job discription

[brian77]

Does anyone have any idea if it is legal for an employer to advertise for tradesmen (coachbuilder) then after the applicant applies and shows proof of apprenticeship, the employer then rings the applicant to advise that he will be started as a production operative on £3 an hour less than the exsisting staff, but the wage rate will increase to the tradesmens rate after 4 yrs, surely that is like serving your apprenticeship twice, any help would be much appreciated.

Cheers Brian

[bluebottle]

Re: job discription

I will ask one of our members who is more conversant with Employment Law than myself to look in on this thread.

[miliitant]

Re: job discription

well now

if you have served your apreticeship and have the relevant qualifications then you are entitled to the going rate for your trade

there is a big problem in this country at the moment with unqualified tradesmen due to very little apprentceships in the last 10 years

the key to this would be if you have allready started employment with this company

also

a contract of employment is a two way agreement, you tell the employer what you want if he requires your services

your job tital is either a qualified tradesman of a production operative with a paygrade to match

tell him you require the correct pay cycle as to your qualifications or you will go and seek employment elsewhere

that may be enough to change his tune due to the lack of qualified tradesmen

my brother is a self employed plumber (ex british gas). he gets phoned every day from companies after his expertise as they cannot get people to complete work contracts due to lack of qualified staff

as stated, you are in the driving seat
negotiate with the employer on the correct wage scale or tell him to shove it and go elsewhere

me thinks the employer is after top quality work with bargin basement wages

[brian77]

Re: job discription

Thanks Militant for your reply, I have already tried that one but they just said "You know yourself it's different now a monkey could do it" to which I replied " Then why are you still taking on apprentices, is that just for more cheap labour"
I think it should be illegal.

Brian

[miliitant]

Re: job discription

its not unlawful unless the job description and wage are changed after you commence employment

i would leave your details and state when you are needed to give you a call

ON YOUR TERMS

all he is doing is using the term "if you dont want the job, their is plenty who will"

not qualified staff their is not

employment is a right, not a privilege

[bluebottle]

Re: job discription

By the term "coachbuilder", I presume you build or repair motor vehicle bodies. I do know this is a skilled job, even though some bodies come in kit form, and it could be disastrous if something went wrong because an unskilled person did something they shouldn't have done or hadn't done something they should have done.

I am wondering if HSE Factories Inspectorate should hear about this irresponsible employer, as well as VOSA and the VBRA, if the employer is a VBRA member.

Miliitant, many thanks for looking in. Appreciated.

[swifty]

Re: job discription

Personally! they sound dodgy employers to me, if they're trying this on now then what are they going to be like further down the line.
You've gotta ask yourself will you be happy working for this company on reduced pay, if the answer is no then move on and tell them why.
I used to work for a company who changed our working hours without our consent (they wanted us to work every other weekend for no pay stating it was the hotel trade and it's expected) I promptly handed in my notice and told exactly why.
Think I might of mentioned that we'd be better off being managed by a pack of monkey's :eyebrows:

[bluebottle]

Re: job discription

Personally! they sound dodgy employers to me, if they're trying this on now then what are they going to be like further down the line.
You've gotta ask yourself will you be happy working for this company on reduced pay, if the answer is no then move on and tell them why.
I used to work for a company who changed our working hours without our consent (they wanted us to work every other weekend for no pay stating it was the hotel trade and it's expected) I promptly handed in my notice and told exactly why.
Think I might of mentioned that we'd be better off being managed by a pack of monkey's :eyebrows:

They didn't try the "custom and practice" con did they? That one got knocked on the head by the courts years ago.

[swifty]

Re: job discription

At first they sent out a new and updated employment contract that we all had to sign an A4 sheet of paper (that they said was to confirm that we had received the contract), I refused to sign it before reading it and they got very upset about this, I said I would be happy to sign it after I had read the contract and if I agreed to it.
So! along with myself and another colleague we never got the read it, me and my work mate asked others what was in the new contract and they said it was mainly explaining the unsociable hours a hotel has to operate and it is expected that for the good of the company all employees will agree to changes in working hours as and when instructed.
me and my colleague where called in to see the manager separately and and we where both asked why we refused to sign the sheet of paper, we both told them that we where not prepared to sign an agreement that we hadn't even read .
He said the signature was to confirm that we had received the updated contract and had nothing to do with agreeing to it, he asked again if we would sign it and again we both refused.
It was 2 weeks after that the management put out a newsletter telling us of the new working hours, needless to say I handed in my notice.

Best move I ever made