Refusing overtime at short notice

popadom

sorry to use this post:
if it says unpaid over time, could the employer state your hours 9-2 then demand you stay till 5? without pay

sharpy2010

popadom wrote: »

sorry to use this post:
if it says unpaid over time, could the employer state your hours 9-2 then demand you stay till 5? without pay

Theoretically, yes. But it all hinges on what the regular person would deam reasonable, and if this happened every single day, then the regular person would not consider it reasonable, and thus it could be challenged.

If it happened once in a while, the regular, average joe, would consider it reasonable, and thus it would be acceptable.

Most things in employment law actually hinge around what the average person would find reasonable.

Its quite a grey area.

J_i_m

This is the kind of issue you need to raise in a team meeting or supervision/appraisal.

You don't want to come across as being insubordinate yet equally the employer needs to be as flexible as the employee and appreciate that personal plans can not always be cancled. For example, if you had to look after your children and you were unable to find other supervision for them, it would be perfectly reasonable for you to say, "I'm very sorry, but I have the kids tonight and I haven't been able to find a babysitter at this short notice."

If this kind of issue is approached in an appropriate manner, i.e in a meeting or informal discussion with your manager, then it can be seen as a reasonable request by the employee and the employer has a duty to provide flexible working conditions.

I would think that you can refuse this kind of short notice overtime, as long as you can show your manager that you can justify refusing it.

scooby088

I was once asked to overtime when i had just clocked out and getting into my car to go home, the supervisor got a polite no and i went home.

skintandscared_2

Is there an administrator or secretary who would be scheduling these presentations and site visits by builders, etc. How about you have a brief meeting with this person and suggest that it would be useful for your department to set up a better line of communication so that your team is aware in advance of situations which MAY require extra work from you? Even if they just send you an email when something's arranged so you can put it on a departmental wall-chart/calendar and keep an eye on it.