Discrimination and Unlawful deductions?

shegirl

saintjammyswine wrote: »

I think the main issue is that OP is now not taking the breaks but is still being made to make up the time or lose the money.

That's why it's been suggested she talks to someone.She has choices but she seems too annoyed to actually want to do anything at the mo

BottomRung

shegirl wrote: »

If you really smoke that hard (and I wouldn't recommend it lol I certainly can't enjoy one smoked that quickly) take time! You are given 15 minute breaks so why not take the whole 15 minutes? Saves having to work out daft amounts of minutes for people to work out does it not?

I'm also not going to continually debate how long it takes to smoke a cigarette with you, if you can't contribute with helpful or useful info, don't contribute. Simple really.

No wonder people are frightened to ask for advice here these days.

shegirl

BottomRung wrote: »

Err where did i keep getting personal about this woman? I think you are imagining this. The rules are quite petty as stated, your personal opinion wasn't what I was after really, just clarification on whether the rules are legal or not. Your personal bashing of me is actually pretty out of order, you don't know me or my working ethics so i'd calm down a bit.

There is no personal bashing.I just think you need to take a step back and stop being so annoyed by things and actually do something about them.Think of the choices and choose one.Sure they can't change the fact that pay has already been deducted but you can stop it happening again.

Regarding the quick smoking thing,I'd feel ill doing it that quick,honestly,hence why mentioning it

BottomRung

The time taken to smoke isn;t really the issue though, regardless of how awful you find it that I smoke a single cigarette in under 5 mins. I would happily make up 5 mins for my 1 cigarette, as shown by the clocking system, or 0 minutes if I don't take a break. I refuse to make up 15 minutes for each break regardless of whether I take one or not. I don't see that the company should benefit from my being addicted to smoking and the lack of trust shown by them is pretty sickening for a reliable employee. I'm not a child, i'm 40 years old and have never been treted like this by anyone I worked for before.

shegirl

BottomRung wrote: »

The time taken to smoke isn;t really the issue though, regardless of how awful you find it that I smoke a single cigarette in under 5 mins. I would happily make up 5 mins for my 1 cigarette, as shown by the clocking system, or 0 minutes if I don't take a break. I refuse to make up 15 minutes for each break regardless of whether I take one or not. I don't see that the company should benefit from my being addicted to smoking and the lack of trust shown by them is pretty sickening for a reliable employee. I'm not a child, i'm 40 years old and have never been treted like this by anyone I worked for before.

Then you need to talk to someone and consider the choices to prevent it happening again.

1. You could take your smoking breaks but have them shorter and make sure everyone is aware and discuss this with them.Make sure they know that you are out for 5 minutes and that when you come back in you are straight to work rather than 'using' the rest of your permitted break in a different manner.

2. Make use of the full 15 minutes.I know I would lol

3. Opt out of the smoking breaks all together and just smoke before work,during lunch and after work.

Would you really want to walk away from your job or be so fed up over this after working there for years?

Whichever you choose,you need to talk to somebody anyway about any breaks that haven't been taken etc

I'm sure you can easily sort it. Just go and have a smoke to relax before you do

Ps I didn't say that smoking that quickly is awful I just don't get how you can do it without feeling ill.The few times I've dragged that quickly I got no enjoyment out of it and really did feel ill LOL

saintjammyswine

shegirl wrote: »

That's why it's been suggested she talks to someone.She has choices but she seems too annoyed to actually want to do anything at the mo

They way I read it is that despite the issue being raised, nothing has happened even though OP is not smoking at work. OK they now get 2 official, if unpaid breaks at set times in the day but this only applies to those who have declared themselves smokers, without any sort of 'opt-out' option. I think from that OP choices are somewhat limited.

BottomRung

shegirl wrote: »

That's why it's been suggested she talks to someone.She has choices but she seems too annoyed to actually want to do anything at the mo

I am male . I have spoken to my boss who doesn't want to get involved and spoken to his boss with him present who also doesn;t want to get involved. I have emailed the woman asking for clarification of the rules, which she supplied along woth some other irrelevant comments. I emailed back saying I didn't agree with the way she is handling this and asked for a breakdown of the deduction which never materialised. They seem to be hoping this will just be dropped but it is difficult when I will be expected to work extra time with no extrapay, yet get deducted for an unspecified amount of time at their whim.

shegirl

BottomRung wrote: »

I am male . I have spoken to my boss who doesn't want to get involved and spoken to his boss with him present who also doesn;t want to get involved. I have emailed the woman asking for clarification of the rules, which she supplied along woth some other irrelevant comments. I emailed back saying I didn't agree with the way she is handling this and asked for a breakdown of the deduction which never materialised. They seem to be hoping this will just be dropped but it is difficult when I will be expected to work extra time with no extrapay, yet get deducted for an unspecified amount of time at their whim.

Can you put it in writing to them? They may be more inclined to respond if they see you are serious enough to ask in another form.

For the time being,seriously,if you are going to have to work the extra 30 minutes make the most of the 15 minute breaks! Have you asked them about opting out at all?

And apologies for mistaking your gender:rotfl:


Edited to add: Have the other smoking employees had the same problems as you?Do they use their full 15 minutes?

BottomRung

Despite confirmation from fellow smokers that none of them had deductions made, none of them have been making up the 30 mins a day, so it was just me regardless of the fact I tried to make up all the time. This is why I asked for a breakdown of when I missed a half hour.

BottomRung

I guess I have no options then really, just suck it up but will bear it in mind when they want me to expend my personal time on them in future. It's a shame things go this way but will have no loyalty should another position come up somewhere. Thanks for all the advice.