Advice Needed

[hardway]

I have been working for 4 years without breaks and my employer don't pay for it but they deduct 0.5 hrs for breaks from my wages. Also, they stopped paying my overtimes even though i am working an average 1.5 hrs over my contracted hours. i spoke to my supervisor he told me the company don't pay for over times at the unit he was working for. We have a time sheet to sign in and out i have copies of all the sheets, i have had no issues with my over time until this new guy was employed. I spoke to the unit manager but seems he is not going to cooperate. They did not pay for my over time last month and from the look of things they are not going to pay for it this month. I sent an sms to my supervisor to make sure they pay my over time this month and told him to take it seriously. Waiting for tomorrow, payday.
What should i do next?

[teaboy2]

Re: Advice Needed

Work out all the hours you have worked overtime that you have not so far been paid for, and work out the amount they owe you in pay for those hours.

Then send the employer a formal grievance letter, pointing out that they are legally obliged to pay you for every hour, every 30 mins and every 15mins you work and that by not paying you for the overtime they are, in fact, in breach of section 13 of the employment rights act 1996. Which basically makes it unlawful for an employer to deduct or withhold monies owed to employees as wages for the hours they have worked. Advise the employer that if you are not paid for what you are owed (£x.xx enter amount your owed) withing 14 days (14 days will allow them time to carry out a grievance procedure) you will seek legal action against them.

As per the 0.5 hours breaks, well it depends on whether your contract states you will be paid for the half hour breaks or not. If not then simply refuse to work when you should be on your break. If the employer tries to force you, or tries to take disciplinary action, when your asserting your statutory right to a rest period, they'd be in breach of working time regulations! and any dismissal would be unfair dismissal

[hardway]

Re: Advice Needed

Thank you for your very kind advice, i am working on it. The issue is i have been under immense pressure from the management for unprofessional reasons some colleagues are saying that it might be envy or hate. I am very famous at work and when i am not at work there always issues. Anyway its a very long story i would appreciate if you can take a bit of your precious time to read through it and wouldn't mind sharing all the evidence i have on here. I am considering sending this letter to HR department;

