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Post by Deleted on Nov 18, 2017 18:00:07 GMT
I overheard a conversation between two station staff members, they said that TFL operate an odd non-standard four weekly payroll, which is both expensive to administer (you have to pay thirteen sets of Payroll Bureau and Bank Processing charges instead of Twelve). Why can't TFL adopt a standard monthly payroll, paying everyone at a fixed date each month? The current archaic system makes it difficult for staff to align their direct debits to their payday, as paydates fluctuate wildly from month to month, and of course there is an occasional month where there are two paydays in one month. Surely modernising their payroll to a clean monthly system will be administratively easier and save money at the same time???
If the train companies can run a calendar monthly payroll safely, then why can't TFL - is it old traditions sticking in?
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rincew1nd
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Post by rincew1nd on Nov 18, 2017 19:04:38 GMT
The Co-op also run a 4weekly payroll, when they sold off the part of the business I work in we kept this lunar payroll.
It's actually not as bad as you make out. The trick is to budget based on your usual payroll and the 13th payday then becomes a bonus. The cost of converting to a monthly payroll (including bridging loans to employees if applicable) is generally not worth the hassle if you also have a 13period financial system. However when your new owner had a 12period finance system but maintains the 13 payrolls of the former owner, it's annoying.
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class411
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Post by class411 on Nov 18, 2017 19:28:15 GMT
There are even weirder ways of doing things.
My mother used to talk about five week months making it hard for people to budget. I could never understand this as most bills came in monthly and (February apart) there was only one day difference between the other months.
Eventually I asked her how you could get a five week month when all months were four weeks and three days or less.
It turns out that there are some companies who use (or used) a system of paying people (you're not going to believe this) on, e.g. the Tuesday after the first Thursday of the month - meaning you could get paid anywhere from the 6th to the 12th. God only know who came up with this bizarre scheme, or why, but there it was.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 18, 2017 19:48:27 GMT
I love the 4 weekly pay quirk. Whenever you are asked to show proof of earnings, they can never understand how you earn your stated amount per year when they times your salary by 12.
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Post by aslefshrugged on Nov 19, 2017 6:52:44 GMT
I like being paid 13 times a year, it means that once a year I get paid and my mortgage, bills, council tax, etc. don't come around until after the next pay day.
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Post by revupminster on Nov 19, 2017 7:53:49 GMT
The state pension is paid four weekly so TFL pensioners get two bonus months if the payments are in different parts of the month. It does mean you have to be careful with direct debits which I have kept to two only.
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cso
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Post by cso on Nov 19, 2017 9:05:29 GMT
class411 I (currently) get paid on the last Friday of the month, so there are occasions where it's 5 weeks between pay dates. My biggest thing is that a change of job will take me back to being paid in the middle of the month.
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Post by trt on Nov 19, 2017 9:16:17 GMT
There's a quirk with Universal Credit, I understand. That automatically stops if monthly income exceeds a threshold amount (in work benefits), and this Christmas period 67,000 weekly paid claimants will have to reapply for UC in January because of it.
Personally, I don't see a problem with 4-weekly pay as TfL do. I get paid monthly on the last working Friday that is not a closure day, so at Christmas I get paid almost two weeks early, but it has to last up to 7 weeks! At least being paid every fourth Wednesday rarely coincides with a bank holiday (Christmas, Boxing and NYD are the only ones that could fall on a Wednesday).
I've had long drawn out arguments with MySQL developers over the lack of understanding they show of fiscal quarters, which can often be a result of payroll!
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Post by norbitonflyer on Nov 19, 2017 9:21:39 GMT
There's a quirk with Universal Credit, I understand. That automatically stops if monthly income exceeds a threshold amount (in work benefits), and this Christmas period 67,000 weekly paid claimants will have to reapply for UC in January because of it. That would presumably also hit anyone paid four-weekly once a year, when two paydays fall in the same calendar month |
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Post by trt on Nov 19, 2017 10:24:32 GMT
There's a quirk with Universal Credit, I understand. That automatically stops if monthly income exceeds a threshold amount (in work benefits), and this Christmas period 67,000 weekly paid claimants will have to reapply for UC in January because of it. That would presumably also hit anyone paid four-weekly once a year, when two paydays fall in the same calendar month Yes. It's what made me think of it. Yet another bit of sloppy thinking from UK Gov Inc. |
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Chris M
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Post by Chris M on Nov 19, 2017 11:11:58 GMT
That's far from the only problem with Universal Credit, which is something that sounds like a good idea in theory but the implementation is so unfit for purpose in so many ways (four-weekly payments, seasonal employment, restricted-access NI records, etc, etc) I'm not sure I can accurately characterise it on a family-friendly non-political forum. I can only hope that it doesn't take too many deaths before it is fixed or replaced (it's sadly too late to hope for no deaths).
