Banked hours

[Guest]

My company wants to reduce our working hours from 40 to 32hours per week but continue paying 40. Once we have full access to properties again they want they hours accumulated to be repaid by doing extra hours outside our normal contracted hours to repay the time, this would be evening's and weekends. Is this legal.

[ostell]

And the other option is ....?

[ULA]

So your salary will remain unchanged but the 8 hours per week you are being paid for but not working they want to be able to "call off" on those banked hours when life becomes more normal?

Given the scale of what the country and the world is dealing with and the number of people being furloughed or being made redundant then

It is an innovative initiative from your employer. To still keep paying your normal salary but recognising that currently there is not enough work to occupy a 40 hour working week means at least you are not financially worse off given the current situation. I do accept that for a period of time you will have less "free time" to make up the work.

My only comment would be that when you return to normal hours your employer needs to ensure that in calling off on the banked hours your working week does not on average over a 17 week period exceed 48 hours per week without your agreement to keep in line with the Working Time Regulations.