After my graduation from University in 2010 with a 2:1 degree in Business Information Systems, I was desperately looking for a full time career/non-career job because my immigration status didn't permit me to work full time while studying. Fortunately, on the 4th of January, 2011 I was called for a trial to be a breakfast chef by Nitin Sharma, the former head chef. He personally trained me for two days and on the final day of training he told me he will be evaluating my performance on weekly bases, a couple of weeks later he offered me the job because he was very impressed with my efficiency, effectiveness and many positive feedback from customers.
One and a half years of dedicated service I requested to speak to the head chef regarding my wages (I was still on the kitchen porter rate for all these while). He told me he thinks I deserve a pay rise considering my shift (3:00 a.m to 11:00 a.m.) and my responsibilities but he has to speak to Yann Vatiste, the manager. A couple of weeks later, he told me Yann has been made redundant. I personally arranged a meeting with Yann, he told me he is leaving soon he suggested I speak to the new manager, Lynne Christie.
On 13/12/12 I arranged to meet with Adrian, the new executive chef. He said considering the fact that I have double responsibilities and I am doing unsociable hours I deserve to be paid more than a kitchen porter but he have to speak to Lynne. One month later, I reminded him about our last meeting he said he was still waiting for feedback from Lynne.
In February 2012 while Lynne was on holidays, Adrian told me he had a word with Siobhan their area manager about my wages, he said Siobhan told him as soon as Lynne comes back from holiday they should review my wages. Lynne came back from holidays, again I never heard from either of them.
Late February 2013, I told Adrian that I am still waiting for feedback regarding my wages, he told me because Yann and Dace Lace are still in the payroll they can't do anything until they leave.
On the 27/03/2013, I approached Lynne and wanted to speak to her she was very rude to me refused to speak to me, instead referred me back to Adrian. After several of those meetings and inconsistent feedback, I decided to let go, but as you must have noticed I decided to keep evidence of all their feedback and dates.
Till date nothing has changed and in fact, the attitude of the management towards me has deteriorated. In early 2014, just after New Year we were told that the company has introduced training scheme such as chef academy and management courses for interested applicants, and as part of the procedure we have to discuss with our respective managers. In February 2014, I told Adrian Pitt my manager that I would like to enrol to the chef academy program. He told me he will fill the form and hand to Lynne for approval he even told me that I will be enrolled into the second level because of my experience. Sometime in early April I asked him about my application, he told me he is still waiting for the management. Considering my past experiences, I told the assistant sous chef, Yareed about it and pleaded with him to speak to Adrian on my behalf. Yareed spoke to Adrian twice on different dates again he told him that he is still waiting to hear from Lynne/Vincent. I was not very surprise when I realise that Katarina, front of house staff and Lynne’s friend was enrolled for the chef academy program even though I think as an experienced breakfast chef I should be considered first. In June, because I couldn’t wait any longer I decided to pursue my part time MSc in Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence at University of Greenwich where I am currently studying.
In August 2014, Sean Simmonds the interim head chef told me that they are going to introduce full English breakfast (Sausage, Bacon, Porridge, hashbrowns, baked beans, mushroom, tomato, scrambled egg and assorted pastries) from 4am Monday to Friday and that I will be responsible for it. I told him that it will be too much work for me considering my current workload. I also told him that for the past years his predecessor, Adrian Pitt has always arranged for a chef when the client request for additional breakfast before 8 a.m. Ashley the relief chef, was responsible for it and usually he comes in at 3 a.m. to cook sausages, bacon and baked beans to be served at 4 a.m. that is, it takes him, a full trained chef one hour for these three items. Sean told me he was going to speak to Lynne and he will get back to me.
Two days later Sean Simmons told me that they have arranged for Good Morning Britain runners to picking up the trolleys of food and also I don’t have to turn on the coffee machines. I told him turning on the coffee machines and delivering food for Good Morning Britain takes me only 20 minutes which is nothing compared to cooking full English breakfast as listed above, which requires at least 1.5hours. His response was, I will be working with one front of the house staff and he will be assisting me. I told him I will need someone who can assist in cooking, he said they will train the person to cook I resisted and made it very clear that I would not like any additional workload to affect my job because I have always been consistent and maintained the standard of services for Good Morning Britain.
Sometime in late August 2014, Sean told me they have agreed for the 4 a.m. full English and I will be responsible with Paul Nana to help if I need help. I told Paul Nana to make sure the area where the food is served is clean and sanitised, also he will be taking the food from the kitchen and if need be he will help to crack eggs or help to dice omelette fillings (onion or mix pepper). Even though I felt stretched I was still determined to give my best, unfortunately after a couple of weeks Paul Nana told me that he has been instructed not help in anything because he is not a chef. I spoke to Vincent about it he said Paul is not a chef and he is not oblige to help, I tried to explain to him that Sean told me from the beginning that he will be working with me Vincent said Sean is no longer the head chef he said I have to speak to Rob the new head chef.
I felt led down again but am still giving my best even though I feel really stretched and stressed because of the workload. My wife has been very concerned about how I feel when I am back from work, there are many instances when I felt asleep on the train and couldn’t get off at my stop. I called sick on the 9/12/2014 and when I returned to work the following day I Rob told me he will issue me a disciplinary if it turns out that I was not sick.
Also it is worth mentioning that, I have been working with the same pair of safety shoe for since Nittin Sharma left. When Adrian Pitt took over as head chef he bought all the staffs in the a pair of safety shoe except me, I didn’t really bother because I have always taken very good care of my shoe, cleaning them every day when I go for shower after work. I was more concerned when Rob took over, I saw him distributing safety shoe to everyone but me. I told him I will appreciate if he can also get me one because I have been wearing the one I had in me for nearly over three years. Rob promised to buy me one and he told me it will take 10 working days. Two weeks later I asked him about the shoe, he said he will check in the office if there is any for me again he came back without any. That same day before I left work I reminded him about the shoe he said he will order one for me, on the 3/12/2014 I asked him again about the shoe, Dean Diamond and Paul Nana were present. I have to say till date I am still using the same pair of shoe.
I have to say also that when I started in 2011, I was meant to start work at 3:00 a.m. as stipulated in my contract one year later they increased my workload and so I had to start 30 minutes early 2:30 a.m. but usually I am in the building not later than 02:15 a.m. which therefore means I am meant to finish at 10:30 a.m. just when the real breakfast finishes. Because I have to make sure I cover and date anything that can be reused for the following day or maximum two days and also I have three drawer fridges where I store these items, I have to make sure they are cleaned and sanitised every day after work. I have to sign that I have done the above mentioned things else I will be issued a warning (yellow card) three of which will result in disciplinary and three disciplinary is a dismissal. I had a warning once for not dating English Muffins even though the use by date was on the same day I was issued the warning, the only warning I have had for all the years I have worked there.
For all these years I have been paid for my overtimes depending on how busy breakfast was and how much mise en place I have to do. On 28/11/2014 I noticed that I have not been paid for my overtime from the 09/10/2014 to 05/11/2014 which is approximately 20hours. I spoke to Rob the head chef, he told me they don’t pay for overtime at his former unit where he works promised to review my case after realising that I am working even more hours than I am being paid for. Rob left to the office and I went home thinking he will sort it out. On the 03/12/2014 I sent Rob an SMS emphasizing that he should make sure all my unpaid overtime are included in my December wages, I told him to take it seriously. Rob never replied my SMS and I was very devastated when I received my wage for December, I realised they did not pay for my November and December overtime which is between 09/10/2014 to 03/12/2014 and from every indication they are not going to pay for those I have worked for till date. I have not had break for all the years I have been working for but have had 30 minutes of my wages deducted every day for breaks. It is stipulated in my contract that I am entitle to 30 minutes of break, I have spoken to Adrian Pitt and recently to Rob about it unfortunately I have not had any. I think I deserved to be paid for every 15, 30, and 60 minutes I work for. They have never seen me idle and I have always been very honest with my job and have given my best. Customers feedback can proof this. When I am not at work takings are low, there are many complaints from client even when Rod the head chef covered me when I was sick, Rod could not deliver food on time, and the client sent many complaints about the quality of service. I have to say the clients are very happy and they have been the only motivating factor, I was nominated the best chef in 2013 on the ITV Christmas party.

