15 min early + late/ Holding 1 Week wages.

gem75

OP, please follow this link and phone the helpline for free and confidental advice.
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees/TheNationalMinimumWage/DG_175112

The company is acting illegally because they are only paying you the NMW so by working extra unpaid time, it actually takes you below the NMW.

marybelle01

Fawkes_November wrote: »

The only reason I ask is because the first one is absolutely illegal in Canada and the US and the second one the same, in fact, in the US, the department of labour would literally bend the company over if they got caught doing something like that. I always heard that Europe had great civil right laws and specially countries like France where workers are treated really well, is it all just a myth or did I just get hired by a really nasty company?
...

Wow. Have you actually ever worked in the USA or Canada? Because nobody I know in either country (and that is a lot of people) would agree with you!!!

*zippy*

Emmylou wrote: »

Are you being paid NMW? If they want you there for (eg) 15 minutes unpaid a day, then that will take you under the NMW threshold and (hopefully) someone who has more of a brain than I do will be able to advise on the legality of that.

I'm in retail, a large national company on minimum wage and they have stopped paying us to cash up and do the end of day paperwork. I called ACAS sure they were breaking the law as it would take us under the minimum per hour, but was told companys can ask you to do what requires you start or finish your shift unpaid.

They were supposed to give myself and a few other longer serving members of staff a months notice though, which they then did. It is very wrong they are getting away with this as there doesn't seem to be any restriction on how long they can keep you there doing these jobs.

sniggings

*zippy* wrote: »

I'm in retail, a large national company on minimum wage and they have stopped paying us to cash up and do the end of day paperwork. I called ACAS sure they were breaking the law as it would take us under the minimum per hour, but was told companys can ask you to do what requires you start or finish your shift unpaid.

They were supposed to give myself and a few other longer serving members of staff a months notice though, which they then did. It is very wrong they are getting away with this as there doesn't seem to be any restriction on how long they can keep you there doing these jobs.

you were given wrong info then, you can't be asked to work unpaid.

You need to ring back and hopefully get someone that knows the rules, if that fails go to your MP.

*zippy*

Interesting sniggings thank you, can I ask if you any more info or experience relating to this? It's a big company and I seem to be the only one questioning them.

alsyp

Illegal or not, pull your socks and get out of bloody bed earlier. Problem solved

dizzyrascal

I'm sorry that the OP has found this job and is not working for someone like John Lewis who do treat their staff well and don't exploit them.
I would certainly question the withholding your first weeks wages! I can't see how this is legal either.
As you are a student you should go to your student union advice centre and check with them. The NUS is a powerful organisation so they might already be doing something on a national level but you can go and get some personal advice on your own situation. They will hear this kind of thing daily, so they should be able to advise you on what is legal and what you can do about it.

I am a tiny bit worried about your original post though. You say that your course is part time?? So you can work for 20 hours. You may not have many taught hours but that is not the same as part time.

I suspect that you are on a full time course as you are classed as an international student in which case you need to make sure that you are abiding by the rules of your university. Usually they recommend no more than 16 hours of work per week during term time. Also, if you are here on a student visa, (not sure if this is relevant for Canada) there can be very specific criteria in your visa, regarding work and study. You need to make sure that you are not breaking those conditions.

DCFC79

gem75 wrote: »

They're not. The employee part of the deal is to be ready to start work from the moment that they are paid and work up until the time that payment finishes.

Yes be ready is make sure your in a presentable state since the employe is a face of the compnay.

When i made this comment :

As for your second point, what right do employees have to take the employer for a ride ?

It wasn't actually in reference to the OP but more a general question.

Be interesting to know what the contract says about the turning up 15 minutes before each shift and the staying on later.

sniggings

*zippy* wrote: »

Interesting sniggings thank you, can I ask if you any more info or experience relating to this? It's a big company and I seem to be the only one questioning them.

Check what your contract says regarding overtime.

You have a right to stick to what your contract states and also the right to make sure the total amount of hours worked to average the NMW.

If you are on the NMW, 1 minute of overtime unpaid is illegal.

As for you being the only one that has an issue with this, I'm not surprised, it is amazing the amount of crap some people will put up with, I wouldn't mind if the wage was half decent.

https://www.gov.uk/overtime-your-rights

Print_Screen

A few years ago I also used to work for Maplins and they also did not pay me for counting up and doing things before 9:00 when we opened.

I used to come in 40-30 mins early each day as I got changed at work and liked made tea, read magazines, etc before starting my shift.
However the boss was under the impression if you are in the building then you have to start working and used to ask me to stack this shelf clean that cabinet and so forth.

The result was I started coming in at 8:59. I would actually hang about round the corner if I was early. As it was summer I had no coat so walked in at 8:59 and was ready to start. The boss couldn't say anything as I was not officially late.

The other thing to watch out for is when they refuse to give you breaks, sometimes even lunch as "We don't have enough staff" and don't pay you for them.
This went on for a few weeks until I had enough and threatened to walk off the tills unless they gave me my legal entitled break.
They then suddenly found a member of staff to cover me. :mad:

After 3 months I left for a better job in an office.
Several years later I saw some of the staff I worked for in a West End branch, surprising thing is even though they were hard working they all were in the same positions they were when I had left. So much for company promotion through hard work :think: