Hi all,
I'm not actually aiming to create the most massively Off Topic thread yet, but I might get there nonetheless... I've read the various work-related advice threads on here down through the years, and have come to value the advice of the Hive Mind. So, the story of a pension gone awry is set before you for comment. You know where this is going, so bail out now...
I'm a Director on the Board of a rather unsuccessful archaeological company, with a 10% shareholding - not quite as good as being entirely my own boss, but getting there, as I'm the only actual archaeologist on the Board and thus have a large degree of operational control - unfortunately this doesn't extend into the arcane web of company finance.
Two years ago, we set up a company pension scheme, and I signed the necessary forms for the money to be deducted from my wages.
Now somewhat bizarrely, my 'payslip' is issued directly from the accountants, not through the payroll - I was assured that this resulted in improved 'transparancy', in that Directors were not seen to be issuing salary cheques to themselves.
I assumed (obviously entirely foolishly) that the pension sum was deducted by the accountants before they issued me my paycheque, as I had requested. And although I have NEVER received a statement of how my pension fund was doing, I was also verbally assured more than once that the agreed sums were going into it every month - this last bit at least was true. Unortunately, it was going into my pension fund, but it wasn't coming out of my wages. For two whole years.
Call me stupid (quite clearly I am), but I never noticed the discrepancy. In my defence, neither did my normally eagle-eyed spouse-analogue, our financial director, our pensions advisor, our auditors or any of the three banks to whom I bared my financial all in pursuit of a mortgage. Nor did my MD (the 60% shareholder), who it turns out us in precisely the same boat.
Now, this missing money having finally been spotted in the accounts, I'm being asked to pay back the full value of my contributions, about ?15K, no rush or anything, but hey, you owe us.
Obviously I was not due this money (even tho' I work 20-30 hours unpaid overtime every week, but hey, perils of being the boss...), and you can see their point. Now this MIGHT be okay, but for the fact that we bought our first house this time last year, spending every penny we owned and getting a monstrous mortage (?1300 a month for 31 years for a microscopic semi-d in a suburban wasteland which has been broken into twice, block put through the kitchen window, car stolen from front door, cat run over by joyriders, etc. in just one year - hah!), and have spent every penny I've subsequently earned on putting in such decadent luxuries as floors and a bed etc. We also have our first child on the way, due in May. Or to put it it simply, I don't have ANY money, and I'm not going to be able to meet my mortgage AND pay the cash back.
So I think I'm going to figh it. I know this isn't a Robert-Maxwell-grade pensions fiasco, and I know my company has a strong case, but fuck it - if they (the overpaid financial manager and tame accountants) chose not to take the money out of my wages as per my written authorisation for TWO YEARS, why the fuck should I care? Had they issued me proper payslips and statements on a regular basis, I might have had a chance to see the mismatch, but they didn't.
What makes this matter more irksome is that as a company Director I'm actually nominally resposnible for ensuring that company desn't make fuck-ups like this - but of course as a financial illiterate I was happy to naively delegate this sort of thing to designated and allegedly competent and qualified people. It burns, my how it burns.
So now I seek the judgment of the Hive Mind. Bestow your honey-like wisdom on my unworthy antennae.
BTW, I do appreciate that this but a minor woe compared to the hurts suffered my many on this board this past year, but as they say, its MY hill of beans.
(Oh, and I *am* going to seek the advice of my rather kooky solicitor before I do anything, but hey, you guys are cheaper...)
I'm not actually aiming to create the most massively Off Topic thread yet, but I might get there nonetheless... I've read the various work-related advice threads on here down through the years, and have come to value the advice of the Hive Mind. So, the story of a pension gone awry is set before you for comment. You know where this is going, so bail out now...
I'm a Director on the Board of a rather unsuccessful archaeological company, with a 10% shareholding - not quite as good as being entirely my own boss, but getting there, as I'm the only actual archaeologist on the Board and thus have a large degree of operational control - unfortunately this doesn't extend into the arcane web of company finance.
Two years ago, we set up a company pension scheme, and I signed the necessary forms for the money to be deducted from my wages.
Now somewhat bizarrely, my 'payslip' is issued directly from the accountants, not through the payroll - I was assured that this resulted in improved 'transparancy', in that Directors were not seen to be issuing salary cheques to themselves.
I assumed (obviously entirely foolishly) that the pension sum was deducted by the accountants before they issued me my paycheque, as I had requested. And although I have NEVER received a statement of how my pension fund was doing, I was also verbally assured more than once that the agreed sums were going into it every month - this last bit at least was true. Unortunately, it was going into my pension fund, but it wasn't coming out of my wages. For two whole years.
Call me stupid (quite clearly I am), but I never noticed the discrepancy. In my defence, neither did my normally eagle-eyed spouse-analogue, our financial director, our pensions advisor, our auditors or any of the three banks to whom I bared my financial all in pursuit of a mortgage. Nor did my MD (the 60% shareholder), who it turns out us in precisely the same boat.
Now, this missing money having finally been spotted in the accounts, I'm being asked to pay back the full value of my contributions, about ?15K, no rush or anything, but hey, you owe us.
Obviously I was not due this money (even tho' I work 20-30 hours unpaid overtime every week, but hey, perils of being the boss...), and you can see their point. Now this MIGHT be okay, but for the fact that we bought our first house this time last year, spending every penny we owned and getting a monstrous mortage (?1300 a month for 31 years for a microscopic semi-d in a suburban wasteland which has been broken into twice, block put through the kitchen window, car stolen from front door, cat run over by joyriders, etc. in just one year - hah!), and have spent every penny I've subsequently earned on putting in such decadent luxuries as floors and a bed etc. We also have our first child on the way, due in May. Or to put it it simply, I don't have ANY money, and I'm not going to be able to meet my mortgage AND pay the cash back.
So I think I'm going to figh it. I know this isn't a Robert-Maxwell-grade pensions fiasco, and I know my company has a strong case, but fuck it - if they (the overpaid financial manager and tame accountants) chose not to take the money out of my wages as per my written authorisation for TWO YEARS, why the fuck should I care? Had they issued me proper payslips and statements on a regular basis, I might have had a chance to see the mismatch, but they didn't.
What makes this matter more irksome is that as a company Director I'm actually nominally resposnible for ensuring that company desn't make fuck-ups like this - but of course as a financial illiterate I was happy to naively delegate this sort of thing to designated and allegedly competent and qualified people. It burns, my how it burns.
So now I seek the judgment of the Hive Mind. Bestow your honey-like wisdom on my unworthy antennae.
BTW, I do appreciate that this but a minor woe compared to the hurts suffered my many on this board this past year, but as they say, its MY hill of beans.
(Oh, and I *am* going to seek the advice of my rather kooky solicitor before I do anything, but hey, you guys are cheaper...)