job overime

smudger1946

Hiya All,

A friend of mine works for a national vehicle crash repair company and has done for some years.

The job has plenty of overtime work which my friend has always done and been glad to have the extra money.

The company have just announced that they want to introduce a new scheme of overtime payment, which boils down to the fact that they want to pay overtime once a year, i suppose they mean they keep your overtime earnings in there bank, making interest for a year then!

Do you think they are going for bankrupcy?

Anybody ever heard of this practice?

Smudger

scooby088

Never heard of this, but if your friend has any problems only thing i can suggest is he stop doing the overtime.

getmore4less

THat approach could fall foul of min wage legislation if the pay rates are low and the overtime takes them below min wage.

Jarndyce

It is not unlawful. Elements of a remuneration package can be paid at different intervals to the basic wage, the most common example perhaps being the annual bonus.

Providing, as has been said, that minimum wage legislation is not breached (and this means that the average hourly rate in each month - or week if you are paid weekly - must be at least the level of the NMW) then it is allowed.

In this case, it sounds like the employer is proposing a change to the contract to secure the arrangement, which means that the employee could refuse the change, and see if the employer seeks to impose it. However that is a risky strategy as it could lead to (probably unfair but still very real) dismissal.

Furthermore, of course, it could be a sign that the company is having cashflow problems which is usually the first indication of more terminal issues. It may be time to start looking elsewhere....

wellused

I knew someone who got paid their overtime pay quarterly but never heard of annually paid overtime. Stll in the times we live in now anything is possible.

agrinnall

Does your friend know what would happen if he left the company before the point at which overtime will be paid? If they won't pay it if you're not still working there on the appointed date then it sounds like a good money saving ploy on the part of the employer.

DVardysShadow

In this scenario, I would immediately cease overtime and start looking elsewhere for another job. There is just too much scope for time sheets to be lost and for overtime booked being docked and not finding out until 11 months later. It is a strong indication of financial problems.

daggy

agrinnall wrote: »

Does your friend know what would happen if he left the company before the point at which overtime will be paid? If they won't pay it if you're not still working there on the appointed date then it sounds like a good money saving ploy on the part of the employer.

I'd imagine the company would still be legally obliged to pay.

daggy

DVardysShadow wrote: »

In this scenario, I would immediately cease overtime and start looking elsewhere for another job. There is just too much scope for time sheets to be lost and for overtime booked being docked and not finding out until 11 months later. It is a strong indication of financial problems.

I agree with you. Surely there's also the issue of interest too: why should they making interest on money that could be makiung you interest in your bank?

Jarndyce

DVardysShadow wrote: »

In this scenario, I would immediately cease overtime and start looking elsewhere for another job. There is just too much scope for time sheets to be lost and for overtime booked being docked and not finding out until 11 months later. It is a strong indication of financial problems.

Assuming overtime is voluntary, of course.....

scheming_gypsy

I'm probably on my own with this one but it doesn't actually sound too bad as long as you don't rely on overtime to survive. If you do 20 hours overtime a week at £10 an hour, that's £10,400 a year (minus tax) that you'll get in one lump sum.