Reconciling an Agency Invoice at Meridian Fulfilment
Meridian Fulfilment pays agency packers £13.20 per paid hour for the first 37.5 paid hours in a week, and £19.80 for approved hours beyond 37.5. Hours worked between 22:00 and 06:00 carry a flat £2.40 per hour night premium, payable on every night hour including overtime; the premium is shown separately on the invoice and is additional to the hourly rate. Breaks are unpaid, are rostered at the midpoint of each shift, and last 30 minutes on any shift longer than 6 hours and 45 minutes on any shift longer than 9 hours. No shift may exceed 9 paid hours without written approval.
Priya, an agency packer, is rostered next week as follows:
- Monday 06:00–14:30
- Tuesday 14:00–22:30
- Wednesday off
- Thursday 22:00–06:30
- Friday 14:00–22:30
- Saturday 06:00–14:30
The agency has invoiced £574.80 under the heading '40.5 paid hours; overtime 3.0; night premium 8.5'. You must approve or reject the invoice.
1. Calculate Priya's correct paid hours, overtime hours, night hours and total gross pay for the week, showing each step.
Read the worked answer
Step 1 - paid hours per shift. Every rostered shift is 8.5 hours, so each exceeds 6 hours but none exceeds 9. The unpaid break is therefore 30 minutes on every shift, taken at the midpoint, leaving 8.0 paid hours per shift. Five shifts = 40.0 paid hours.
Step 2 - overtime split. 40.0 − 37.5 = 2.5 overtime hours at £19.80; the first 37.5 hours at £13.20.
Step 3 - night hours (22:00–06:00).
- Tuesday: 0.5 h (22:00–22:30)
- Thursday: 8.0 gross night hours, less the 02:15–02:45 unpaid break which falls inside the night window = 7.5 h; the 06:00–06:30 tail is day rate with no premium
- Friday: 0.5 h
- Monday, Saturday: nil
Total = 8.5 night hours.
Step 4 - gross pay.
- Base: 37.5 × £13.20 = £495.00
- Overtime: 2.5 × £19.80 = £49.50
- Night premium: 8.5 × £2.40 = £20.40
- Total = £564.90
The premium is added to the hourly rate rather than replacing it, and it applies to overtime hours too - a common point of dispute.
2. The invoice is £574.80. Identify the error, quantify its value, and state what you would do with the invoice.
Read the worked answer
Reconcile it. £574.80 = (37.5 × £13.20) + (3.0 × £19.80) + (8.5 × £2.40). So the invoice claims 40.5 paid hours, not 40.0. Hours, night premium and rates otherwise agree with the correct calculation.
Cause. The 0.5-hour gap is the Thursday 02:15–02:45 break, which the agency has paid instead of deducting. This is consistent with a timesheet that records clock-in to clock-out without applying the unpaid-break rule to the night shift.
Value of the error. The disputed half hour sits above the 37.5-hour threshold, so it is priced at the overtime rate: 0.5 × £19.80 = £9.90. Had it been priced at £13.20 the understatement would have been £6.60; that is not what the invoice does, so do not accept an argument based on the base rate.
Action. Reject or query rather than approve. Return the invoice with the calculation, request a credit note for £9.90, and record the query against the approval rather than silently adjusting the figure. Then check this worker's prior weeks and two or three other agency invoices: one half hour is a clerical query, a repeating pattern is a supplier system fault that will recur monthly and should be raised formally.
3. The supervisor wants a 4-hour Sunday shift (08:00–12:00) covered. Option A is Priya at overtime. Option B is a second agency packer at standard rate plus a £45.00 booking fee. Advise, including non-financial considerations.
Read the worked answer
Cost the marginal hours.
- Priya is already at 40.0 paid hours, so all 4 Sunday hours are overtime: 4 × £19.80 = £79.20. No night premium applies (08:00–12:00).
- Second packer: 4 × £13.20 = £52.80 + £45.00 booking fee = £97.80.
Priya is £18.60 cheaper, so on direct cost alone the answer is Priya.
Non-financial factors change the weight of that saving. Sunday would be Priya's sixth consecutive rostered day (Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun) and would take her to 44 paid hours for the week. Check the agency contract's weekly hours cap and the site's working-time rules on consecutive days and weekly rest before confirming. On a packing line where picking accuracy is measured, a sixth consecutive day is a fatigue and error risk that can outweigh £18.60.
Recommendation. Use Priya only if the consecutive-day and weekly-hours limits are both satisfied; otherwise book the second packer and ask the agency to waive the £45 fee as a short-notice repeat booking. Note the reasoning in the roster file, because the cheaper option will be queried later if it is not used.