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rincew1nd
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Post by rincew1nd on Nov 19, 2017 11:34:11 GMT
Let's not get distracted by Universal Credit, on back to payroll quirks please!
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Post by snoggle on Nov 19, 2017 12:21:54 GMT
I was on 4 weekly pay with LU / TfL for a long time. I never had the slightest issue with it. Anyone with a brain in their head can sort out the payment of their bills relative to when their pay hits their bank account.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 19, 2017 13:27:33 GMT
And then they still pay different times, 2 weeks apart if your operational or non operational
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Post by Tubeboy on Nov 19, 2017 16:56:41 GMT
Another member of staff who likes the four weekly pay. I don’t get the OP’s points at all.
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Post by snoggle on Nov 20, 2017 0:41:27 GMT
And then they still pay different times, 2 weeks apart if your operational or non operational Nice way to "flatten" your outgoings relative to your income. I am sure the accountants like the 13 4 week period structure given it's how so much of the rail industry's finances work including net income flows in and out of TfL. Obviously a lot of supplies will be on different cycles but any who have worked with TfL for any period of time will understand how payment processes work even if their own financial arrangements are on a monthly pattern. It is also worth just stretching the point slightly that much of TfL's performance and project reporting is also on 4 weekly periods barring P1 and P13 which fluctuate. I don't notice many people slating the reporting cycle given it means 11 periods out of 13 pretty much align year on year going back decades. |
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Post by greggygreggygreg on Nov 21, 2017 10:43:32 GMT
I overheard a conversation between two station staff members, they said that TFL operate an odd non-standard four weekly payroll, which is both expensive to administer (you have to pay thirteen sets of Payroll Bureau and Bank Processing charges instead of Twelve). Why can't TFL adopt a standard monthly payroll, paying everyone at a fixed date each month? The current archaic system makes it difficult for staff to align their direct debits to their payday, as paydates fluctuate wildly from month to month, and of course there is an occasional month where there are two paydays in one month. Surely modernising their payroll to a clean monthly system will be administratively easier and save money at the same time??? If the train companies can run a calendar monthly payroll safely, then why can't TFL - is it old traditions sticking in? A four-weekly system is much 'cleaner'than a monthly system. With a monthly system, you get varying lengths of periods between paydays, whereas with four-weekly it is all equal. It doesn't have any effect on monthly direct debits, as each month your payday gets earlier until one month a year you get paid twice, and one month per year you will get paid twice between mortgage payments |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 21, 2017 11:04:44 GMT
Its good for loans though get the loan company, yes some banks will do this Barclays being one to change the direct debit to a standing order for the day your paid. Thus you pay 13 payments a year this in turn cuts the interest you end up paying back at the end.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 21, 2017 13:28:58 GMT
I like it as I never know when payday is and it's often a surprise! I just looked at my spreadsheet and see that it is tomorrow. Nice! I'm lucky enough to be able to keep enough in my current account to pay all direct debits so don't need to worry about it. I can however see that for those less fortunate and maybe with young families and higher expenditure it can be awkward.
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Post by wimblephil on Nov 21, 2017 23:24:45 GMT
I don’t think being paid every 4 weeks / 13 times per year is that uncommon. During my college / uni days I worked for several different retailers and all paid in that way. In my previous job it was the 25th of every month, and in my current job it’s the last Friday, so encountering the 5 week gap phenomenon...
I’m not sure which I prefer to be honest. There’s pros and cons to each. But as long as you know your own finances and budget accordingly, there’s no real hardship to experience!
I have to admit though, the 5 week gap can be a pain when you forget you’re on one... not quite so much disposable income as you may first think!
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Post by rheostar on Nov 22, 2017 12:05:16 GMT
I like being paid 13 times a year, it means that once a year I get paid and my mortgage, bills, council tax, etc. don't come around until after the next pay day. Same here, it's like having a bonus payment once a year. |
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