So to cut a long story short.

 

I've been coding for about 12 years. Though never really done it for work. It's always been a hobby and I have always been unsure about turning a hobby into a career. So I've never looked into making money from websites. I made an odes account in attempt of helping people who have the small 20 minute jobs. I was going to do it free.

 

However last June I was approached by someone on odesk. Basically it was a Web design company located 7 miles up the road. They were offering me a job. I went for an interview, still not done my research on salaries or anything. I had just had 2 years out of work due to having a child. (before I was legal personnel at a logistics firm.... Basically booking lorry's in for mots and making sure they were in legal road order) anyway I go for the interview. Company sounded easy going and fun. So I took the job.

 

However.. Here's what I took.. 6.31ph UK minimum wage for 25 hours a week doing basic Web development. Here's what I do.

 

He gets a WordPress theme. The graphics deaigner designs the site around the themes basics and then I get to work on the css. Then I have to make it run how the client wants. Whether it's an eccomerce site or a simple 7 page handyman site. So I do the css, design shortcodes, edit plugins upload god knows how many products onto WordPress designing all variables etc.very time consuming. I have to attend meetings. One site.. The boss took a 3k deposit off a client and then basically ignored the client for 4 months sending them the same website preview once a month claiming our "team" was developing the site. Until they threatened to sue us

My boss called me to aside told me to drop all over projects and do this site. So I did. Took me about 2 days to do all css, html and some php. I'm rambling sorry.

 

So the worrying bit.

I'm paid minimum wage.

I'm underpaid about £100 a month.. Boss claims it's my smoke breaks.. I have a time sheet I note what breaks I take. In my contract it states I have 3 10 minute breaks a day.

He hasn't declared me to hmrc therefore I'm not paying tax or nic. I ordered and filled a 46 out for my boss to finish and send in. He never did

did.

 

I'm doing css, html and some php at work.

 

My years of experience are:

Self taught in html and css to professional level.

Some php and mysql. I know the basic commands and the rest I'm learning as I need them.

 

I can build a fully functional WordPress site and WordPress eccomerce site.

 

Other than the short pay and lack of tax/nic am I being taken for a ride?

 

Am I on the average wage that everyone else doing What I do is on?

 

Thanks

what u r just earning £100 ?

 

your starting salary should at least be £3000 to £4000 a month

You are really doing a junior developers work, your wages should be anywhere from £16,000 to £25,000 on average, at absolute best, middleweight at around £25,000 to £35,000

 

Although I understand your frustration the fact remains that you are not building systems from the ground up, you are adding to wordpress and being as that is all you are doing I am afraid you are getting paid as you should.

 

However, if your boss is not paying your national insurance or tax he is breaking the law, not only that but it will totally screw up your future taxes which could lead you to be paying far more than you should be.

 

If your boss refuses to pay your tax and national insurance (by the way it's now a legal requirement to set up a pension for you as well to be deducted from your wages automatically) then I would leave the job and report him to HMRC although I have no idea how they could handle that situation, you might even find yourself with a large bill from them because you owe tax, it's not actually your boss who is ultimately responsible although he should be paying it.

Edited April 9, 201412 yr by Fuzzy Logic

You are really doing a junior developers work, your wages should be anywhere from £16,000 to £25,000 on average, at absolute best, middleweight at around £25,000 to £35,000

 

Although I understand your frustration the fact remains that you are not building systems from the ground up, you are adding to wordpress and being as that is all you are doing I am afraid you are getting paid as you should.

 

However, if your boss is not paying your national insurance or tax he is breaking the law, not only that but it will totally screw up your future taxes which could lead you to be paying far more than you should be.

 

If your boss refuses to pay your tax and national insurance (by the way it's now a legal requirement to set up a pension for you as well to be deducted from your wages automatically) then I would leave the job and report him to HMRC although I have no idea how they could handle that situation, you might even find yourself with a large bill from them because you owe tax, it's not actually your boss who is ultimately responsible although he should be paying it.

 

Under these circumstances the HMRC are very understanding and will only adjust your tax code to ensure you repay any due taxes within 'a reasonable time'. NI is handled in a similar way too.

 

I would expect that if you approached your boss and sat him down pointing out a few basics like you have been working for them for X months and proven your ability, offered to take professional training, and attempted to negotiate a better contract you would soon find yourself out the door.

 

Your boss is breaking the law and could potentially go to prison for tax evasion in the most serious of cases. In even the most minor of cases the HMRC would not hesitate to bankrupt them for this illegal activity. If the HMRC catches up with your boss and you are still working for them, with no tax or NI being paid, you will get prosecuted as well in most cases.

