Maybe they should - but i don't make the rules on how much under 18's are paid. I'm here because I'm being told that my age is the sole reason I am not getting overtime.

Surely it is because of age - I'm not getting overtime because of my age. How can that be acceptable? Shouldn't all employees get their fair share of overtime instead of one person who needs it getting none while another person has their hours quadrupled?

Yeah I thought a tribunal might be very expensive. I will go down the union route. That would require me to work for less than minimum wage Emmzzi.

Ok, I will give that a shot. Thanks for your help!!

I will speak to my colleague about it and see if I can get a conversation about it recorded. This is coming from my manager. He seemed very apologetic about it the first time, said these are orders from Head Office. This time when I aired my displeasure he seemed frustrated, he said "I know, I know'". When I persisted and said it was wrong he said "Welcome to (the company)" I have worked with them since November. I am experienced in retail and I know from feedback that I am performing well in my job. There is no reason why I should not be given over time.

Hi, thanks for your response. Definitely not a misunderstanding. In February I had booked a full week of childcare as I had been told there would be overtime available and I wanted to be as flexible as I could for them. I went to them and told them I had plenty of availability between childcare and my partners shifts and could do any hours they needed but was told sorry, all over time has been offered to this younger worker as she's cheaper to pay than you are. A colleague the same age as me was told the same thing. This left me really out of pocket and angry. I asked to change my hours specifically because of their refusal to give me overtime. My particular role is a 20 hour contract and states it is "ideal for parents" so I am frustrated by their attitude towards overtime and llack of flexibility about condensing my days - particularly when I see a supervisor on a 30 hour contract only works 4 days a week.

I work in retail and during school holidays the shop gets given extra hours to use. During the February holidays I was refused any extra hours as they all were given to a younger worker because she is cheaper to pay. She ended up with quadruple her contracted hours. With Easter approaching I have only managed to secure an extra 4 hours work for the first week of the holiday - again the reason being given is the young workers get first priority for over time. I have a young daughter to support and I am feeling very frustrated and put out by all this. I normally work 4 hour shifts, 5 days a week as this fits around my little girls schooling. I asked if I could condense my hours during holidays so instead of working 5 half days working 2 full and a half as otherwise I have to pay out 5 full days of childcare but they refused. This means more than half my wage for the week is going out on childcare - something I wouldn't have an issue with if I was actually getting extra hours to help pay for it. It just seems wrong. Is there anything I can do?

I would like some advice on behalf of a friend who I feel is being terribly treated in his workplace. He is a single father with full custody of his child who is in primary school. He originally took on a contract with his employers for nightshift work, full time hours. This was when he was staying with family so had child care readily available. This was then changed to day time hours, but he tells me he did not receive a revised contract. Soon after, he moved into his own flat. Although he was now working day shifts, he notified his employers that he would no longer be able to work any nightshifts because he is on his own with his son. He requested that they allow him to work school hours, or as close to them as possible - for example finishing at 4pm or so. Despite this, his employers kept phoning him asking him to work until 10pm or start at 6am, which was just not possible. When he reminded them of his situation they said there was nothing they could do, and there was no such shift as the one he was asking for (even though he has worked that shift in the past.) Very soon after he moved, he became suddenly ill with gastroenteritis and was signed off work by a doctor for a week. His employers said that if there was any problems in regards to sick pay they would give him a call. They didnt call, so he assumed this was all fine. After his sick line expired, his employers did not call to arrange shifts as they said they would. They also did not answer or return his calls. Eventually, he made contact and was informed that he had been paid for only one day and that there was no shifts available to him except for one nightshift. Reluctantly he had to accept this shift as he had lost out on a lot of money. It did cause a lot of friction in his family though and he told the employers this was the absolute last nightshift he could do. When he arrived for his nightshift he was told by a workmate that they had been working the shift he had asked about (and that his employers said didnt exist) for the last two weeks. He also felt that during his shift he was being unfairly victimised by a supervisor. Since then, he has heard nothing about a shift. His nightshift was worked on Wednesday night, meaning he finished at 6am on Thursday morning. They require a 12 hour break between shifts and as he could not work another night, that meant no work on Thursday. Friday, no shift and he cant work weekends because he has to care for his son. That meant in two weeks, he has only had 2 days wage. The weekend passed without any word and eventually he managed to contact them this morning. They informed him they are not busy and so have no shift for him either today or tomorrow. They will call him regarding Wednesday. When he protested that he needs to work to support his child and keep a roof over their heads he was told that they couldn't give shifts to everyone. Surely they can not treat him in this way, particularly if he is contracted for full time hours? Any advice would be greatly appreciated! He is getting desperate and feels very low about the whole situation.

