Employer changing hours for equipment upgrade. Advice please!

west0504

My partners employer, (a large successful local window company) are having a large new machine installed the week before Christmas. They want him to finish a week earlier than usual ...but he needs to make up the lost 40 hours from next week till then.

Written down this seems almost fair but the fact that it isn't the whole company, just the section that will be affected by the new machinery coming over and being installed. Everyone else will have normal hours and facility to get a bonus and be able to work overtime at time and a half.

The section will work an extra hour a day and every Saturday till then, normal pay and without any overtime or bonus.
What is making people angry is that the company have known about this new machinery for months and have kept everyone in the dark till a week ago! No one was expecting them to close part of the factory for the last week and still pay them in full but could have arranged it earlier so not to have a difficult last 4 weeks, the month where you want as much work as possible for your family Christmas... not to mention that that wage is the one that lasts you till January!

So they will have to work really hard for 4 weeks to make up those lost hours (which are, in my opinion, the managments mistake from bad planning)

It is such an obvious case of the big bosses with their huge end of year bonus, new car and champagne with the office staff while the disgruntled, undervalued factory staff have to put up and shut up, some of which have been there nearly 20 years! :mad: makes me angry!

This hasn't really become a thread asking for advice has it, more of a rant at bosses and company hierarchy, oops apologies

Ergh oh well, they've had solicitiors in apparently, must have been expecting something and getting their back up ready...

getmore4less

What do the contracts say about varying hours?

Are there lay off clauses?

Alternative could have been a weeks layoff with just guarantee pay.

west0504

Thanks for your reply...

Ahh contracts. Those little beauties... The company are beautifully shady regarding them. Randomly get a copy to sign and return every now and again, pretty obvious they have changed something in the small print but to the middle aged man eye cannot be seen. I will have a look and see if he has a copy of one and look through it. They're usually a good 50 pages so may take some time

Their excuse has been that they are just so busy they can't afford to miss the 40 hours work, nothing to do with the money. Hmmm sure. Thats why they couldn't just ask everyone to work overtime for a few weeks and give basic wage that last one. Hmmm just terrible timing, sure no one would have minded a week off in August for no pay hey... :rotfl:

Hammyman

Funny how you seem to conveniently forget to mention the fact that he'll be benefitting from getting a week off....

getmore4less

At the end of the day there will be little you can do if you want to keep the job long term unless you get collective action if there are alternatives based on contracts.

a good time to try to understand the contact/particulars of employment of what options there were rather so next time there is a change to them you know whats going on.

also if contractualy they can actually do waht they want,

What they are doing is saying as an alternative to overtime TOIL is an option

Would other workers support that as an option for all overtime?

It might be a way to get others not effected on side if that would be attractive to them.

hcb42

I would take the week off with that offer....it;s not the worst..