[teaboy2]

Re: Advice Needed

Hi Hardway

Sorry but your last post is one hell of a wall of text, am dyslexic making it even harder for myself to read such walls of text. Could you please edit the post and break it down in to paragraphs?

[rtbm]

Re: Advice Needed

Sounds very iffy to me! If you're not getting breaks, yet they deduct this from your wages, as if to say you are having regular breaks, surely this cannot be right? You need to speak to a union rep but may I ask, why has it taken you four years to even question this? I don't mean to sound harsh when I say this, it just seems a shade strange. If I found out I was having things deducted from my wages without proper reasoning, I'd question it right away. Nevertheless, you need to sort this out.

[hardway]

Re: Advice Needed

Thank you for your very kind advice, i am working on it. The issue is i have been under immense pressure from the management for unprofessional reasons some colleagues are saying that it might be envy or hate. I am very famous at work and when i am not at work there always issues. Anyway its a very long story i would appreciate if you can take a bit of your precious time to read through it and wouldn't mind sharing all the evidence i have on here. I am considering sending this letter to HR department;



After my graduation from University in 2010 with a 2:1 degree in Business Information Systems, I was desperately looking for a full time career/non-career job because my immigration status didn't permit me to work full time while studying. Fortunately, on the 4th of January, 2011 I was called for a trial to be a breakfast chef by Nitin Sharma, the former head chef. He personally trained me for two days and on the final day of training he told me he will be evaluating my performance on weekly bases, a couple of weeks later he offered me the job because he was very impressed with my efficiency, effectiveness and many positive feedback from customers.


One and a half years of dedicated service I requested to speak to the head chef regarding my wages (I was still on the kitchen porter rate for all these while). He told me he thinks I deserve a pay rise considering my shift (3:00 a.m to 11:00 a.m.) and my responsibilities but he has to speak to Yann Vatiste, the manager. A couple of weeks later, he told me Yann has been made redundant. I personally arranged a meeting with Yann, he told me he is leaving soon he suggested I speak to the new manager, Lynne Christie.


On 13/12/12 I arranged to meet with Adrian, the new executive chef. He said considering the fact that I have double responsibilities and I am doing unsociable hours I deserve to be paid more than a kitchen porter but he have to speak to Lynne. One month later, I reminded him about our last meeting he said he was still waiting for feedback from Lynne.


