Unpaid working hours

[terrywogan]

My grand-daughter (17yrs and 7 months/still at school doing A levels) has just started working for a shoe chain. She is supposed to work 4 hours on a Sunday at £4.95 per hour but found on her first day that she is also supposed to clean up for a fifth hour without being paid. Does anyone know if this is usual (and legal)?

[sophie_1003]

She is effectively being paid £3.96 an hour so unfortunately that is still above the minimum wage, I am sure someone will come with more info though.

[Buenchico]

It might not be 'usual' but it's not unlawful. There is never an obligation for an employer to pay any money at all for working overtime (unless the employee is given a contract stating otherwise), as long as the average pay per hour doesn't fall below the National Minimum wage. The NMW for 17-year-old is currently £3.64 per hour, whereas your grand-daughter will actually be getting an average of £3.96 per hour.

Chris

[Maydup]

Agree with both replies but its still worth her asking them to clarify the arrangement. At her age she can get away with asking nicely without sounding confrontational.

[terrywogan]

Thanks, everyone. I suppose it's now up to her whether she stays or not. Mind you, when I first started work, I was paid the huge sum of £3. 10s. 0d (£3.50) for a 40 hour WEEK!

[karenmac60]

Was that for Radio 2 Tel ? ;)

[factor-fiction]

Is the 5th hour part of her contracted hours? If she has to work it every week then it should be. Any holiday entitlements should be based on 5 hours a weeek rather than four.

[terrywogan]

Now that my grand-daughter has worked there for a week (it was only supposed to be a Sunday job...), she was called in to work on Tuesday straight from school, which made her total hours for that day 3 plus 2 hours cleaning = 2.97 per hour. In the absence of a contract or terms of employment I can only conclude that this particular employer is taking the pi**!

[sue11]

Buenchico I am sure will confirm, but as she is still officially at school, I think this makes her subject to more stringent regulations covering schoolchildren, this I believe covers schoolchildren up to the age of 18. I believe that she can only work officially 2 hours after school on weekdays and only 2 hours in total on Sundays.
Also do not worry about the fact that she has been given no contract, regardless, she will still have the same standard legal protection that any employee has, an employer cannot expect that the fact that they have not handed out a contract to be a get out clause. I would advise that your grand-daughter contact her school for advice on where she stands re the hours she is allowed to work and I would get further advice re the extra hours she is being expected to work without pay.
Regards
Sue

[factor-fiction]

I am wondering whether there is a misunderstanding somewhere. It seems highly unusual that anyone wold be required to do 2 hours work unpaid after a 3 hour shift.

[Pimpernel]

Which shoe chain is this? I'm going to boycott them...
Had the same problem with McDonalds when I was younger: 30-hour week paid 20 (it was supposed to be a p/t job, to fit around my studies!)
I also knew someone who worked for Starbucks for 1 year: she had to do at least 2 hours unpaid overtime every day (and she was mostly cleaning and doing the washing up, even though her job title was 'barista'). She worked at an airport too, which meant hectic hours: she would finish work at 10pm, arrive home at 11pm, have tea and take a shower, then off to bed at midnight... only to get up at 2:30am in order to take the 3am shuttle to the airport and start a new shift (minimum 10 hours) at 4am...
If I were your granddaughter, I'd drop that job and concentrate on my A levels.