Overtime/Days owed

TerrorFirmer

I work in retail and the way the company works, if you work overtime, the hours aren't paid to you, but are 'owed' to you, and given back to you another week where you get a paid day or days off to that value of hours you worked overtime...which means in the end, all you get it more time off and the same pay (the 'overtime' hours go down as standard rate pay), rather than extra pay on top of your normal salary which is what most people would expect from overtime. Is this legal at all? It wouldn't annoy me as much if trying to even get your time owed back wasn't as difficult as pulling teeth...they act as if they're doing you a massive favor by giving you the hours you've owed. I often ask 3 or 4 weeks in a row can I take x day off as my 'owed' day to be told a simple 'no'. Why would any worker work extra hours for no monetary reward, or worse, to receive paid days off months after the work has been put in?

Speaking of which, I assume there's no disciplinary recourse a company can effect if you refuse to do beyond the standard week? As they sometimes ask people to do extra hours on top of the standard cut off rate of hours, but I fail to see why I should ever agree when I basically don't get paid for them but get days off weeks/months after I've done the work, at the mangers rather than my own discretion.

gerrycollins

It depends on how overtime is described and caclulated in your contract however if it exceedes 40 hours you should by law be "appropiately compensated" ie given a better rate that flat. However your owed hours should be given to you at this rate.

it is not unusual for companies to do the paid time off instead of paying for the overtime however from personal experience paying it is so much eaiser.

As for getting the time off that is a local issue that maybe a union or staff group could challenge I wouldnt tackle it alone. Maybe get them to agree that any time owed is taken within 10 working days. again it might be defined in your contract the time frame in which you get your hours back.

This will hopefully force them to reduce the amount of hours given into overtime. you can be disciplined somewhat. In an old workplace there was a provision in the contract where we had to work overtime if requested.(it was v rare) however I know a guy that refused and he was given a verbal warning but nothing more came about it.

The Big Red Button

I don't know. I have a relatively stable job myself, and I myself have heard the whole "aren't you lucky to have a job at all?!" tirade.

But, really. You're working in retail - not the most stable of environments. You're lucky enough to have a job that gives you not just enough hours to keep you going, but overtime in addition to that.

The fact is that, at the moment, many people are working overtime without being compensated a penny for it.

Personally I'm in the same position as you - I'm given time in lieu for my overtime, and I can take it at a time that suits the company - and, to be honest, I'm delighted with that - it's more than others in my position in similar companies are getting.

In my own opinion, it is REALLY not something that's worth "rocking the boat" over.

bbam

Its not uncommon...
Myself I used to take back the time at 1.5T

TerrorFirmer

gerrycollins wrote: »

In an old workplace there was a provision in the contract where we had to work overtime if requested.(it was v rare) however I know a guy that refused and he was given a verbal warning but nothing more came about it.

It's not that I have a problem with overtime. Even if its paid back at flat rate (which it is) - like a poster said above I'm just pretty happy to have a 40hr week job. But at this stage I've got hours owed from six months ago that they just keep saying 'no' to when I request them. This is why I'm always hesitant to do extra hours, not the fact that I have to actually do more work. Trust me, I've no intention whatsoever of 'rocking the boat', but I was just curious about what people thought.

bernyh

Don't listen to people who tell you, you are lucky to have a job!! That doesn't give your employer a free reign to break the law... if the law says you should be compensated then that's what should happen.... God help us if everyone is at the mercy of their employers! We would all be walking around in bare feet and rags!!!

Wishbone Ash

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

at this stage I've got hours owed from six months ago that they just keep saying 'no' to when I request them

Even in the much maligned public service, time owed can only be taken when approved and even when approved, it can be cancelled again at very short notice. A girl in my area is owed 800 hours and is having trouble getting the time back.

TerrorFirmer wrote:

This is why I'm always hesitant to do extra hours, not the fact that I have to actually do more work

Is it mentioned in your contract?

BTW, are the additional hours planned/rostered or are they arranged at short notice?

Jafin

Hi guys,

I have a question to ask aswell, and please forgive me if you think I'm hijacking your thread, it's not intended. Just wanted to say, I work in a chain shop, and since it's coming up to Christmas I have been getting a few more hours every week. I usually do 37.5 hours, but last week I did 43, maybe 41 the week before etc.

When I was first asked to do overtime, the manager of the shop said we would get overtime pay (which I understood to mean something higher than flat rate).

When the payslip came after doing my first bout of overtime, I noticed that for the extra hours I had been paid the normal flat rate. I asked the manager about this and basically he just shrugged and said he doesn't do the wages, it's all done in the head office of the chain I work for. Fair enough, I know it's not his fault, not that he even offered to call them and see was I supposed to get more money.

Basically the only thing I want to know is, is there any actual right that says I have to get paid more than flat rate or is it at the company's discretion?

I never received a contract when I started working there near the end of August or anything and I haven't been given any rights on paper or anything...

I did try to look for an answer on Google but couldn't find what I was looking for.

Thanks in advance for any help.

TerrorFirmer

A girl in my area is owed 800 hours and is having trouble getting the time back.

Wow...that seems extreme. I used to work in the public service and never really had any problems, suppose it's a bit harder now these days.

Is it mentioned in your contract?

Nope.

BTW, are the additional hours planned/rostered or are they arranged at short notice?

I normally find out the night before I'm asked to work.

everybody

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

A girl in my area is owed 800 hours and is having trouble getting the time back.

Keep records of everything..

I took redundancy recently and the employer had to pay an additional €8K for untaken holidays, they tried but couldn't prove I hadn't taken them over a 10 year period.