Disciplinary for not working over contracted hours..advice please

[babs2961]

On behalf of a friend...

 

Annual leave booked and approved. 4 days before due to go on holiday, friend has been told he has to work for 2 days of the leave period, as there is no one else to cover, and the 'supervisor' has a social event that they wish to attend and not forgo. Part time contract, the hours at the end of the week will take them over the contracted hours, friend has been told that if he doesn't turn up to do the hours they will be facing disciplinary. (holiday all booked, leaving during time now expected to work)

 

Advice please? where do they stand on the contracted hours/extra issue?

 

thank you.

[honeybee13]

Hello there. Would you mind expanding on this a bit please? I'm having trouble following it and other people trying to help may do as well. I hope we can help.

 

My best, HB

[wonkeydonkey]

Your friend could always hope they do take disciplinary action then they can sue the ar**se of the employer.

Unless there is specific mention in the contract that they must drop all and bend over .....then they are within their rights to work the hours they are contracted to work and not a second longer.

People who work over and above the hours contracted do so as a favour(and extra cash) but it cannot be taken for granted by the employer they will do so every time they are asked.

 

wd

[Sidewinder]

Complicated. What does the contract of employment say about holidays? What does it also say about the need to work overtime on occasion to cover unexpected periods of demand? If not stated in the contract, then what has been the position in the past, ie has your friend previously worked above his contracted hours without complaint in similar circumstances.

 

As far as the holiday goes, it is a tricky one, as once a holiday is booked and agreed, this would be a contractual matter and if the employer were to force a cancellation, this may well be considered a breach of contract, however there would be little that the employee could do except to resign and claim Constructive Dismissal - a drastic, and VERY risky course of action with little realistic chance of success.

 

The normal practice would be to try and work out the grievance before the event, perhaps by negotiation. Agree to work one but not both days? Agree to work both days in return for time and a half back (cancel two days holiday to get three back later)? Extra pay? If the friend were to be going away, or if the cancellation were to result in a financial loss, there is also the matter of compensation.

[babs2961]

thanks for the help so far.

The 'supervisor' is asking/demanding my friend to work the first two days of the 'leave' that was asked for and agreed. The holiday is booked to begin then, hence a cancellation fee will be incrued. There have been several occasions before when a weekend off has been owed, and changed, almost always due to the supervisor wanting to attend their own personal nights/social events. This time, it is because the supervisor has a social event that they can't/don't want to miss.Seems to always be fitted around them and no 'give and take for anyone else' Concerns have been expressed before to the supervisor, who has become verbally aggressive, and upon taking it verbally to the next level of management, usually has been sorted...until the next time.

The contract is part time, but hours have varied, and even with protestations about doing more than contracted has always been threatened with sanctions/warnings etc if not compliant.

 

Just checking the contract. Thanks for support, friend in bits over this.

[Sidewinder]

I can quite understand your friend's anxiety. Things like this are what separates good and considerate employers from bad ones.

 

Insofar as the law is concerned, an employer does have the right to dictate when holiday can and cannot be taken, however once booked and agreed this represents a contract, and as with any contract, there have to be remedies for a breach. As already stated, a breach of an employment contract would normally be remedied through an Employment Tribunal, and the cancellation of a pre-booked holiday may well be grounds for Constructive Dismissal on the grounds that it (together with 'enforced' overtime, unless covered by an agreement in the contract) represents a fundamental breach which makes it impossible for the employee to continue working there. The problem with that is that an ET firstly do not like to interfere with the running of a business, and in the current environment of businesses trying to stay afloat may determine that the requirement was not 'unreasonable' in the circumstances, however even if the decision was to be in your friend's favour, the compensation for the breach would be limited and unlikely to adequately make amends - and there would still be the issue of finding new employment.

 

There are also remedies for contractual breaches through the County Court, and that would be where the issue of compensation for cancellation may come in, however if a legal route were to be the desired option, then this would undoubtedly cause irreparable harm to the employment relationship and your friend would still be on a slippery slope towards finding another job. That is why these matters, where possible should be resolved informally. Your friend will therefore need to raise a grievance, outlining the unreasonable nature of the request to cancel holiday and work over and above the contractual hours. If there is nothing in his contract to say that 'additional hours may be required...in the interests of the business' (a fairly standard clause), then he may quite rightly protest, although if he has done so without protest in the past (hence why I asked) then this would weaken the argument.

 

He is really stuck between the devil and the deep blue with this one, so it all comes down to how angry he feels, how far he is prepared to push the point, and how likely it would be that another job might be available in the near future. A threat of legal redress might well fire a shot across the employer's bows, but equally it may well damage the relationship beyond repair. Not to say that he doesn't have right on his side, but ultimately the employer pays the wages...

[babs2961]

thank you, you've given us loads of help...much clearer where we stand now.