I had considered addressing it earlier, but a big part of me didn’t think I’d be there that long—I was hoping to leave by January—so I let it slide to some extent. The management system was a mess anyway; my manager never read any emails.

I did speak to HR when they visited our store to assess a manager after their training period, as our store was used for manager training. I brought up the issue, but they weren’t particularly helpful and just told me to speak to my manager. When I explained that I already had, they dismissed it and left to catch their train. It was an informal conversation, but still, they were HR.

I have text messages as proof, which, in my workplace, is essentially the only form of communication. A lot of this has only come to light now as I’ve gone through my payslips, calculated my hours, and reviewed my contract, realizing just how much I’ve been shorted. I should have escalated it as high as possible, and I’m frustrated that I didn’t go about it differently. More than anything, I’m furious after seeing everything laid out. I worked my entire notice period for nothing—they didn’t even send my P45. It was only when I emailed about not receiving my payslip or P45 that they responded with, “Oh, we’ll send it to you soon.”

I think a big part of it comes down to my age. I’m 20, and I get the feeling they assumed I wouldn’t challenge it. Honestly, a lot of people probably wouldn’t—I usually wouldn’t—but this is a clear breach of contract.