    from a 7 hr 15 min corporate day to start at 6 am and finish at 5 pm without a designated lunch break + 1 hour drive each way. Its tough.

    • Drakesy on 24/08/2020 - 15:39
      +3

      I'm intrigued, how do you wrangle a 7 hr 15 min corporate workday?

      6am to 5pm without a designated lunch break isn't legal, but sounds like you're doing so much overtime that they don't want to pay it all, something's strange about this one.

      Based on what you've told us, it looks like you're covered by the Road Transport and Distribution Award [MA000038].

      A meal break is a 30 - 60 minute unpaid break that doesn't count as time worked, except for shiftworkers.

      Meal breaks for shiftworkers are 20 minute paid breaks. This break is instead of the 30 - 60 minute unpaid meal break.

      An employee must get at least 1 meal break if they are a:

      non-shiftworker and work for 5 ½ hours or more
      shiftworker and work for 5 hours or more.

      Sounds like you're getting short changed.

    • kanmen on 24/08/2020 - 15:56
      +1

      Ask them for the contract ASAP and if you can to have documentation of their conversation with you confirming what they said. Did they provide an explanation for why this was the case? Seems they are shortchanging you 5-7 hours of OT p/week.

    • AustriaBargain on 24/08/2020 - 17:10
      +2

      Are you sure your contract doesn't say you need to be available to work 10 hours a day, not actively working 10 hours? Isn't transport kinda in demand right now, if they need you for 55 hours a week maybe you could be getting paid 55 hours.

  • gmail92 on 24/08/2020 - 15:01
    +2

    You can open a case with fair work, tell them about your sit and ask them for advice. It appears you might be underpaid, but you probably will need to push HR for the contract so you have it in writing. Overtime for a full time should technically be anything above 37.5/38.

    I think you should only work your 7.5 hours until they can show you the contract, which you can then take to fairwork with your timesheets.

  • Ginag on 24/08/2020 - 15:03

    Call transport union to ask. they will clarify for you.

  • holdenmg on 24/08/2020 - 15:04
    +1

    Use this:

    Record My Hours app

    Sometimes employers fail to properly keep employee records. This lack of records makes it difficult for an employee, or us, to address concerns about underpayments.

    We already recommend employees manually record their hours (eg. in a diary) – now we’ve made it easier to do.

    Our Record My Hours app makes it quick and easy for employees to record and store the hours they work, plus other information about their employment.

    https://www.fairwork.gov.au/how-we-will-help/how-we-help-you…

  • DarthAntz on 24/08/2020 - 15:21
    +2

    I worked as a teacher 13 years ago and pulled 55+ hours a week. Payslip always said I did 30 hours, 6 hours a day. It was their way to cheap out at our work classification, to fit under contracted employment. Also, it covered for the 10-12 weeks holiday we had each year.

    You may be getting those numbers on your payslip and roster, but are you getting time in lieu accrued or holidays building up?

    Transparency is wishful thinking on a payslip.

    • livingoracle on 24/08/2020 - 15:44

      Thats the big problem, even the accrual is according to the payslip, which means I am burning the candle at both ends, getting paid lower wages + lower leave accrual.

    • AustriaBargain on 24/08/2020 - 17:18
      -1

      If I were a teacher and was being paid for 6 hours a day, I'd only work 6 hours a day. I guess the fist time I look at the lesson plan would be at the start of each class. And I'd probably delegate marking assignments to some of the more keen students.

      • DarthAntz on 24/08/2020 - 22:20
        +1

        It really doesn't work like that. I wish I could, and I was young and I felt it was unfair. I put too much pressure on myself at 23 years old in my first full time professional job and it burned me out. If i knew what i know now 13 years later, I could have handled it much better. Never overlook school teachers, it's a massive job that would not work only putting in 6 hours a day. Support teachers and support pay for every hour they put in, and that would get a lot more initiative and better people to the field.

        You are right about delegating marking work to the right people, or making it a part of the lesson. Students don't behave in a way that makes your time work efficiently enough to get everything done.

