how many hours constitutes full time

[saintpeter48]

here i am moaning again! how many hours is full time? are firms obliged to pay overtime rates for time worked over the alloted hours. basically, my wife works 48 hours a week, 5am to 2pm mon - sat, all at the same rate of �5.35 an hour, i think this is exploitation of low paid workers, i don't speak to her about it, she is happy in her work and i don't want to upset her or her employer for fear of her losing her job.she is a thai national and works for a cleaning company contracted to tesco, she does not have a works contract so i cannot check details, she has been there for 7 months. any help on legal side of things much appreciated, thankyou.

[Whickerman]

Your first step is the contract - the company are breaking the law not having them in place for every employee.

Being there for a short period she's not covered by unfair dismissals legislation so be careful. My advice is to have her join a union and get them to take an action on her behalf, without mentioning her name.

[antiguru]

Whickerman is right that they are breaking the law if they haven�t put details in writing to her, but an employment contract does already exist and she is accepting its terms.
The DTI website is good for stuff like this. I think it�s written in plain English. This is an extract from the site:

�Written statement of employment particulars
All employees taken on for one month or more are entitled by law to be given, within two months of the date the employment starts, a written statement setting out the main particulars. This statement will not necessarily cover every aspect of the contract, but will constitute important evidence of the principal terms and conditions. Further information about the right to a written statement can be found in
Written statement of employment particulars - Guidance�

I don�t think they are necessarily breaking the law in any other way. And as long as she wants to carry on working for them, I guess there isn�t much you can do.

If it really bothers you and she won�t listen to you, write an anonymous note to the Tesco store manager saying you think they are in breach of employment legislation. Don�t mention your wife. She�ll lose her job when they lose the contract, but you might feel better�.

[Buenchico]

There is no right to any higher rate of pay for working additional hours to those worked as 'normal' time. Many jobs pay only the same rate for overtime as for regular work. (That certainly applied when I worked for the railways and I know many other people who get 'basic pay' for overtime).

In some jobs, overtime is paid at a lower rate than normal pay. As long as the level doesn't fall below the national minimum wage (or breach terms agreed, between the employer & employee, in a contract of employment) this is perfectly legal. For example, up until recently, junior doctors were only paid at one third of their normal rate for overtime.

Chris