First Wage Slip..... Help?!

[rchta455]

Hi everyone.
Wages are a personal issue but I received my first packet today. Despite it only being 23hrs I thought it would equate to about £197 plus the pro rata del supp of around £10 which would them be subject to tax.
Firstly, I believe I am on an incorrect tax bracket so it was always going to be a hefty chunk.
The bottom line is I have been paid £126 gross after tax.
I have 23hrs equating to £150.27 which is £6.53 p/hour.
It appears I have been taxed £32 and £1.30 NI also.
I am over 18yrs of age.
The tax query I get, however, I was under the impression I would be on £8.58 per hour.
Is this only after a period within the job or is there something I am missing?

I do intend to ring HR tomorrow afternoon but does anyone have any idea to settle my quandary?

Thanks in advance.

[Darren Bent]

usually it means you haven't got a tax code, so you will be on emergency tax rate at 25% and when you get your tax code it should be refunded.

[rchta455]

Cheers. I thought that, however the standard hourly rate is a cause for concern.......

[PhilthyPhil]

What does it say under pay rate?

[Robtor]

When did you start work? When was your induction? This might just be a blip and next week will have +a few hours on it.

There's a lot of complainers on this forum but to be honest the company was very good at doing this stuff when I joined a few years ago, ~it's big enough to be automatic but potentially a little delayed.

[eggraidonmojo]

Looking at my first pay slip (about 9 months ago), I also got paid some weird amount that seemed to give me an hourly rate below or at the minimum wage - but it sorted itself out the next week without me doing anything.

I did have to send off a p45 to hr to get my tax code sorted out, iirc, though.

As others have said - have a look under 'pay rate' on your slip - which will be something like 334.89 (that's per week for full timers at 39 hours). So, next week, you'll be getting paid properly I think.

No harm in checking on the HR helpline though.

[Lincox]

Emergency Tax is the same as Basic rate tax which is 20% not 25%

[rchta455]

Thanks guys.
The pay rate is correct £etc but the slip reads 23hours gross pay of £150 which is in the 6.50 bracket..... which is worrying. I'll see how it goes. If a full time worker earns shy of 335 then the hourly rate is incorrect.

[bustedflush]

It's amazing how many people use the term 'emergency tax' when there's no such thing and hasn't been for years.
All that happens is that you pay tax on a temporary code at the standard 20% rate or whatever it is - it just means you don't get a full tax-free allowance.
When HR receive a p45/6 they will allocate you your tax-free allowance at say 10k (the rate from 2014-15) and any allowance to date unused gets you 20p per pound of overpayment back until you catch-up and then get correct wages each week.