In February 2012 while Lynne was on holidays, Adrian told me he had a word with Siobhan their area manager about my wages, he said Siobhan told him as soon as Lynne comes back from holiday they should review my wages. Lynne came back from holidays, again I never heard from either of them.


Late February 2013, I told Adrian that I am still waiting for feedback regarding my wages, he told me because Yann and Dace Lace are still in the payroll they can't do anything until they leave.
On the 27/03/2013, I approached Lynne and wanted to speak to her she was very rude to me refused to speak to me, instead referred me back to Adrian. After several of those meetings and inconsistent feedback, I decided to let go, but as you must have noticed I decided to keep evidence of all their feedback and dates.


Till date nothing has changed and in fact, the attitude of the management towards me has deteriorated. In early 2014, just after New Year we were told that the company has introduced training scheme such as chef academy and management courses for interested applicants, and as part of the procedure we have to discuss with our respective managers. In February 2014, I told Adrian Pitt my manager that I would like to enrol to the chef academy program. He told me he will fill the form and hand to Lynne for approval he even told me that I will be enrolled into the second level because of my experience. Sometime in early April I asked him about my application, he told me he is still waiting for the management. Considering my past experiences, I told the assistant sous chef, Yareed about it and pleaded with him to speak to Adrian on my behalf. Yareed spoke to Adrian twice on different dates again he told him that he is still waiting to hear from Lynne/Vincent. I was not very surprise when I realise that Katarina, front of house staff and Lynne’s friend was enrolled for the chef academy program even though I think as an experienced breakfast chef I should be considered first. In June, because I couldn’t wait any longer I decided to pursue my part time MSc in Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence at University of Greenwich where I am currently studying.


In August 2014, Sean Simmonds the interim head chef told me that they are going to introduce full English breakfast (Sausage, Bacon, Porridge, hashbrowns, baked beans, mushroom, tomato, scrambled egg and assorted pastries) from 4am Monday to Friday and that I will be responsible for it. I told him that it will be too much work for me considering my current workload. I also told him that for the past years his predecessor, Adrian Pitt has always arranged for a chef when the client request for additional breakfast before 8 a.m. Ashley the relief chef, was responsible for it and usually he comes in at 3 a.m. to cook sausages, bacon and baked beans to be served at 4 a.m. that is, it takes him, a full trained chef one hour for these three items. Sean told me he was going to speak to Lynne and he will get back to me.


Two days later Sean Simmons told me that they have arranged for Good Morning Britain runners to picking up the trolleys of food and also I don’t have to turn on the coffee machines. I told him turning on the coffee machines and delivering food for Good Morning Britain takes me only 20 minutes which is nothing compared to cooking full English breakfast as listed above, which requires at least 1.5hours. His response was, I will be working with one front of the house staff and he will be assisting me. I told him I will need someone who can assist in cooking, he said they will train the person to cook I resisted and made it very clear that I would not like any additional workload to affect my job because I have always been consistent and maintained the standard of services for Good Morning Britain.


Sometime in late August 2014, Sean told me they have agreed for the 4 a.m. full English and I will be responsible with Paul Nana to help if I need help. I told Paul Nana to make sure the area where the food is served is clean and sanitised, also he will be taking the food from the kitchen and if need be he will help to crack eggs or help to dice omelette fillings (onion or mix pepper). Even though I felt stretched I was still determined to give my best, unfortunately after a couple of weeks Paul Nana told me that he has been instructed not help in anything because he is not a chef. I spoke to Vincent about it he said Paul is not a chef and he is not oblige to help, I tried to explain to him that Sean told me from the beginning that he will be working with me Vincent said Sean is no longer the head chef he said I have to speak to Rob the new head chef.


I felt led down again but am still giving my best even though I feel really stretched and stressed because of the workload. My wife has been very concerned about how I feel when I am back from work, there are many instances when I felt asleep on the train and couldn’t get off at my stop. I called sick on the 9/12/2014 and when I returned to work the following day I Rob told me he will issue me a disciplinary if it turns out that I was not sick.


