Commuting to Work

Hank_Scorpio

A friend of mine who lives in Wicklow wants to cut the hours of travelling by starting work 30-45 minutes earlier and leaving 30-45 minutes earlier. It has in the contract that it's at the discretion of her employer, but it does state that flexi-hours can be done. The job is in the centre of town in Dublin and I was wondering if there is anything about distance and commuting to and from work that would be a legal method of getting the little bit of time before and after work.

Is there anything to be done?

r3nu4l

To be honest, I don't think so. It really is at the discretion of the employer. In the UK there is talk of making it mandatory for firms to fully consider requests and they must show good reason for refusing a flexi-time request but so far that's only talk.

I'd say that if he approaches his bosses with a rational plan to show how he and the company will benefit then that will help but if the employer wants to refuse they are allowed to.

That's just my opinion, not a legal opinon...:)

Hank_Scorpio

Here's the problem though, it's at the discretion of the director for that department. My director and my boss allow me to go home early and they can't and we work in the same place. I can come in early and leave early as long as my job is done I get paid. But this one director has a big sissy fit when someone asks is it ok if they do flexi-time. Everyone else in the company gets to do it but nobody under this one director. It is v. frustrating.

is_that_so

A multinational I worked for defined the work day by "core hours" so as long as you were there between 10.30 and 4.30 that was fine. It was a HR directive and you could work your hours around that. Made a big difference to a lot of people. If the company has flexi-time they should have a company-wide directive. Employer discretion IMO means the company not an individual, the director is not the employer. I would have thought discussion and raising the issue was the way to go.

Hank_Scorpio

The discussion turned into a big sissy fit about it and was shocking. A lot of people are shocked at the attitude of the Director.

kmick

Spread vicious rumours about that Directors sexual orientation to the company gossip. Mention he hangs around childrens parks. Deny everything at a later date. It worked in Desperate Housewives?

r3nu4l

kmick wrote:

Spread vicious rumours about that Directors sexual orientation to the company gossip. Mention he hangs around childrens parks. Deny everything at a later date. It worked in Desperate Housewives?

How to get sacked in three easy steps

OP, in my last office some teams worked with US clients others with UK and European clients. There was no way that the people working with US clients were allowed to leave early as that narrowed the contact window considerably. They were allowed to arrive later in the morning and work later.

Would this Director have any reasons like that? Perhaps HR is the best way for your friend to go although I doubt that will help very much.