Being made to come in 15 mins earlier

LemonSocks

Hello,

I was hoping someone could advise. My OH works in a call centre. He's been there for 3 years. Earlier this week the manager decided that he wants staff in 15 minutes earlier than their shift start. They are not required to work. I understand someone asked in the meeting about what happens if they don't come in earlier. They were told they can either come in early or leave. Can they ask this?

I know it's only 15 mins but there are already days where he loses his 15 min break due to 'high call volume' etc, so he can't go/ or doesn't get time to go as it is.

Thank you.

antw23uk

Hi

Its a tricky one because call centres are renowned for high turnover of staff. Sad to say there is always someone out there who can talk, answer the phone and use a computer to take your OH's place in a shot!

Is there a union or anything he can speak to? I would be keeping a diary of all the times i didnt get my break and speak to the manager at the end of each week or at each team meeting and if that failed i would raise it further.

What they are trying to do is ensure everyone is ready and able to pick up the calls dead on the clock rather than getting to work for say 0800 and then taking ten odd minutes before they are actually logged in and ready to start work ... Sadly the few will have ruined it for the rest of the team.

Sorry cant be much help and hats of to your OH for doing 3 years ... now thats a special person, I know i wouldnt have stuck it for that long.

Evilm

The question is what the employer will do in the situation that they aren't in 15 minutes early but are still ready and working by the official start of shift? If they'd discipline them then I think I've seen it somewhere that it could be considered considered as 'working' even if the employer doesn't want it to treat it as such. (Although get confirmation of that - I'm fuzzy on where I saw it now!)

It only really comes into play if the employees are on or near minimum wage and the the 15 minutes per day adds up to take their effective hourly rate to under minimum wage. I suspect this isn't the case.

Jules2012

I think it's a reasonable request so that you can have your PC and systems signed on, however not sure if it can be anything more than just a request?

lippy1923

I understand why the company wants this to happen but I also understand what a pain it is to have to do this with no pay and no appreciation for doing it!
How long does it take to set up? It could take 5 mins or 15 mins but as long as your OH is set up and ready to go dead on time I can't see how the manager can fault him.

Agree that he should keep a log of all his breaks that he has to miss due to work overload. Keep a record to use in his favour.

Mudd14

Is he paid more than minimum wage?

LemonSocks

He's on min wage, but the manager justified it by saying that everyone *should* be earning bonus so they should get more than min. I asked about how long it takes to log on and he said around 30 secs. The system makes a note of when you logged on and if it's not 15 mins or more before the shift, they get a late form. So today for example he was in 20 mins early - the 15 mins and then an extra 5 to make sure he wasn't late for the required 15.

Mudd14

If he is on minimum wage then it cannot be done unless the bonus amount takes him over the NMW. Look at one pay reference period and see if:

x shifts in month X 15mins = y
y + total hours worked in the day X days worked in month = total hours
Gross pay / total hours

Is it below NMW?! If so then it is against NMW legislation.

Evilm

Note that its not just about logging on - its about all the prework things that the employees do. Eg. getting to desks, drinks, gossip etc.

However since they are on min wage I'd say this was something that is technically illegal - especially if they issue a 'late' warning if they aren't logged on 15 minutes before shift start.

Note for bonuses: when are they paid? If its annually it can't count to make up min wage all year round(http://www.nases.org.uk/students/content/16932/national_minimum_wage_faqs/#bonuses):

Yes. Bonuses and other incentives can count towards the NMW. However, an annual bonus can not be used to count towards the NMW for the whole year round. It will count during the pay reference period in which it is paid and for the previous reference period. For example if an annual bonus is paid in December and the pay reference period is one month, one twelfth of the bonus can count towards the NMW for November and the remainder will count towards the NMW in December.

Without a union and without HR standing up for him (and beware - HR might just rat him out and find a way to get rid of him) it really comes down to actually risking his job or losing his job and then trying to go through tribunal though.

I've not gone down this path myself, perhaps someone who has can comment?

red_eye

LemonSocks wrote: »

Hello,

I was hoping someone could advise. My OH works in a call centre. He's been there for 3 years. Earlier this week the manager decided that he wants staff in 15 minutes earlier than their shift start. They are not required to work. I understand someone asked in the meeting about what happens if they don't come in earlier. They were told they can either come in early or leave. Can they ask this?

I know it's only 15 mins but there are already days where he loses his 15 min break due to 'high call volume' etc, so he can't go/ or doesn't get time to go as it is.

Thank you.

if your shift starts at 9am then you should be at the desk pheadset on cold calling some poor victim at 9am this means you have to arive before 9am, say 8.45am that gives you 15mins to take your coat off go toilet etc

Russe11

Simple thing to do is make a call to HR, ask if the coming in 15mins before you start "dialing" is company policy, if so is that paid time?

Will soon highlight if its just the manager on a power trip.

Second thing would be to test the NMW requirement, by seeing what happens if you earn no bonus.

If your a 5 shifts a week worker, 48 weeks of the year, that 60hours a year unpaid...£371.40 gross pay.

I can't see an issue with a request to be ready to start work on time, but the requirement to be early is wrong in my opinion, since the setting up ready to work is part of the job itself.