Can you be sacked for not doing overtime?

falko89

Ok my contract says the following.

Hours of work

Your normal hours of work are 8am - 5.15pm Monday to Friday.

In addition to these hours you will be required to work a reasonable amount of additional hours when necessary. You are entitled to payment for these hours at your normal rate of pay.

josie.d

Oh dear, it sounds like it's expected. Could you speak to your line manager and explain your home situation, and hash out what constiutes a 'reasonable amount of additional hours'. It's not reasonable if it isn't fitting in well with your commitments, hopefully you will be able to negotiate a bit.

jackieb

Have you opted out of the 48 hour working week? http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/employment/employees/workinghoursandtimeoff/dg_10029426

If you haven't, you can't be forced to work more than 48 hours a week. For you that would mean no more than 5 hours of overtime.

My husband works 84 hours a week. He's not covered by it.

falko89

My 3 month probation is up end of July, as long as I am entitled to JSA I would rather be let go, money is not the be all and end all especially when I wasn't any worse of previously on benefits, I want to work yes just not for an employer who wants everything for nothing.

falko89

jackieb wrote: »

Have you opted out of the 48 hour working week? http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/employment/employees/workinghoursandtimeoff/dg_10029426

If you haven't, you can't be forced to work more than 48 hours a week. For you that would mean no more than 5 hours of overtime.

My husband works 84 hours a week. He's not covered by it.

Interesting thanks, so a Saturday morning would effectively take me over it, while you can't be sacked for that its not hard to make up another excuse, lack of work etc to get you out.

Dunroamin

falko89 wrote: »

I must go and look at my contract, yes my thoughts exactly, you need a home/work balance.

There won't be much of a balance when you're unemployed again and at home all of the time!

Bigmoney2

The 48 hr maximum ( as per wtd) is averaged out over a 17 week period so you can still work over 48hrs in a week and still be compliant.
In the UK individuals also have the right to opt out of wtd, so can work more than the maximum hours if they wish to.

josie.d

Dunroamin wrote: »

There won't be much of a balance when you're unemployed again and at home all of the time!

....... and there's not much of a balance now when you're not being able to commit to your family! I'm not surprised you would rather be let go after three months!

When is your three months up? I would start looking for a more suitable job ASAP, it's no good staying somewhere you're not happy with, but make sure you have another job to go to first.

Hopefully you will get something that fits in better with your personal life.

jc808

bluenoseam wrote: »

There does come a point where you have to weigh up the job versus your life balance!

In a brand new job?

falko89

josie.d wrote: »

....... and there's not much of a balance now when you're not being able to commit to your family! I'm not surprised you would rather be let go after three months!

When is your three months up? I would start looking for a more suitable job ASAP, it's no good staying somewhere you're not happy with, but make sure you have another job to go to first.

Hopefully you will get something that fits in better with your personal life.

28th July and its up, I recently got my redundancy payout from my previous job so I have that in the bank to fall back on should it go Pete Tong, Yes I am applying for other jobs, had an interview last week and another this Friday.