Urgent help/advice required!

Steffano2002

Hello everybody,

This is by far the most important post/request I've made on boards.ie and I really hope you can help!

Moderators: I have already posted this thread in the "Biz > Personal > Work & Jobs" but this forum is not as well frequented as the "After Hours" forum so I thought I'd post it here also to give it more visibility. I sincerely hope this is ok.

I am posting this message because I want to help my mother who is currently having some problems with her employer. She works in a dentist in Dublin. She is a dental nurse. I shall say no more...

Basically she started working there a few years ago and she is irreproachable (never late, always does her job perfectly, never sick, etc). She chose to work for this particular dentist because in the interview she was told that she would finish on time (or, and I quote, "5 minutes late at the most") and because she could finish at 4PM on Fridays. Indeed, another part-time nurse would replace her after 4PM on Fridays...

However, this part-time nurse is now leaving in June and the dentist told (not "asked") my mother to work after 4PM on Fridays to replace her. She told him she could not work after 4PM on Fridays to which he replied "Well, you'll have to now".

My mother told me this last week so I asked her what her contract stipulated. She told me she didn't have a contract!!! :eek:
Indeed her employer never provided her with a written contract after employing her!

Thanks to a sticky on the "Work & Jobs" forum, I found the "TERMS OF EMPLOYMENT (INFORMATION) ACT, 1994" online which states the following:

3.—(1) An employer shall, not later than 2 months after the commencement of an employee's employment with the employer, give or cause to be given to the employee a statement in writing containing the following particulars of the terms of the employee's employment, that is to say—

( a ) the full names of the employer and the employee,

( b ) the address of the employer in the State or, where appropriate, the address of the principal place of the relevant business of the employer in the State or the registered office (within the meaning of the Companies Act, 1963) etc etc

Thus, her employer is in breach of the law. Is this correct?

Also, my mother works from 8AM to 6PM (except Fridays as stated above) but she only gets one single 1 hour lunch break a day. Is this legal?

Furthermore, she never gets her full 1 hour lunch. It is supposed to start at 1PM and finish at 2PM but today for example (typical day), she only went on lunch at 1:20PM and she has to be back at 1:50PM to be ready for the first "afternoon customer" at 2PM. This is really frustrating for her. She is not allowed any other breaks during the day (no quick 10/15 minute breaks given) and she would really like to be able to enjoy a proper 1 hour lunch break!

Now, the reason why I am posting this is because her employer wants to "have a 5 minute chat" with my mother on Thursday evening and she (just like myself) does not really know where she stands (we do not know/understand the law properly).

Could you please advise what you would do if you were faced with this situation? What if her employer "forces" her to work after 4PM on Fridays? My mother has no written contract to prove it was (verbally) agreed that she would finish at 4PM on Fridays!

Your help/advice will be greatly appreciated! This situation is really upsetting my mother and myself I would like to know what we have to/can do next!

Kind regards,

Steffano2002

olaola

Here is some useful info:
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/employment/employment-rights-and-conditions/hours-of-work/hours_breaks_sundays

BostonB

How long is she working there?

Daknight

Is she part of a trade union? Does her employer have an employer? If so she could go to that person and outline what has happened and how she is being treated,do this before she has the "chat" with her employer.

Steffano2002

BostonB wrote:

How long is she working there?

I believe it has now been over a year, perhaps two. I will ask her tomorrow (she is probably sleeping now).

mikemac

Phone these people in the morning
http://www.citizensinformationboard.ie/citizens/citizens_callcentres.html

They're very helpful, unlike most of the civil service:mad:

It's their job to advise people on issues like this-they've helped me out in the past

Steffano2002

Daknight wrote:

Is she part of a trade union?

No she is not. And getting her to join a Union did cross my mind. Can you just go ahead and join any Union on your own?

Daknight wrote:

Does her employer have an employer? If so she could go to that person and outline what has happened and how she is being treated,do this before she has the "chat" with her employer.

No, her employer does not have an employer (I'm 99% sure, I will confirm this tomorrow).

aidan_walsh

this forum is not as well frequented as the "After Hours" forum so I thought I'd post it here also to give it more visibility.

You just made a friend in nesf. No, really.

Steffano2002

olaola wrote:

Here is some useful info:
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/employment/employment-rights-and-conditions/hours-of-work/hours_breaks_sundays

Thank you for this helpful link olaola! I shall read though it in detail.

Steffano2002

micmclo wrote:

Phone these people in the morning
http://www.citizensinformationboard.ie/citizens/citizens_callcentres.html

They're very helpful, unlike most of the civil service:mad:

It's their job to advise people on issues like this-they've helped me out in the past

Thanks micmclo! I will give them a ring tomorrow morning first thing!

Steffano2002

aidan_walsh wrote:

You just made a friend in nesf. No, really.

I'm sorry if I hurt his feelings but it's a small price to pay to help my mum

You know sometimes people can be reasonable.

How about getting her to actually talk to her employer about this rather than quoting laws at them.

Its good to know you rights and entitlements of course but pushing this point too far often does more harm than good.

Daknight

Steffano2002 wrote:

No she is not. And getting her to join a Union did cross my mind. Can you just go ahead and join any Union on your own?

Yeah Im pretty sure you can,though they wont help you with what is happening at the moment,you have to be in a union for a while first for them to be able to help........

Tha Gopher

aidan_walsh wrote:

You just made a friend in nesf. No, really.

Id bet Karoma as being the one who fears the forum will implode under the pressure of a thread of only 98% relevance but anywho.....

nesf

Right, here's the thing. This forum is busier than Work/Jobs but bluntly the advice you'll get on Work/Jobs will be better (people will generally have more of a clue about they are talking about rather than just guessing).


I am going to lock this thread but honestly I don't think you'll lose any potential good advice by me doing so. Focus on the Work/Jobs thread, people will help you. Your mother not having a contract is an issue and really she should have gotten one by now. This kind of thing isn't a simple matter and you've a bigger chance of being misinformed here than there.

nesf

Tha Gopher wrote:

Id bet Karoma as being the one who fears the forum will implode under the pressure of a thread of only 98% relevance but anywho.....

This is cross-posting not posting off-topic and tbh, this is not the forum I'd point someone towards for getting serious advice regarding employment contracts etc.