At what point is a job offer legal?

emmaanddave

Thanks for all your replies. We have already paid for the lessons and would lose out if they do not go and at £55 per child we are not prepared to waste that much money. (£110) It is not a case of me not being flexible because I am to the extent that I can not accommodate working late if my husband is on lates as we have no family living where we are to support us, childcare is only up to 6pm daily. We have had no problems in having to be back for 6pm before and we chose my job around my husbands to facilitate our children's needs.

I am not ignorant to the fact regarding company hours but from what I understood (presumed others may say!) the core hours good be manipulated for the right person with the flexibility to work late on the odd instance, not on a weekly basis as they are now stating.

I have to make a decision by tomorrow morning as to whether or not to go ahead with this job. Not sure yet as now unsure whether they will stich me up and request I work late where it is not possible.

In all my jobs to date I have been flexible and put in more than 100% - maybe I am used to the public sector bubble!!

viktory

emmaanddave wrote: »

I have to make a decision by tomorrow morning as to whether or not to go ahead with this job. Not sure yet as now unsure whether they will stich me up and request I work late where it is not possible.

It is quite clear that you are not going to be able to meet their needs, nor they yours. So turn the job down and allow another, more flexible, candidate to take the position. You'll have to look for something that fits better around your childcare issues.

fiendishly

emmaanddave wrote: »

We have already paid for the lessons and would lose out if they do not go and at £55 per child we are not prepared to waste that much money. (£110)

not sure how much the job is going to pay, but I'll hazard a guess it's more than £110!
I would take the job, after all if you leave because it isn't working, no harm done. You might have to not go to a few swimming lessons, but come on, £110 is not a reason not to take a full-time job.

Pupnik

The agency is probably trying to play it safe as it is not really their role to negotiate the hours you work- you may find that once you start the manager is much more easy going and happy for you to go early one day a week so long as you make up the time.

patman99

As the job is through an agency, you are on a placement. Your employer is the Recruitment Agency, not the Ad Agency. As such, at any time, you may request redeployment elsewhere.
On the other hand, the company you are placed at, may terminate your placement anytime they like without recourse (even 10 years down the line).

scheming_gypsy

patman99 wrote: »

As the job is through an agency, you are on a placement. Your employer is the Recruitment Agency, not the Ad Agency. As such, at any time, you may request redeployment elsewhere.
On the other hand, the company you are placed at, may terminate your placement anytime they like without recourse (even 10 years down the line).

Recruitment agencies don't just find temps, they also find full time positions so the employer may still be the Ad Agency.

DCFC79

Id take the job and either see if theres a chance you can go early the thursday, could you not offer to stay later another day of the week

patman99

If you are moving from JSA back in to work and you turn-down the job, you could well find yourself sanctioned. Especially if you found the job via 'Direct.gov'.

BAILEYS6904

I think you're doing the right thing now, trying to sort potential problems before its too late. No employer would want a new starter to agree to working hours, only for them to start the job and then try to alter them.

Thre recruitemnt agency will get paid as soon as you get a contract from the ad agency, so it is their job to negotiate on your behalf, if they want the commission. When I worked recruitment a number of years ago, the minimum fee was £2k or 15% of annual salary, so not a small amount. The ad agency clearly want you, so either the recruitment agent needs to work for their fee, or they have misled you with a job description giving flexibility that the ad agency didnt promise.

Either way, dont be pressured into a job that you wont like or wont suit your life. I know I'll probs get jumped on for this, especially in the current economic climate, but no job is worth losing your happiness over

HTH x

hcb42

i think it is pretty normal for employers to want weekly flexibility. I have not worked set hours since about 1992, and even that was only for a year, prior to that I was flexible time anyway

However, not all employers are unreasonable..depends what you think of the company's culture overall, but be careful about turning it down