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Employment contract regarding Bank Holiday Working

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  • 23-05-2024 4:45pm
    #1
    Dublinworker1
    Registered Users Posts: 1 ✭


    I’m asking if anyone has any experience similar to mine where having never been required to work Bank Holidays for 10+ years the situation changed and they are expected to work them occasionally now.

    I do have an employment contract and it has always stated that I may be occasionally asked to work them but at the time I signed it my department did not have to cover them. In the last while, it has changed so now my department does have to provide cover. In the beginning it was done on a voluntary basis but now I’m being told I have to work them occasionally too.

    Do I have any rights regarding the standard practise in place for all those years where it wasn’t required?
    Just to be clear, I would be paid correctly and another day off given instead.

    I will work them if I have no choice but I’d rather not give up my bank holiday with family & friends who are also off for Bank Holidays if I don’t have too.
    Apologies if this has been covered in a previous discussion. I did look but didn’t see anything similar. Thanks.



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    #2
    dennyk
    Registered Users Posts: 1,681 ✭✭✭dennyk


    If it's in your contract that you may have to work on public holidays from time to time, then you most likely don't have any comeback here. Business needs and requirements will change over time, and if your employer has historically needed work performed during public holidays and organisational changes mean that your department is now one who has to perform such work to meet the requirements of the business, that is a normal enough change, and it is explicitly provided for in your contract. If your contract said nothing about having to work public holidays, you might have had a valid argument that the long-standing practice of your being given public holidays off was an implied term, but even that might have been a stretch, and with the matter actually being spelled out in your contract itself, you'd have very little chance of success with such a claim.



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    #3
    bucketybuck
    Registered Users Posts: 18,337 ✭✭✭✭bucketybuck


    Your contract says your schedule is allowed to include bank holidays, seems pretty cut and dried to me.

    No it doesn't matter that they never asked you to before, not sure why you think it would.



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    #4
    Ted222
    Registered Users Posts: 238 ✭✭Ted222


    If you get a day off in lieu, the company is probably fulfilling its obligation.

    The key word here is occasional. You signed up to that and its exactly what you’re being asked to do.

    If occasional requests turns into regular requests, that’s a different matter.



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    #5
    Jim2007
    Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators Posts: 10,162 Mod ✭✭✭✭Jim2007


    This is what you and everyone else signed up to and when you are not carrying your weight, then what as voluntary often become mandatory!

    I don't think you have any grounds to complain as this is what you signed up for. It could well be that if you make a stink that you get somewhere, but it could also paint you as to being a team player, no carrying your share etc.. and source people's attitude towards you. Only you know the players and can figure whether it is worth it or not.

    Ultimately if working occasional weekends is a deal breaker for you then finding a position that matches your expectations is probably the way to go.



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