Contract wording question - hours of work

[lennyj]

I have a quick question about the wording around working hours in my contract of employment, specifically this:

"Your basic hours of work are 40 per week. Normal working hours are Monday to Friday 9.00am to 5.00pm including one hour for lunch. However, the Company reserves the right to change your start and finish times and the days upon which you work."

I am being told that in order to hit my performance targets my timesheets must equal 40 hours per week (i.e which would mean a 45 hour week if I want to have lunch). Has my manager (who sets these targets) interpreted my contract incorrectly, or have I? It is my understanding that the use of the word "including" means lunch is part of that 40 hours of work, but I have also seen other contracts for other organisations with the exact same wording that say 35 hours, so I am a little confused.

Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

[EnglandPi]

Normal working hours are Monday to Friday 9.00am to 5.00pm including one hour for lunch.

Nowhere does it state your lunch hour is paid, only that it must be taken between 9.00am to 5.00pm

[lennyj]

Isn't there a contradiction then? It's not possible to fit 40 hours of work into a Mon-Fri 9-5 working week if lunch must also be taken between 9-5 and it is not part of those 40 hours?

[EnglandPi]

Maths was never my best subject.

[efpom]

I read the contract term as meaning the the employee is a) entitled to take one hour taking luncheon with no restriction on where that is taken i.e. can be 'off site" and b) that the 'luncheon hour' is an hour is part of the employee's "working hours", for the computation of pay.

[Matty B]

I think the contract allows for your employer to alter your hours of work so could quite easily change them to 9-6. I am guessing you are not hitting your targets at the moment.

Did you opt out of the 48 hour working week or is your employment exempt

[efpom]

The employer can alter the start time and the finish time and can change the days of work from Monday to Friday, to e.g. Tues. to Sat. PROVIDED that the weekly hours of work remain 40, including one hour per day for a paid luncheon break.

[ULA]

40 hours per week of working time would mean no luncch break in a Mon-Fri 9am-5pm scenario as per your contract. This would be illegal.

So if you are genuinely on a 40 hour week then to include a one hour lunch break the hours in your contract should be 9am to 6pm or even 8am to 5pm.

I would suggest you go back to whoever issued you with the contract and get clarification on your hours.

[lennyj]

I think the contract allows for your employer to alter your hours of work so could quite easily change them to 9-6. I am guessing you are not hitting your targets at the moment.

Did you opt out of the 48 hour working week or is your employment exempt

Yes exactly, I have only been logging 35 hours and taking 5 hours as lunch as that's how I interpreted the contract. I opted out of the working time directive when I started.

There is an expectation for occasional overtime in this position so I understand working 40+ hours is expected sometimes, what I'm trying to understand if there is a discrepancy between my contracted minimum hours and my performance targeted hours. If 5 of those 40 hours are supposed to be lunch it seems unfair to place performance targets above what the contract states.