Overtime?!

[Hayleyholly]

Good Morning,

Hoping someone will be able to help. Basically, we have cover written into our contract, however there are no amount of hours/days stated (this oevrtime is allegedly reflected in our salary). The company that I work for think that 10 days cover is reasonable but there is nothing written down for this, only what they say has been spoken.

The following paragraph is written into our contract:-

Overtime
It is a condition of your employment that you work additional hours/shifts, when requested, to provide cover for holidays and absences in the team, and the salary level takes this in to account.


This is the only mention of this. Question is, do I have to do the overtime? As there is nothing written down thats states 10 days, which is the equivilant of 120 hours a year.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Hayley

[Johnboy007]

Re: Overtime?!

Hi,
Well the contract states that working additional overtime it is a condition of your employment.
What as known as 'Written Terms & Conditions'.
You have agreed to this condition.
Now with regards to the actual hours you are expected to do, depends in this case, on the conditions.
The company have no way of knowing who will be absent from work through sickness or other reasons. And they have no way of knowing on what days the employee/s will be absent (except booked holidays).
The company have decided that ten days cover per employee is required in order for the business to operate efficiently.
Although not written into the contract, they are what is known as 'Express Terms'.
Express terms: these are terms that have been specifically mentioned, either in writing or orally, and have been agreed by both employer and employee.
There are also 'Implied Terms', these are terms that are not set out in writing or agreed orally, but may be too obvious to need to be recorded. An example of this may be that the employee will not steal from the employer.

So if the ten days have been in place for some time, and employees have not objected or negotiated with the company.
Then I am afraid you are bound to do what the company consider to be reasonable.

If you find the ten days not to your liking, then try to negotiate with the company.
However if the company reduce the days, they may also reduce the salary.......

[Hayleyholly]

Re: Overtime?!

Many thanks for your reply.

Another issue is, we have more than one person in the same job, but under a different contract - their contract does not state that this is worked into their salary? Do all contracts have to state the same?

[Johnboy007]

Re: Overtime?!

No..... is the simple answer to your question
Any rights you have under a contract of employment, such as for medical insurance, are in addition to the rights you have in law. In addition, certain employment contracts may seek to limit certain rights you have in law. Legal rights include the right to be paid the National Minimum Wage, the right to paid holidays and, for most people, the obligation for an employer to enrol you in a pension scheme. You and your employer can agree to any terms you want, but certain terms seeking to limit your legal rights may be ineffective.
So, for example, agreements to be paid less than minimum wage will be ineffective.


Most employment contracts are in writing – but they don't have to be. An oral contract is just as binding but is much harder to prove. Having a written contract provides better certainty and can help prevent or resolve disputes with your employer in the future.
To protect employees who are not given a written contract, you are entitled to a written statement of your main employment terms within two months of starting work, no matter how few hours you work per week.
The statement must give details about:

• employee and employer names
• employment start date
• job title
• pay details
• hours of work and place of work
• holiday entitlement and holiday pay
• sick pay
• pension schemes
• notice periods, and
• grievance, dismissal and disciplinary procedures.

If there is something in the contract you don't agree with or think is unfair, you can discuss it with your employer and ask whether they will change it or leave it out of the contract.