        It is a problem for the industry and the workplace, to treat employees like a number. I had come from stocking shelves and working part time and still felt like a number in the system, in a professional role as a teacher. Unions would not have helped me. Speaking up wouldn't have helped me. I was happy to leave the system, and ended up working for for the private sector for the hour, and given much better flexible options. I think jobs like that are very rare now.

      • Zachary on 25/08/2020 - 12:13

        And I'd probably delegate marking assignments to some of the more keen students.

        Students secretly marks their assignments to be 100% even though they failed badly….

    • livingoracle on 24/08/2020 - 15:46
      +9

      I could be home taking jobkeeper but I choose to work instead, not sure how many think this way. Well its a sad reality, I know another person who is a Pilot and now doing a call centre position from home. So while its not affected many people but the ones who have been have never seen worse.

      • PissLUR on 24/08/2020 - 16:04
        +2

        jobseeker

      • Ughhh on 24/08/2020 - 16:44
        +2

        Ignore him, he's just jealous he's unemployed and no employers are getting back to him.

        Good on ya for making the best out of a shitty situation.

        • Zachary on 25/08/2020 - 12:16

          Damn, his getting the good life, decent (Enough) pay doing nothing at all but stroll through ozbargain(or any other community site) to poke fun at people…

    • Banana on 24/08/2020 - 16:03
      +1

      I am not sure why you think that emoji is appropriate here. I won't make assumptions about you as a person but this is what I would like to say to OP and others reading:

      You are not defined by the job you do, or how you contribute to the society, as long as it is in a positive way. True heroes are able to adapt to their environments, rise up from their comfort bubbles, in OP's case - doing a job they would otherwise not do, to get through the situation.

      Good on you OP, we can get through this!

  • [Deactivated] on 24/08/2020 - 16:14
    +2

    If your employer is claiming that you are working less than what you actually are, get proof and contact fairwork.

    Talking to the union is ridiculous. A dispute of hours worked is not a collective bargaining issue. No wonder some people need unions.

    If you have evidence then this becomes a civil dispute you can easily get a favourable judgement for.

  • MeesusEff on 24/08/2020 - 19:35

    Sounds a bit like retail, but full time. My husband used to work in a fancy store as the FT manager, crew of casuals and part timers. Contract has no OT, so he has to work until the daily jobs are done as they don't want to pay the casuals extra, was averaging about 45-60 hours a week but only paid for 38. Christmas Eve, 16 hour days.

    • AustriaBargain on 24/08/2020 - 22:27

      Couldn’t your husband have hired more staff to get the jobs done quicker?

      • MeesusEff on 25/08/2020 - 02:29

        He can't even schedule the existing casuals to do more hours because of the "budget", they just used the excuse of "if you can't get the work done in time then you are not working well". Other staff didn't care as well because they don't plan to stay there forever. Imagine a manager having to sweep the floors after closing lol. He quit this year after reaching LSL :D

        • Zachary on 25/08/2020 - 12:19

          Everybody sweeps the floors unless you have cleaners that come every day after usual hours…otherwise you'll get a messy workplace…

    • dasher86 on 25/08/2020 - 10:01

      sounds like contract was a salary.
      Salary in most cases = no overtime.

      I have worked in places where shift workers got paid more than their managers because of over-time and penalty rates.

  • the Unforgiven on 25/08/2020 - 15:21

    contact Industrial Relations in your state

  • Euphemistic on 26/08/2020 - 21:18
    -1

    I worked a job on salary. Was supposedly a 38hr week, but the salary included ‘a reasonable amount of overtime’. It wasn’t an hourly rate paid though, just a monthly lump. A normal day was 8hr, but 10-12 was common and longer was occasional. Wasn’t uncommon to do 50hr a week. There was an overtime payment for weekend or night work per shift.

    Does your contract state 38hr week including up to 10hr per day then over that overtime is applicable? You really need to read the fine print. Surely they can’t pay you 38hrs and make you work 50 every week.

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