Also it is worth mentioning that, I have been working with the same pair of safety shoe for since Nittin Sharma left. When Adrian Pitt took over as head chef he bought all the staffs in the a pair of safety shoe except me, I didn’t really bother because I have always taken very good care of my shoe, cleaning them every day when I go for shower after work. I was more concerned when Rob took over, I saw him distributing safety shoe to everyone but me. I told him I will appreciate if he can also get me one because I have been wearing the one I had in me for nearly over three years. Rob promised to buy me one and he told me it will take 10 working days. Two weeks later I asked him about the shoe, he said he will check in the office if there is any for me again he came back without any. That same day before I left work I reminded him about the shoe he said he will order one for me, on the 3/12/2014 I asked him again about the shoe, Dean Diamond and Paul Nana were present. I have to say till date I am still using the same pair of shoe.


I have to say also that when I started in 2011, I was meant to start work at 3:00 a.m. as stipulated in my contract one year later they increased my workload and so I had to start 30 minutes early 2:30 a.m. but usually I am in the building not later than 02:15 a.m. which therefore means I am meant to finish at 10:30 a.m. just when the real breakfast finishes. Because I have to make sure I cover and date anything that can be reused for the following day or maximum two days and also I have three drawer fridges where I store these items, I have to make sure they are cleaned and sanitised every day after work. I have to sign that I have done the above mentioned things else I will be issued a warning (yellow card) three of which will result in disciplinary and three disciplinary is a dismissal. I had a warning once for not dating English Muffins even though the use by date was on the same day I was issued the warning, the only warning I have had for all the years I have worked there.


For all these years I have been paid for my overtimes depending on how busy breakfast was and how much mise en place I have to do. On 28/11/2014 I noticed that I have not been paid for my overtime from the 09/10/2014 to 05/11/2014 which is approximately 20hours. I spoke to Rob the head chef, he told me they don’t pay for overtime at his former unit where he works promised to review my case after realising that I am working even more hours than I am being paid for. Rob left to the office and I went home thinking he will sort it out.

On the 03/12/2014 I sent Rob an SMS emphasizing that he should make sure all my unpaid overtime are included in my December wages, I told him to take it seriously. Rob never replied my SMS and I was very devastated when I received my wage for December, I realised they did not pay for my November and December overtime which is between 09/10/2014 to 03/12/2014 and from every indication they are not going to pay for those I have worked for till date. I have not had break for all the years I have been working for but have had 30 minutes of my wages deducted every day for breaks. It is stipulated in my contract that I am entitle to 30 minutes of break, I have spoken to Adrian Pitt and recently to Rob about it unfortunately I have not had any. I think I deserved to be paid for every 15, 30, and 60 minutes I work for.

They have never seen me idle and I have always been very honest with my job and have given my best. Customers feedback can proof this. When I am not at work takings are low, there are many complaints from client even when Rod the head chef covered me when I was sick, Rod could not deliver food on time, and the client sent many complaints about the quality of service. I have to say the clients are very happy and they have been the only motivating factor, I was nominated the best chef in 2013 on the ITV Christmas party.

[teaboy2]

Re: Advice Needed

Not a very comfortable situation to be in at all. Oviously the unpaid wages is the main issue. the second issue i see here is them trying to force new contractual terms (job duties) on to you which they can not do without your written and signed agreement to variation of terms, where the terms being added or varied are clearly detailed in the written and signed consent to the variation of terms. Basically they have unilaterally changed your contractual terms, which is a breach of contract since its without your consent, unless off course you agreed to it, which it appears you did so verbally!

I suspect their is a third issue here too where you are being treated less favorably than others, such as no new safety shoes, not being placed on the academy thing when you requested. So your employer is treating you unfairly and being unreasonable towards you. But unfortunately its not easy to proof without evidence, as one would ask why you didn't apply yourself regarding the academy training thing. And as for the safety shoes, you'd have to prove everyone other than yourself received them!

I still think you should issue a grievance detailing all of the above as well as what i mentioned in my earlier post in this thread regarding unpaid wages and see what happens. Also i think you should contact ACAS and if your part of a union contact them as well. Am assuming this is a famous hotel, or the people working there and publicly known chefs, you seem to have some fame behind you yourself, so going public under protected disclosure may be a very powerful tool to threaten them with at later stages should they not up hold your grievance and remedy your wages and other issues!