Id be grateful for some advice on teh following issue.

Approx 8 weeks ago Mrs Nomad was granted a payrise following her annual appraisal. She received a letter from HR and an email confirming this was the case.

However, she has received her payslip today and there is no increase. She has been told that senior managers have put a stop to whatever payrises had been agreed.

Can they do this after Mrs N has received formal notification that the raise was approved?

Its a large national company if that means anything.

Worth fighting for, in theory she is owed it, may not do well for her relations and long term prospects tho.

It depends on the wording in the HR letter – but I reckon she’d have a case.

Grievance time……

It seems it’s not just her but a fair few employees in the same boat.

if the letter was notice of a change of terms and conditions ie how much she ll be getting paid then bingo the money is yours ( hers)if not it was just paper talk and can be withdrawn at any time..

Does sound a bit iffy but it’s also one of those times, given the current economic climate, I probably wouldn’t be rocking the boat and trying to make an official thing of it. Even if she did force them to honour the pay rise she’d just get screwed over or ‘managed out’ later.

Is she friendly with anyone in HR or someone (i.e. senior manager) who would lend weight to her argument?

I would imagine it’s a case of like it of lump it.

Very badly handled, but if the company is concerned it is unable to afford pay rises then insisting on getting one isn’t going to be seen in a good light – more likely you’d just get made redundant.

Clearly, the correct answer is that she should go on strike – That’ll learn em!

On a more serious note – if the bosses wanted to stop them, then they should have done so before HR sent the letters, by now a refusal to pay would likley be an unlawful deduction from wages, so she can do em at a tribinal for that, or go for breach of contract and constructive dismissal with compo.

whether its worth going that far, would have to be down to you guys I guess 😕

what zulu said and what does her contract say about appraisals and pay rises?
Basically they changed her wage and now they have not and , as they gave it writing twice, I would assume bang to rights re this with no wriggle room.
As others say her issue as how far she wishes to take it.
The company may be skint but they may also be a multinational taking advantage of employment security in order to drive down costs [ wages] to maximise the profit for their shareholders.

if it was outlining a change in contract (monetary) then the employers are breaching the new contract, and so yes, a case would be winnable.

Contact the union? As it’s large and national I would hope she belongs to one

if it was outlining a change in contract (monetary) then the employers are breaching the new contract, and so yes, a case [strike]would[/strike] could be winnable.

Company bosses are being asses, but I doubt this is worth kicking up too much of a stink about. If this happened to me I would do less work.

Wat does her union rep say?

Its a highly winnable case – but the cost could be high. How much of a stink does she want to make? Will other employees stand with her.

Could lead to a very unpleasant / stressful time. Is it worth it?

– is it a company that cares about their public image?

given the current economic climate

Although this is a possible genuine reason its also one that a lot of companies are putting out even if they are doing well as an excuses to screw people.

But surely in order to bring a claim, they’d have to leave and claim breech of contract?

In most cases that’s not a realistic proposition

Long term every time something is promised, the retort can be “you’re not believable even when it is in writing”
There’s some senior managers who have blitzed their reputations for short-term gain. Just keep reminding them they are un-trustworthy.

NB – she would not have to leave – there are provisions that she could claim under without leaving.

Formal grievance might be a decent option.

I had a very similar circumstance. Got an email stating that I was getting a payrise (no offical words or anything, just an email saying congratulations you’re getting more money). I handed in my notice a couple of weeks later and they tried to rescind the payrise for my remaining pay.

I phoned ACAS and they told me where I stood and what to say.

In a nutshell, as soon as they put pen to paper, or finger to email send button, they altered your contract. For them to change their mind is an ‘unlawful deduction of earnings’ and therefore a ‘breach of contract’.

I emailed my HR department and they shat themselves and paid me the money.

Don’t trust me though. Phone ACAS and get it from them: 08457 47 47 47

Dave