Terms of employment - is this unusual?

[caseymac]

I recently received an offer letter for a new job. One of the stated terms of employment is: "You may be required to work flexibly and/or additional hours may be requested for the proper performance of your duties for which you will receive no additional payment"

 

This role is salaried as opposed to hourly pay. Is this a statement typical of salaried positions or is it something more ominous? My primary concern is the 'additional hours may be requested' part - since it is a request does that imply that I can decline the request?

[honeybee13]

Hello and welcome to CAG.

 

When I was salaried, nearly all my contracts had a clause similar to your one. Additional hours are supposed to be 'reasonable' I believe, although that's hard to define.

 

I expect the forum guys will be along over the course of the day with more informed views for you.

 

My best, HB

[think about it]

Agree with HB, not unusual at all...

 

The 'request' is likely to come at a time when the organisation is at a critical point like end of year / contract where additional work is required to complete all of the tasks required and to be fair, I'd think long and hard before refusing the 'request' if you see what I mean.

[ericsbrother]

the wording may vary but the essence is the same for most salaried jobs. Overtime may be paid if the extra hours are onerous. The flexibility should work both ways. Often core hours or duties are expressed and the rest is down to individuals to manage their time and workload

[think about it]

You may also find that although any additional time goes unpaid, that you're able to accrue TOIL (Time off in lieu) and then recover hours worked at quieter times.

 

Watch that you're not going under NMW at any time too. Good luck in the new job.

[mixedspices]

Depending on the company (usually in corporate-sized firms), I would find it more unusual for those terms not to be included in a contract. You will probably - and hopefully - find however that you are not often expected/required to do a significant amount of overtime, and it is just something they 'force' you to agree to initially to cover their backs should it happen in future.

 

It's not very fair in my opinion, but when there are several people competing for most jobs, they can unfortunately get away with it.

 

Hope it all goes well for you and it's not something you need to worry about.

[becky2585]

Very common. My contract also has a similar clause, but the 9-5 doesn't exist for most people in my job anyway!

[Sidewinder]

Ditto. Salaried, with a similar clause and not unusual to work 12 hours plus some days, but much less on others.

[rambo]

Don't like it one bit.

And its a problem with salaried jobs.

[Atlas01]

As its hot and i've had a few "sherries" my reply must be read or sung to the tune of Mr Tom Jones

 

It's not unusual to be shafted in this way

It's not unusual for your boss, not to say ok

but when I see them legally withholding your.... salaried pay

It's not unusual to see me cry,

oh I wanna' die