bank holidays

[shayla]

i have set hours of work, however the directors have decided that i cannot work bank holidays and have changed my shift to another day. can they do this?

[factor-fiction]

What do you mean by 'set hours of work'? What were they?

[TEAK36]

have they changed your shift permanently, or have they just said that on weeks with a bank holiday you must make up the time on a different day.

I am not 100% certain, but i do not believe any employee has a legal right to bank holidays, and an employer can request employees work them, or make the time up. In my company, bank holidays are pro rata'd for part time employees,and once they reach the pro rata amount, they either make the time up on another day or use 1 day from their annual holiday entitlement.

Do you have a contract of employment which specifies your hours of employment.? I think that even if you do, employers are allowed to change your hours as long as you are given notice in writing, and i think there may be a legal minimum notice period, but i do not know what it is.

[shayla]

i work set ****** and days each week, running on a two weekly running rota. the directors have said basicly i am not allowed to work bank holidays as they are not willing to pay my hourly rate at time and a half when they can pay someone else who is on min wage the equilelent of my hourly rate, which from a business prospective i can see its cost effective. so instead of working 11am to 7pm on bank holiday i am now working on another day. my contract just states 40 hrs a week.

[factor-fiction]

Has the AB editor edited out the word SHIFTS then? Or was there an unfortunate mis-spelling?
Anyway, I don't think there's anything you can do- no-one has the right to insist on working on bank holidays. If it was in your contract, however, that you would work the bank holidays then your employer needs to follow the correct procedure for varying the contract