Enforced (involuntary) Overtime

Bosniavet96

Hello

I am after some advice regarding a possible situation at work, I believe I know my legal rights, but would welcome other people's input.

Basically, to give you the background:-
I work as a contractor within the world of contract corporate security (although my main duties relate to international risk/event monitoring, meaning I sit in an office for most of the day), & as such work 12 hour shifts. My contracted hours are 48 hrs a week, & I work a 4on/4 off pattern, meaning I am required to work 26 "cover shifts" over the year, most of which are to cover colleagues when they take their 23 days annual holiday. This leaves 3 other shifts I am required to work (& I am paid for already) at the whim of my immediate manager, & last year I ended up having to work them all within a couple of weeks, consierably reducing my rest periods.

Yesterday, I was told to check the rota as changes had been made which would directly affect me. I found out that 2 cover days that I was due to work had been changed from nightshifts to dayshifts meaning I will work 2 days immediately followed by 4 nights, instead of 6 straight nights. Additionally, I have been rostered to work 2 additional nightshifts approximately 10 days before this, meaning I will then have less than 48 hours between banks of shifts. Despite the fact that these shifts are in addition to my normal hours & are to cover proprietary staff whilst they undertake an overseas business trip, I have been told that these are not cover shifts & I will be paid for these shifts in addition to my normal pay, meaning these are overtime shifts. At no point have I been asked if I was willing to work 2 overtime shifts over this period, or offered the chance of TOIL or to have them classified as cover shifts.
Whilst I am quite willing to be flexible as regards work, & do sometimes work overtime, I would never voluntary place myself in a situation where I have less than 2 days between banks of shifts as I believe the lack of "downtime" is not good either for me or the business. Also, I am aware that I have the 3 cover shifts still hanging over my head like a sword of Damocles(sp), meaning I may well be working 5-7 continous shifts over a period of 28 days (ie 3-4 times 7 on/1 off/7 on etc)before the end of the tax year.
Am I within my rights to request that these 2 days be classified as cover shifts, or at least to refuse to work them as overtime, meaning I would be given 2 addtional rest days in order to equalise the situation? My major worry is that my manager (the client) will decide to "off-site" me, meaning I could find myself unemployed, or at least on a very much reduced income as the company I am employed by have very few vacancies anywhere at present (I only work in this industry to service my DMP, which is another tale of woe).
Thanks in advance......

paddedjohn

Sorry but i tried reading your post and couldnt make much sense of it. one thing i can tell you is that your weekly rest entitlement is only 24 hrs clear per week or 48 hrs clear in a fortnight.

Bosniavet96

John, thanks for that. The question is basically whether I can refuse to work overtime, over & above my contracted hours, for which I have not given my consent.
My major concern is keeping my job, whilst not being taken advantage of.

paddedjohn

Does it say anything about doing overtime in your contract?

Bosniavet96

Only that it is on a voluntary basis. My managers (the client) have previously prevented both myself & others from working more than the contracted 48 hours weekly on the basis that they don't want us working excessive hours. However, the minute it's convenient for them, they seem to ignore this.

Notmyrealname

If you are a contractor then you are self employed. Your choice is to either negotiate to have the time off or not do them at which point, as you pointed out, your customer will just get someone else in to do it.

As you are self employed though, you are free to send in anybody with a SIA to do the job so why not take on somebody and give them a shift a week? That way you get your rest, you keep your customer and everyone is happy.

The question is basically whether I can refuse to work overtime, over & above my contracted hours, for which I have not given my consent.

It depends on what you wrote in the terms of business you got your customer to sign. You are your own boss so this is a business decision you need to take. As you are self employed, absolutely nothing in employment law applies.

My major concern is keeping my job, whilst not being taken advantage of.

Unless you sack yourself, you'll not lose your job. You might lose your client but being self employed, you go find other work.

Notmyrealname

paddedjohn wrote: »

Sorry but i tried reading your post and couldnt make much sense of it. one thing i can tell you is that your weekly rest entitlement is only 24 hrs clear per week or 48 hrs clear in a fortnight.

No it isn't because they're self employed so the WTD does not apply.

Bosniavet96

I am not self-employed, I actually work for a large contract security company, who then contract me, & my colleagues, to the client. My concern re employment is that the company have been losing contracts, & my job is a plum one. I just wanted advice over whether I should stand my ground & insist that the 2 days be cover shifts, request TOIL, or just do them as overtime despite the fact I have not expressed my willingness to do this.

Miss_Havisham

Bosniavet96 wrote: »

I am not self-employed, I actually work for a large contract security company, who then contract me, & my colleagues, to the client. My concern re employment is that the company have been losing contracts, & my job is a plum one. I just wanted advice over whether I should stand my ground & insist that the 2 days be cover shifts, request TOIL, or just do them as overtime despite the fact I have not expressed my willingness to do this.

if it were me, I'd do as they want in order to keep this plum job - unless you are in a position to find another one. You could ask them if it's possible to change it to a cover shift but if they refuse.. would you then take it as overtime ? The money would come in useful in return for a bit of inconvenience over a few weeks..

Barneysmom

You're a long time dead love!
Is there any way you can find out how the land lies without compromising yourself, could you have a quiet word with your employer about your concerns?
No matter what anyone here says, you'll have to broach the subject with him at some point.
It's how you approach it that counts, just be pleasant whatever happens.

cootuk

Isn't normal procedure to work any banked shifts before any possibility of overtime? Though they might be reserving your banked shifts specifically for holiday cover rather than cover for other reasons.
I guess you go talk to your boss, and then either like it or lump it.