 

The best advice I can give you is to find a way out, find another job without being to picky about what you are doing and for how much, just to get yourself out of there. Then contact the HMRC and file a compliant against your former employer for not issuing a P60 or a pension statement. This will potentially exonerate yourself, ensure your taxes are paid, and your NI as well, plus it will make it very difficult for your boss to do the same again.

 

As things stand your boss is not only paying you 'peanuts and treating you like a monkey' he is pocketing the employers contributions that should be paid towards your tax and NI accounts. A case of the fat cat lining his pockets at your expense.

 

You actual wage of £6.31 p/h is legal, but if you worked just 2 more hours a week you would be entitled to more. Does your employer provide holiday pay? Does it say in your contract that breaks are unpaid? To be honest, just get out and shaft the ######## for all they are worth!

I think £6.31 x 25 hours per week x 52 weeks per year = £8203 which is below the amount that you have to start paying tax (assuming you have no other income). But I'm not sure about NI - I think you might be supposed to pay that. A couple of pounds a week maybe. That's not to say that you shouldn't be registered with HMRC. I'd have assumed that you should be.

Edited April 10, 201412 yr by Jane B

You should be on a salary of about £25-30k on your 2 year experience as a front end developer, your boss is playing you, getting maximum profit at your expense! I would play it nice for now, write down all the projects you have worked on and site created put them in a portfolio, get your own site up and I am pretty sure you can get a job with decent money, there are many nice design companies out there who will treat you with respect and their customers with respect....

 

Also on wages, tax etc... you need to speak to ACAS give them your story and what you have been up to they will give you free advice and let you know when something smells a bit fishy.. I have used them in the past they are very good. Staying in your current job is not going to do you any favors.

 

Does it say in your contract anywhere that you are not allowed to take clients away? maybe a sneaky phone call to clients you have been working with telling them you are leaving and possibly going on your own, you might find some will follow you???? get them on your linkedin profile or something stay in touch with them if you have a rapport..

what u r just earning £100 ?

 

your starting salary should at least be £3000 to £4000 a month

 

 

Crap really!!!! i cant seem to find anything offering more than 30k , i feel a bit cheated too where i am working! i think it's time i moved jobs aswell.

As Rob said, don't think that because you have 12 years experience that you're actually worth a salary of 12 years commercial experience. I don't want to offend, sorry if I do! I think I'm a good online marketing and advertiser, but that doesn't mean someone else does. Likewise with coding; everyone has a different level of skill and it's down to your employer to determine how much your work is worth to him.

 

Your worth isn't based on the projects you're working on and their value; your worth is based on the quality of the work you can provide and the time you can do it in. Even if your boss is charging 3,000 for a project that has absolutely no reflection on the money you earn. It's difficult, I get that, but he'll have overheads and bills that need paying out of that. Sometimes theres a miss conception that the money a business makes goes straight into the pocket of the owner. It doesn't.

 

I wouldn't work on that and I certianly know developers wages can start from 25k a year. But I imagine, at your level, if it's a hobby an you're generally doing front end HTML, CSS then it's probably around £18k (for now!) until you build up that commercial awareness and have the leverage to demand more.

 

I'm not doubting your skill, but trying to shed light from your bosses perspective. You're getting paid a lot less then you're worth, in my opinion. You shouldn't be on minimum wage. No way. Consider a chat with him

The last 6 months my wages have been £438-458 a month.

 

I work 5 hours a day, 5 days a week, at £6.31 an hour.

 

I do have a contract. Which within the contract states I have a 10 minute morning and afternoon paid break.

 

I can develop the front end of a site ( from psd to HTML/CSS ) in 1-4 days (5-20 hours) depending on how indepth the design is.

 

I have spoken to HMRC they took my employment details off me, they said I need to get the boss to fill a p46 in asap, Now I declared im working as far as their concerned its in my bosses hands to legally do the rest.

 

Every time I try to talk to my boss all i get is "we'll talk later" or "Ill get that sorted", I havent spoken to him regarding my pay rate as I have been unsure whether I am being taken for a ride or whether im on fair pay rate for the job I do. Im scared to talk to him about my hourly wage because if it goes wrong I could be left without a job.

 

I knew web developers get a good wage, but without having any commercial experience and only doing random bits or hobby sites in the past Ive seen myself as no further qualified as an office cleaner.

 

I think I will take advise given here and build my portfolio up and then begin to look elsewhere, maybe once ive got another job secured I will then have a chat with my boss and explain ive been a job some where else at ### rate, as much as I dont want to leave I need to go where the money is.. Maybe He will offer me a raise then...

