overtime at work

[dave m]

my work mates have had our overtime cut so we work basic 39 hrs,another work mate stil continues 2 do his 20 hrs or so overtime week in week out,iv heard this is illegal.is this true or management choice,thx in advance

[Stu Dent]

Start with checking the terms and conditions in your contract. I'd be surprised if you and your employer were contractually obliged to supply and perform a set amount of overtime. However you may have an argument regarding 'fair treatment' at work since one employee seems to get all the overtime. Then again, it depends on the circumstances. Is this guy/girl better at the job, more reliable, and has good attendance. Do you, or others, take days off, then make up the difference in overtime?

There is insufficent detail to properly advise I'm afraid.

[Buenchico]

In general, employees can't be forced to work more than 48 hours per week but they're free to enter into an agreement to do so. So, it's unlikely that there's anything illegal with your colleague working so many hours:
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employe es/WorkingHoursAndTimeOff/DG_10028439

Unless you're in a job which has a statutory pay scale (such as teaching) or working for a firm which has entered into a collective agreement with a trade union, every employee's contract with an employer is entirely separate from any other employee's contract.

For example, an employer could have two employees doing exactly the same job. He might choose to pay 'employee A' �6 per hour, with unpaid breaks, no hope of overtime and 20 days holiday per year. At the same time he can pay 'employee B' �60 per hour, with paid breaks, unlimited overtime and 20 weeks holiday per year. That would be entirely legal as long as the decision to offer different terms of employment is not based upon illegal discrimination (i.e. based upon the sex, age or race of the employees).

Contrary to Stu Dent's post, employees do not have a general right to 'fair treatment' at work and I can see nothing illegal in the practices at your firm.

Chris