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Employer forces shorter lunch if late, adds extra minutes! Illegal?


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My employer punishes people that are late in the mornings by docking rounded-up 15 minute segments from their lunchbreak. So, if a car accident that causes a tailback, heavy weather, etc. (over which of course you have no control) makes you late by just 1 minute, they dock you 15 minutes from your lunch.

 

The lunchbreak is one hour. So to reiterate: Employer (professional services, over 300 staff) has a clocking system for everyone below director level. If you clock in at 9:01am, they send you an email telling you to take a 45 minute lunch. If you're late by 17 minutes, you lose 30.

 

So, the staff are forced to work for free for a certain number of minutes if you're late. It's hugely unpopular with the staff, but is it even illegal? They're stealing more time than they are due from the lateness.

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Equally your employer has no control over the traffic, and I am ot sure why they should be out of pocket either.

 

Presumably people have been taking the mickey if it's a new policy that wasn't needed before?

 

Legality will depend on if you are above NMW and the exact wording of your contract.

Never assume anyone on the internet is who they say they are. Only rely on advice from insured professionals you have paid for!

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Out of pocket? If someone is late by two minutes, it won't make a huge amount of difference, and besides, I'm talking about people who often voluntarily work into some of their lunch or stay beyond 17:00 to complete a task. They don't get paid extra or get the time back when they do.

 

But the reason for lateness is not the main issue. Yes, I hear people have strolled in as and when they felt like it previously, but that should be dealt with on a one-on-one basis, not by instigating an unfair policy on all. The majority are punctual. The policy is not new, it's been in place for months.

 

The staff are all above NMW, it's a professional services environment as mentioned. There is nothing in the contracts about lateness or the punishment for such.

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and what does the contract say about hours to be worked?

 

I'm struggling to see anything illegal here.

Never assume anyone on the internet is who they say they are. Only rely on advice from insured professionals you have paid for!

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similar policy where i work. If your 1 minute late , your docked 15 mins pay

 

Most of the staff where i work have to come in by train or bus and its your responsibility to be at your shift on time , you can argue you dont have control over traffic or if a train is delayed but then neither does the employer, we have people at my workplace who have never been late in 24 years. Yet we also have people who have been late 6 times in 6 months , so they are quite rigid on time keeping

 

The only advice i give workmates if they are 1 min late and get handed a late report , is to go back out the office and come back in at 14 mins past the hour as there going to be docked 15 mins pay anyways - ;-)

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used to work in industry and when clocking in if you were 1-3 minutes late the time stamp was in red so any pattern could be discerned and dealt with, more than 3 minutes late and you lost 15 minutes pay/working time. As overtime was normal the usual thing was to stay late by 1/2 hour once a week to cover your back.

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