 

Within our work office we have:

Boss.. Doesnt do much but talk to people and will sometimes set up plugins on wordpress or research plugins.. he doesnt do any CSS (He admits he doesnt know it and has hired people abroad to do it before)

Graphics designer x1.. he does ALL graphics and is amazing, he does 30 hours a week at about £7 per hour.

Apprentice graphics designer.. Designs banners, also does project management, writes some content, talks to clients, does meetings. basically all the admin stuff (shes on apprentice wage of £3 per hour)

Myself.. Im the developer.. even with my limited skills

Content writer.. Again is paid minimum wage, works 20 hours a week.. but point blank refuses to do anything then write content for sites.

 

Is this a normal webdesign company team? Im beginning to think were all underpaid. My boss has clearly found a bunch of young people (all mid 20's) who have no within office experience, we have all been sourced from odesk, appart from the apprentice who is 19 from the nearby college.

 

the company as been running for 3 years, but all employees have only been here a year.. shoud this worry me?

you may find that in a young company wages are not very high, because like said above he has bills to pay and lots of startup costs which he is probably still paying for!!!

 

But in my experience having commercial work with a good portfolio is sometimes better than being fresh out of a course with no commercial experience mainly because in a course you get to do research and have months to build to a website, but in the real world you literally have weeks and most cases DAYS! and that was the shock i got when i was fresh out of a university degree. I had to work for low wages and had to top up my portfolio with real work.

 

But i think if you had a portfolio website with some real work and what you have been up to in the past few years i honestly don't think you will have a problem getting a job elsewhere with more money! there plenty of jobs out there with people looking for Wordpress front end developers.

 

If you want to work for a blue chip company then they always ask for a degree!!! but if you wanted to work for an independent web design company they tend to look more closely at the quality of your work and do not tend to ask for a degree.

I have spoken to HMRC they took my employment details off me, they said I need to get the boss to fill a p46 in asap, Now I declared im working as far as their concerned its in my bosses hands to legally do the rest.

 

 

Be wary of this. HMRc might see you as being self employed and need a self assessment. Although it's good you rang them because it puts it on your boss to sort it out. To your knowledge, you're a PAYE employee.

 

 

Every time I try to talk to my boss all i get is "we'll talk later" or "Ill get that sorted", I havent spoken to him regarding my pay rate as I have been unsure whether I am being taken for a ride or whether im on fair pay rate for the job I do. Im scared to talk to him about my hourly wage because if it goes wrong I could be left without a job.

 

You need to take a step back from the mindset you're unsure you're being taken for a ride. You either are or aren't. You can't base that on other opinions. You took the job and were happy with it. Unfortunately, thats not your bosses fault. However, you might feel you're worth more. If thats the case, set out a plan and do something about it.

 

I knew web developers get a good wage, but without having any commercial experience and only doing random bits or hobby sites in the past Ive seen myself as no further qualified as an office cleaner.

 

Firstly, don't ever under sell yourself. You have skills that fit a demand, you just need to put yourself in a sitatution where you're happy. Also, office cleaners do a damn good job.

 

Within our work office we have:

Boss.. Doesnt do much but talk to people and will sometimes set up plugins on wordpress or research plugins.. he doesnt do any CSS (He admits he doesnt know it and has hired people abroad to do it before)

Graphics designer x1.. he does ALL graphics and is amazing, he does 30 hours a week at about £7 per hour.

Apprentice graphics designer.. Designs banners, also does project management, writes some content, talks to clients, does meetings. basically all the admin stuff (shes on apprentice wage of £3 per hour)

Myself.. Im the developer.. even with my limited skills

Content writer.. Again is paid minimum wage, works 20 hours a week.. but point blank refuses to do anything then write content for sites.

 

Thats interesting. Your boss is nothing more than a sales man, thusly doesn't appreciate the value of the work you guys do. It's not his fault, he's a business man. The best boss is someone who has done the work you've done. They truly value your skills and pay accordingly. When you're talking pounds per hour, it's not right.

 

Is this a normal webdesign company team? Im beginning to think were all underpaid. My boss has clearly found a bunch of young people (all mid 20's) who have no within office experience, we have all been sourced from odesk, appart from the apprentice who is 19 from the nearby college.

 

You're cheap labour. All from ODesk? Wow. The explains a lot. He's a chancer, with sales skills. He doesn't value the work you guys do and doesn't appreciate what goes on. Be firm, and make a stand. Don't make it difficult but show you're un happy and ready to walk.

 

the company as been running for 3 years, but all employees have only been here a year.. shoud this worry me?

 

Not really. He probably outsourced the work but found it easier to start hiring people