can they force us to do overtime

paulwf

Can I clarify that I'm reading this correctly? The company has asked you to book 20 minutes overtime and in return they will pay you 20 minutes at standard rate?

If so and you find this a concern it sounds like there are other larger issues that are causing problems with staff moral. Concentrate on these and pick your battles carefully. This is not a big deal to stress over.

baby_fuzz

if it's such a big deal, don't do the training, and get a new job. I'm sure there are loads of people out there who would really appreciate the work.

Oldernotwiser

thornbridge wrote: »

It's a big deal to me. I don't work any overtime i do enough as it is. Some people have got a life outside work .

And some people will have a whole lot more time to do out of work activities if they persist in having such a negative attitude.

baby_fuzz

I know I'm sounding a bit troll-y, but I am of the 'work hard, quite complaining' mentality. I don't mean to personally attack the OP, it's just that it sounds like there are a few deeper-rooted issues here.

'can then force us to do overtime?' - no they can't. There is such a thing as free will. Do what you want. If you don't want to do the training, then you will probably be of no use to them. Sounds like you don't like your job anyways, so get a new job. Like I said before, when there are so many people out there who have been made redundant, and need work in these troubled times, you should be grateful for what you've got.

thornbridge

There seems to be the usual if you don't like it get another job brigade. There's plenty of people out of work yes this is true. However this should not give a large company the right to use bully boy tac ticks to get out of proper training for staff to train the new skill that we need to do our job which the company has brought in for the company's benefit.

The company was going to give 2 hours training but when they found the cost of taking groups of employees out of their work for 2 hours in the company's time they came up with this brainwave of get them in in their own time.

A lot of us don't want to give up 20 minutes of a 40 minutes break for 20 minutes overtime.

It looks like a lot of the yes men on here are just what a lot of employers are looking for.

Oldernotwiser

thornbridge wrote: »

A lot of us don't want to give up 20 minutes of a 40 minutes break for 20 minutes overtime.

It looks like a lot of the yes men on here are just what a lot of employers are looking for.

It's not a question of being "yes men" but of choosing which battles to fight and the right time to do so. A one off hour or so unpaid training doesn't seem to me to be an appropriate battle in the current climate.

What is your union's view on this offer,by the way?

Jomo

And what if you refuse?

Get the sack?

At least they are willing to pay you for it....overtime where I work isn't paid....

liney

They can't force you. They can discipline you though. Your contract will say something along the lines of "reasonable overtime is expected to meet the needs of the business" You will be disciplined for failing to perform your duties and/or making mistakes by using it incorrectly whilst refusing to take the training provided. The company will argue that it was impossible for the business to function properly when losing X amount of staff out for training during the working day, and therefore a reasonable offer to provide training was made.

Personally i think if losing 20 mins of a 40 min break bothers you this much, you need to do some volunteering and see what having real problems looks like.

loulou123

Personally i'd just do it, as your being paid for it. Im on 16 contracted hours a week and always do any overtime thats offered-in fact sometimes i offer! Maybe im just strange.

Im also doing a relavant correspondance course in my own time (and completely unpaid) as self improvement (although it would be beneficial in future jobs too in fairness.)

terra_ferma

All this fuss for 20mins, paid overtime?
With this work ethic you won't go very far. People who are willing to be flexible (within reason) get rewarded.
It's right to challenge bad practice, but this is taking the mickey. If you are not prepared to help them out, what do you expect your managers will say when you need flexibility from them, time off at short notice etc?