I feel sorry for those that are self employed or take unpaid leave from their place of business to undertake countless cadet activities under the impression they will will receive prompt and efficient payment from a government organisation. As someone who gets paid leave I do not mind the wait but for them it must lead to some financial uncertainty.
I tip my hat to CIs who do so much for no financial reward but as a counter to what themajor said, most uniformed and therefor paid members of staff also commit to running units, activities etc. I know CIs often do similar but I’m just trying to balance the argument.
Personally I totally agree with those who have made the comment Its only the ATC that is how we are looked at by the parent service on an all too regular basis. Constantly asked to do something or maintain a standard but given little or no support to do it. Any other organisation would be out on strike…maybe we should do that? Oh hang on, we would all of a sudden become fully fledged members of the armed forces to suit them.
Over the past 18 years the Organisation in places has become exceptional but administration has in most cases become an embarrassment. Reduce the admin burden, my bottom.
I too understand the CI point of view. I was one once too (as many of us were).
I also don’t blame the Accounts staff at all.
But I can’t help but think that the situation possibly isn’t fully appreciated by those who might actually facilitate it’s improvement.
I’m self employed. Have been for about 8 years. No paid leave. No sick pay. If I don’t work, I don’t earn.
So for me, taking a week to go on camp means cramming for at least a week prior to get everything finished, and then rushing for at least a week after to catch up…If I’m lucky.
If I’m unlucky, it’s far easier because I’ve got no work on. But of course, that comes with it’s own problems.
I do a lot with the ATC, so I’ve normally exhausted my 28 days by August or September.
In a situation like mine, I have to rely on the money from ATC events to help pay my bills. I wish I didn’t! But that’s the situation I’m in.
Having filled in those blasted forms a couple of years ago when I was unemployed stating “this is my current job” (and suspecting that there must be a number of people in the same boat) one would have hoped that the powers that be might have appreciated that their volunteers need them to avoid the sort of problems we’re now facing…
There’s no quick and easy way out of it; but I do hope that they’re taking it seriously.
[quote=“pEp” post=13010][quote=“juliet mike” post=13003]While I agree, it costs, sometimes, in excess of £70 to and individual in uniform to attend a camp on PAID duty. This is for PAYD food in the mess and the final mess bill.
For a CI, there should be no food costs and no mess bill. While this doe snot mean there is no cost for camps for CIs, there are no compulsory costs.[/quote]
Only if you claim pay. If you don’t then you don’t pay, just like CIs[/quote]
That is my point. We CAN claim pay, but it is taking so long to come though we are bearing the burden of the costs involved.
I guess the level of dissemination of information (that old internal communication chestnut again) is quite different from area to area and Region to Region but do any of you know how many low grade Civil Servant clerks pay the hundreds of thousands of ‘remuneration’ claims that cross those desks each year?
Two.
Yes just two - so if one sadly dies and another one leaves that doesn’t leave very many now does it? I agree 8 weeks is a long wait and is testing on the patience but remember when the ACF moved their remuneration across to JPA; none of them were paid for over a year!
I have it on good authority that all the stops are being pulled out to recruit a new member of staff and the rest of the team are being brought in to help pay remuneration claims in the meantime, but it’ll take time to catch up - and while the other staff are paying remuneration HTD etc will begin to pile up!
Presumably as it’s a government department that’s working on a ‘yeah, well we’ll pay you when we get around to it’ approach then I can use the same reasoning when it comes to paying my council tax and income tax?
As the main problem that has shut the system down for so long and caused the vast majority of the delays is the implementation of new Government/HMRC policy then I would say that sounds entirely reasonable!!
If only… :mad:
I believe had HQAC not shut down the pay system to make these changes HMRC would have imposed fines of many £000s PER DAY until they did. It makes you wonder what kind of madness we are governed by when one Government Department can fine another with impunity - naturally the taxpayer (or more pertinently the volunteer in this case) is the ultimate loser?
[quote=“MattB” post=13021]Presumably as it’s a government department that’s working on a ‘yeah, well we’ll pay you when we get around to it’ approach then I can use the same reasoning when it comes to paying my council tax and income tax?
Seems reasonable to me.[/quote]
Unfortunately the government loves a bit of double standards. CFAVs not technically employees so have very few rights, and “pay” is really ‘renumeration’. As soon as the government wants money through income tax etc we are suddenly “paid” and so have to cough up the cash.
How can we check re small payments going into bank account that im not aware what they are for. Im happy to wait for my camp payment and understand the problems.
i dont want to have to be chased for repayment of money some 3mths down the line for eg.
Jen5 - you will (eventually) receive a ‘pay slip’ of some kind posted direct to you to tell you how much you have been paid and exactly what the breakdown is. I believe the additional complex programming to achieve this is one of the wonderful new HMRC improvements :mad: that have caused this backlog. Apparently the old system (the one that worked) wasn’t compliant :?
All hail the mighty HMRC :worthy: what would we do without them??
Payslips sent ‘direct to us’ would be wonderful!
I’ve no idea how long it takes them to reach Wing HQ but it certainly takes forever for them to finally reach me.
I’ve just received a couple of missing pay slips from March.
[quote=“wdimagineer2b” post=13650]Payslips sent ‘direct to us’ would be wonderful!
I’ve no idea how long it takes them to reach Wing HQ but it certainly takes forever for them to finally reach me.
I’ve just received a couple of missing pay slips from March.[/quote]
Can we request a print out from HQ Accounts? It would make my tax returns much easier.
Likewise!
I’ve never asked to be honest. Eventually most of mine materialize (once Wing have ‘lost’ them for a while, and/or then posted them to wrong Squadron OC…that sort of thing).
Given the quality of the paper they arrive on and the rough ‘hacked out with scissors’ look I can only assume that they are printed locally at Wing HQ.
We get the P60s sent direct to us so it would be nice if we could get a breakdown print out included with it.
You can request a printout from HQAC for tax purposes but it can take a while, however with the fact that they are so short staffed, the phones are off the hook and us contacting them, if you are able extends the process you might be waiting for a bit…
My sources tell me HQAC Accounts are now paying claims received in their office in November. That’s got to be good news.
The key phrase there is ‘received in their office in November’. There’s nothing they can do about how long a claim may have sat with OC Sqn, W Ex O, Region etc!
[quote=“Lynch Mob” post=13770]My sources tell me HQAC Accounts are now paying claims received in their office in November. That’s got to be good news.
The key phrase there is ‘received in their office in November’. There’s nothing they can do about how long a claim may have sat with OC Sqn, W Ex O, Region etc![/quote]
Sounds a bit optimistic - last week I was ‘remunerated’ for work I did on the first weekend in October and I always submit the claims within 48 hours… Still, they are getting there at last.
The important point is when they receive them not when they are submitted - they have reportedly received many in the past that have sat at Wing, Region etc for several months!
