Suspended for refusing to do the contracted hours.

[Dulal666]

Hi Guys,

I need some advice on what to do.

I have been suspended from work due to the fact that I don't want to work the contracted hours my company give me,

It all started 8 months ago, the company was making redundancies. I was kept on to manage the office, back then i was asked to manage the office on my own and that i will have someone with me in a few weeks to help me manage, after 5 months of working 10-12 hours a day with no breaks i got fed up and told my manager that i cant do it any more I was told to leave the business and that i was easy to replace. since then i have been working 9am to to 5:30pm till I received an email last week stating that im not working my contracted hours. I replied to that email and told them i will not be working my contracted hours until my requirements are met. So far i have worked 8 months with hardly any time off, no lunch because i dont get the chance to get out of the office, i had to miss my holiday to Magaluf because my manager couldnt get someone to cover me for that holiday.

It feels as though all my hard work over these months have gone to waste and feel very worthless because i fell into my managers words and feel cheated out of my rights at work.

Now i think its my turn to raise disciplinary action with my manager but i dont know where to start? Please help.

Thanks

D

[dotty.]

ring acas:
http://www.acas.org.u...x.aspx?articleid=1410
don't be bullied

[bednobs]

dot, the contracted hours are 8-17:30 per day. What makes you think that people are only allowed to work 40 hours a week? People have all sorts of length of working week.

[bednobs]

plus, the poster signed a contract and agreed to those hours. The employer wants her to work the hours she has signed a contract for - how is that bullying?

[Dulal666]

i work an average 10 hours a day, i dont get a chance to take my lunch as i am left to cover the reception and the office with an average 35 people. i do try to get out but every time i do i get called back in i havent had a lunch hour for the past 8 months its always been 5-10 mins or less i have raised this with my manager various times but never resolved the matter she never got back to my emails and just ignored whatever i said.

[mccfluff]

go over her head and speak to hr

[bednobs]

how do you work a 10 hour day if, by your own account you work from 9-5:30?

[Dulal666]

bednobs its only 3 months ago i decided to work them hours because i was being ignored

[bednobs]

ok, so you don't work an average 10 hour day then?
I'm afraid if you have a contract, you can't just decide what hours you WANT to work - you have to work the contracted hours or suffer the consequences

[bednobs]

I understand that you have found it necessary in the past to work longer days/not take a lunch break but it was your choice that in order to get the work done, you stayed extra. No employer is going to know there is a problem with workload if people are just doing extra hours because they want to get the work done

[bednobs]

ps i know i sound anti-you but i have a lot of sympathy with your position. however, you can't just make up your own hours if you have a contract

[Dulal666]

bednobs i was told to sign the contract just for the time being till they can find another employee for me which was 8 months ago but since then i have been waiting for that person to come (this person never existed because it was a lie) it was a way of getting me to sign the contract

[bednobs]

well if the contract dosen't say it's for a specified time, i'm again afraid you probably don't have a leg to stand on. The needs of the business may well have changed, eg they don't have the money for another employee (lots of companies are in this position at the moment) They may well have had every intention of getting someone else at the time, but now can't.

[Dulal666]

bednobs i was told 2 months ago that there will be another person to help me again, the company is one of the biggest financial institution in america and europe. they make 135 million profit on the average every quarter. I dont want more money from them and i surely dont want to be a victim but i am just asking them to meet me halfway and keep their word.

[bednobs]

well that's all fine and dandy, but in the meanitme your problem is you have a contract you are NOT fulfilling, and so therefore i believe they have a right to suspend you. Incidentally, when you "decided" your hours 3 months ago why didn't you just decide to do an extra hour a day so that you were fulfilling your contract? I don't really understand how you arrived at 9-5:30, rather than, say, 11:30-5:30 or 8:30-5

[Dulal666]

i went back to doing my contracted hours before i was given the contract

[boxtops]

I really do think that if you work for a large multinational, you need go to the HR department - there will be someone there responsible for your department. Go and see them. There is no point in asking us - your Ts&Cs will be different to many of ours, your company's policies and processes won't be the same as mine. Loads of us work more hours than we should, particularly in the public sector, and most of us don't get the time back - but if I caught someone skipping the first hour of their contracted week on a regular basis, a warning (followed by disciplinary if necessary) would be in order. However, equally, you have a greivance against them for not letting you take your holidays etc etc. You telling them you are changing your hours until they sort themselves out is unlikely to wash in a tribunal, you really need to go through proper channels and with a representative with you, if necessary. Get on the phone tomorrow and see your HR team. State facts, don't complain. Ask for something to be done. Take your emails to your boss with you (and theirs to you).

[bednobs]

Hi again (really i am not anti your position!) but in fairness to your employers you are not working the hours your contract says you will do now (not your contract of nearly a year ago) so to them, you might as well be doing 11-3 or whatever, because the simple fact is you are nOT working to your contract hours, and they really do have a right to do something about that

[bednobs]

and let's not forget boxy it's not the first hour of the week, it's the first hour of every day

[boxtops]

typo well spotted bednobs, yes that's what I meant!

[Dulal666]

Thats the problem evertime i emailed with my concerns it was never replied to and ignored and when she did reply it was always on a phone call, i will speak to the CAB tomorrow, i have my investigation meeting with the senior manager tomorrow and i will speak to ACAS this week and get my head round to doing whats best for me from now on. I know they will give me a slap on the wrist for this but to be honest i dont want to go back to that sort of environment anymore. im done with them