My employer is refusing to give me the pay that was advertised after an internal job move

Question

I have moved jobs internally and was told by the manager who posted the job I would be paid £50k per annum and that is also what was advertised. Now after starting the job they have finally sent a offer letter for £5k less when I have already started on the agreement of the £50k.

I have said to them that they should have sent the offer letter and contract before so I had the opportunity to decline if they had planned to reduce the offer. They are also dealing with it verbally I'm assuming as they don't want a written trail trying to convince me to agree to the offer.

What do I do? I've moved my whole family to a more expensive area for this job and need the extra money.

Answer 1

You are saying that you have nothing written down and agreed before moving job and all of this was done verbally. Speak to your manager again explaining that the offer you have received is not what you understood it was and you only accepted on the basis of the £50k you agreed. If this has no impact then there might be the avenue of escalating this through HR

If the manager won't change the offer (or even if he does) then you have learnt something valuable about them and have to decide whether you can continue to work in this company.

The answer may have to be to look elsewhere and I am sorry to say you have learnt a valuable lesson. A verbal contract is worth the paper it is written on

Thinking on this further, it seems very unusual that a transfer in a company was done totally verbally. It is possible there is a documentary trail that you could use the GDPR to ask for all data relating to you and there may be something in there about the offer but this is a bit of a nuclear button option and risks damaging the relationship between you and your company totally

Answer 2

"Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me."

You learned a valuable lesson here: Your manager/boss cannot be trusted. Unless you signed anything already (contract, offer letter, etc.), if I was in your shoes, I would stop working immediately for this liar and would look for a job elsewhere. Of course, always follow the proper procedure, e.g. resign and give notice if required.

Also, next time don't start working until you have everything you agreed on in writing. And don't make major life changes until you have the cash in hand (like moving the family to a new city/country).

Answer 3

If they made the offer verbally and you accepted and begun working they are required to honour that contract. They have to pay you the amount you verbally agreed before you started, an employment contract does not have to be written down.

https://www.gov.uk/employment-contracts-and-conditions/contract-terms

You can refuse this new contract as it is a change to the agreed terms. The problem is that this is likely to enrage your employer so tread carefully.

Answer 4

What to do? Talk to them and try to get the money they promised. Don't expect it and look for another job.

Next time, get things in writing.

Answer 5

Along the lines of Niko1978's answer, but less aggressive.

It appears you're trying to work yourself up through life and were handed what looked like a solid opportunity of advancement. It is entirely understandable that you trusted a verbal agreement with your current employer that didn't quite take shape. It really is 'shame on them!'

Moving forward, commit this to memory. 'Fool me twice, shame on me!' Promise yourself that you won't commit to an offer until it's in writing. And always make a copy for yourself because you'll never know when you'll need to refer back to it.

Secondly, you got burned. Approach your manger in a calm manner and remain nothing but professional. It sucks, but in hindsight going off, storming out, and ultimately quitting only burns bridges. That forces the time and effort in recreating those potentially solid references somewhere else. Present what you were offered and calmly ask if they are willing to fix their end of the agreement.

Finally, regardless of outcome bar some honest HR mistake, find new employment. I've been in your exact same shoes. If you're not in a position to put in your 2 weeks this exact second, do it passively until you find a new job. You should not need to put up with this. A dishonest company or a dishonest actor within a company will eventually make your life hell. If this is the case, then it's time to move on.

Answer 6

Your employer offered you a certain sum of money, then once you had started, they changed the number, so now you have a problem.

Go to them and explain nicely that you had understood that you would be paid 50k and that your most recent pay cheque was only counting up to 45k/year. Remember, it's just a number. There's no need for confrontation or emotion.

Typically at this stage, the employer would apologize and offer to change the number.

If they do not, say that you would like to hand in your notice.

Answer 7

It's very likely that your trust in them is forever gone, meaning you have no satisfying future at this company, even if they end up honoring the verbal contract - the contract which is valid, relevant, and can be proven to exist because you already started the job. Do not yet sign the offer, so the only contract in play is the verbal one that states 50k.

Instead of wasting time trying to convince them to be honest, contact a local employment lawyer to see what kind of damages you can recover, and look for a new job.