Working Hours/Overtime

[CodeWriter]

Hello Everyone,

I have been having a problem with my employers recently and am a bit unsure about what to do about it/where is the best place to seek advice. The concern is regarding overtime and company policies.

When I started at the company I was put onto a contract for 45 hours a week, and was verbally advised of what hours I will be working. After 5 weeks of me being at the company I was told that I would be expected to work an extra 3 hours of overtime per week, boosting my hours to 48, and it is likely that I will be required to work even more than that. There was a strong emphasis at the time that I have no choice in it, ant that it is something everyone does and accepts. In my contract it states that:

Due to the limitations of working with livestock, the working hours can exceed your normal working hours.

At the moment I work 8am till 6pm Mon & Tues, then start at 9am the following days. The overtime will mean that I will be working 8am until 6pm every day (except Friday whereby i finish at 4pm). These are hours that I am unwilling to work as I fear exhaustion. Can the company force me to work the extra hours or do anything about it if i refuse to work extra hours on a regular basis?

The second part of my question is to do with company policy. The managers are constantly reminding the male members of staff that facial hair is not permitted, unless its a full beird/moustache. It is not stated in my contact anywhere, nor was I provided with a code of conduct stating that was the case. Its only now (after 6 weeks) that I have been told that the HR Manager "forgot" to include codes of conduct in our paperwork (alongside joining forms and contracts), just like the HR Manager "forgot" to mention that we would be doing a 48 hour week as standard. Can I refuse to stick to this rule, on the ground of when I accepted the job and signed the contract it was not made apparent/obvious?

I work with livestock and enjoy doing so (it was my choice in the end) and so accept that occasionally there may be extra hours. It feels like they purposely/conviniently forgot to mention these things and I am feeling quite p*ss*d off by the fact that it was not made obvious. I am one of 5 members of staff that all started around the same time (within 3 weeks of each other) and there are only 2 of us that feel this way, the others are happy to accept... Any help would be greatly appreciated!! Really unsure about what to do next...

[labman]

Re: Working Hours/Overtime

I'll pm someone for you who should be able to help.

[Sapphire]

Re: Working Hours/Overtime

I feel that you need specialist help with this, I recommend that you contact ACAS who are very good at this kind of thing.

[CodeWriter]

Re: Working Hours/Overtime

Many thanks for both of your replies. I was considering consulting ACAS, but was unsure about whether the issue was too trivial!

Am still awaiting your PM labman, any info would greatly be appreciated.

[labman]

Re: Working Hours/Overtime

Sorry - I've not sent you a pm. I've sent a pm to someone who knows a lot about Employment Law to ask him to have a look at your thread. As it's the weekend, things tend to move much more slowly than normal. :tinysmile_grin_t:

[teaboy2]

Re: Working Hours/Overtime

Hi Code Writer

Labman PM'd me and asked me to have a look at your thread. My understanding is of the issue is that your contracted to 45 hours per week, yet are being told too work an addition 3 hours per week and more when needed which brings your total weekly hours to 48hr + each week, am i right?

If so then:

1 - The maximum amount of hours you can work each week is 48 hours per week acccourding to work time regulations. Now any hours over the 45 hours on your contract are optional, including working over 48 hours.

2 - To work over 48 hrs per week your employer would require you and all staff that they may need to work over 48hrs per week to sign an opt out form. This opt out form is where you declare that you are happy and willing to work more than 48hrs per week and therefore you are opting out of the 48hr maximum week allowed under the working time regulations.

So if you have not opted out then your employer is in breach of the working time regaultions 1998. More details of the working time limit that come under the regaulations are here - Working time limits (the 48-hour week) : Directgov - Employment

Now if they are in breach of such regulation and are forcing you to work those extra hours than it may also be deemed a breach of contract.


Now my advice is that your employer may not be aware of they are in the wrong here, so i would advise you to merely have an informal chat with your employer (HR Deptment) and advise them you will not be working more than your normal 45hrs per week as per your contract. I understand there is livestock involved but that is not your problem, it is for the employer to ensure he/she has adequate level of employees to maintain and ensure the welfare of the animals. Its is not for the employer to force or expect his employees to work more than their contracted hours - after all the wlefare of the employee is the reason why the 48hr limited was imposed and made optional to employees that wished to opt out and work more.