Employer has not honored contract. Advice?

Hi,

I began work with a company in February last year. The contract I signed states my starting salary, salary after 3 months probation and salary after 12 months of employment.

I received the first rise after 3 months but have not received the rise that I was due in February. The MD of the company put a freeze on the regular yearly increase of 5% for all employees. However, it is my understanding that as my increase is part of my contract, the MD has reneged on the salary increase that was agreed when I commenced employment.

Given the current downturn I have put off approaching him on this matter as, like many people in country, I fear for the security of my job and felt that broaching the subject with the MD would open a can of worms. I asked out accountant for advice on the matter and she advised me to address the matter with him as despite the downturn business has been going well.

I finally bit the bullet yesterday and discussed it with him. He basically said that as he was paying for my college fees (€3,000) he felt that this was as good as an increase. Now I'm not greedy and I sincerely appreciate that he has paid my fees and made him aware of this but when this agreement was made there was no mention of this €3,000 forming part of my salary. He also painted a gloomy picture of the company's performance and that he is worried about putting people on 3 day weeks. I know this is far from the truth after speaking to our accountant. I didn't want to push it and argue my case too strongly so we left it at "we'll talk about it again in a few months"

Apologies for the rambling, basically can anyone offer me any advice on this issue? Is my MD required by law to honor the contract? I'm terrified of rocking the boat because I don't want to risk losing my job.

You do of course have the option of seeking legal advice or union input if you have a union, as to whether they believe there is a case for specific performance. If, based on legal opinion, you have a case, then you can take your employer to court.

Unless you are willing to do that, in this instance, your contract, like lots of others is just a useless piece of paper.

Specify a date on which it will be discussed again. If\When you get the increase it should be backdated or at least partially backdated. Look if the company are struggling and you see a future for yourself there then come to some agreement with them. If you want to burn your bridges and go down a costly, time consuming route then take the legal road.

You need to be realistic here. It may well be that the contract means that you are going to be part of the regular 5% increase at 12 months. If nobody is getting increases, then if I were the MD, I would not give you one either.

At which point was the 3K college fees agreed? It may be a way of actually paying you your increase without making it an issue with other employees.

Given that 5% increases are just not happening (most companies I am aware of have pay freezes in place), I think you would be foolish to consider yourself hard done by. You can, of course, go and find yourself another job. Or take legal action, but that would be truly daft in this case.

I would add to the above that in many businesses the “accountant” is not much more than a book keeper and knows little about what’s happening at the moment and what is coming down the lines. There’s no way I would let my accountant make any real decisions in my business.

Agree with Purple. Stay stum and get stuck in. You'll find out more about the company as you go along and may be in a better bargaining position down the road. Remember, as well as college, you are geting very important experience. So, chin up and be positive.

were the college fees included in the terms of your contract? if not, the owner could justifiably say that this need not be adhered to in future if you're looking for strict compliance with the contract.
was the increase after 12 months not subject to 'acceptable performance' in the job or some other condition? if so, you could be on a slippery slope.

Not a great time to rock the boat, OP. You're getting paid €3k college fees that weren't in your contract, so which do you want ? Unless you're on nearly €100k p.a. the college fees well outweigh the 5% increase in pay (net).
If you are on nthat sort of money, you'd be well advised to do your job, take your money and keep your head down. It strikes me as a little naive that you should be pushing this, tbh.

Pique318 said:

Not a great time to rock the boat, OP. You're getting paid €3k college fees that weren't in your contract, so which do you want ?

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The college fees may well have been part of the standard employee benefits that the OP was made aware of before getting the job.