Good to hear that! Its a shame it wont apply to me yet though as Virgin Media isn't rolling out the changes until August GRRR. I do understand the contract, but I think its wrong that they are, in my opinion, bullying a family in a desperate situation. We didn't ask for things to happen the way they did, if I could magic my fiance back into good health and put us in a better financial situation I would. I appealed to Virgin Media and asked for them to consider our situation, but they simply don't care. Sad times.

Hi I am having a problem with Virgin Media and wondered if there was anything I could do to sort these guys out once and for all. I have been a customer of Virgin Media for the last few years and have had nothing but problems with them. However, due to numerous moves and being tied into contracts I haven't been able to leave them. Now I am moving again. The problem I have is that they only supply phone and broadband in my new area, no TV. I need the whole package to move or not at all and I am reluctant to get into yet another 12 month contract with them which will happen if I take the phone and broadband. They are not interested, told me that I agreed on my contract that I would keep the services for 12 months at my current address. I argued that it is not my fault that they do not fully service my new area, but they weren't budging. The thing that is annoying me most about it is that I have a friend who recently moved to an area they didn't cover and when she phoned she got a very polite response and they cancelled her contract for her and apologised for not being able to continue providing her with a service. So its looking to me like it really depends who you get through to, she was lucky and I was not. Anyway, they are wanting £100 from me on my next bill because they upgraded my TV in May and have therefore lumped on advance charges. Something they didn't tell me they were going to do I might add. They expect me to pay this, along with £122 for cancelling my contract. I wrote a letter to them, explaining how this was not our fault, I have a young child at home to take care of so I am not currently working and my fiance has been off work since February with a serious illness that has thrown my family into serious financial difficulties. We are having to leave the city we live in and move to a rural town both for financial reasons as well as support. At the moment we are on our own here, but my fiance has family in our new area who can help support him through his illness as I can not carry this myself. I asked Virgin Media to take this into consideration, that this was nobodies fault and why should I be penalised, but again they are not interested and have said that I could still take my broadband and phone and they will only charge me £34.67. I feel like they are bullying me, saying do it or you will get massive charges you cant afford! Is there anything I can do? I am feeling really stressed by it all. I understand that I entered into a contract with Virgin and its not their fault I am moving but equally its not my fault they dont cover the area!

Thanks, we have put in an application and we will see where it goes! worth a shot!

seems it is Mackenzie Hall who are trying to contact me.. not too sure how to handle it, there is a lot of posts about this company on here, lots of people offering different kinds of advice!

that is unbelievable!!! Reminds me of my partners aunt who went for her ATOS medical. She arrived in a wheelchair and was abruptly told by a snappy receptionist that she would have to get out and climb the stairs as the lifts were not working. hmmmm.

i just received a letter from the council dated 23rd April - why it took it a week to get here I don't know, whenever they are on your case about something the letters always arrive the next day!!! Anyway, they have said that they will not resume my claim until they have the following: The exact date my partner stopped working, of proof. Your partners last regular monthly payslip before he went on sick pay. Proof of your partners SSP, confirming 1) when it started, 2) any period of company sick pay and 3) the amount he receives. Proof that you have appealed the decision regarding your Employment and Support allowance being stopped/cancelled. Your last two monthly bank statements for you and your partner. I can not believe they have got us jumping through hoops to have a benefit reinstated that they suspended on an assumption. I don't even have half of this info at the moment!!!

I am in Scotland, so 5 years it is. I assume they will have my address? I am a bit reluctant to give it to them but my fiance reckons if they have the phone number, they can get the address. I'm not too clued up on these things as you can see! I dont think they identified themselves as debt collectors, I think they asked for me and when he said I was out they told him to get me to phone back with some reference number ASAP. He has past experience with debt collectors so can spot them a mile off. I did receive something through my door a few months ago come to think of it, but it wasn't addressed to anyone...it just had my address on it. It said something about some old friend or something wanting to get in touch with me and please call quoting the reference number. I looked the company up and found it was actually an english debt collectors trying to trick people into phoning them (how is that even legal, im sure its not!!!). Obviously, I didn't phone - especially as it wasn't even addressed to anyone in particular! Wonder if its the same people..