ASDA enforced meal break deductions

squidgysponge

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Kayalana99

I think they can force you to take an unpaid break but would have to up your hours to cover it...so you'd still be getting your 35 hour pay but be doing more hours to do the break

tripled

It will say in your contact of employment if you are entitled to a paid lunch break. You could also join Udsaw if you haven't already, and ask them for support

squidgysponge

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Kayalana99

Do you actally have your contract to hand to know what it says?

They can't force you to sign another contract but same time if you don't sign it are you putting your job on the line? All this is irrelevant if thier asking you to sign another contract as then they are doing it the right way by changing your contract if that makes sense.. you can't really fight what thier doing but you could refuse to sign but as I said... will they not want to keep you on if you seem 'uncooperative'

It might be unfair but its still ok for them to do this legally.

As above, if your contract is 35hours you should get paid for 35 hours unless otherwise stated that your at work 35hours but have to take 30min unpaid breaks.. (depends how its worded I guess!)

If they want to force you to take a 30min break unpaid they should make you work the extra 30min to compensate.

nikki2804

Kayalana99 wrote: »

Do you actally have your contract to hand to know what it says?

They can't force you to sign another contract but same time if you don't sign it are you putting your job on the line? All this is irrelevant if thier asking you to sign another contract as then they are doing it the right way by changing your contract if that makes sense.. you can't really fight what thier doing but you could refuse to sign but as I said... will they not want to keep you on if you seem 'uncooperative'

It might be unfair but its still ok for them to do this legally.

As above, if your contract is 35hours you should get paid for 35 hours unless otherwise stated that your at work 35hours but have to take 30min unpaid breaks.. (depends how its worded I guess!)

If they want to force you to take a 30min break unpaid they should make you work the extra 30min to compensate.

Even if you do not sign a new contract but continue to work there then you are classed as accepting the new terms.

OP If this is just a manager making these changes then it may be worth contacting hr to see what they say and your union rep (if you belong to one)

squidgysponge

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Wywth

squidgysponge wrote: »

I work as a home shopping driver for Asda. Up until the recent recession we worked our contracted hours and got paid for them. So say if your contract was 5 days a week 7 hours you'd get that, plus anything over that at normal rate.

Since our new store manager entered the frame, they are now saying if you work past 2.30pm they deduct 30 mins from your day.

As a driver I am on the road, a 30minute break is scheduled into my day (which is a paid break). So i skip the lunch break on the clocking in machine on my return so as not to get 1 hour deducted daily.

Now managers have been told not to authorize this skipped meal break in an effort to save wages and as such I am losing 30minutes a day pay.

The issue is confounded more because it is unfair on certain colleagues.

If another driver works 7am - 2pm five days a week he get paid for 35 hours and the same on holiday. he gets a 30minute paid break also. The same goes if you work 4am till 2pm (plus 2 hours night rate).

If you work past 2pm, say 8am - 3pm five days a week however you now get paid for for 6.5 hours a day, thats 33.5 hours a week and the same on holiday (even though you work it when your at work). You in effect don't get a paid break.

So I'm on a 35 hour contract getting paid for 33.5 hours.

How can this be legal? My people services manager isn't accepting this is an issue.

First place to refer is to your written contract of employment.

If it says you will be paid for a 35 hour week, then they have to pay you for a 35 hour week (assuming you worked, or were willing to work that)

But that does not mean you only need to be at your workplace 35 hours a week. Many workers who work days on a 35 hour, 37 hour or 40 hour week actually spend 2.5-5 hours a week longer there as they receive unpaid break(s)

squidgysponge wrote: »

Well, they want to change my contracted hours, but in doing so adding the enforced meal break deduction. On all my other change of contracts this column has been left blank as they've previously paid us without question.

Surely if I have a 35 hour contract I should be paid for 35 hours?

Also, isn't it an unfair term of contract if some colleagues end up having to work an additional 2.5 hours a week work whilst doing exactly the same job as someone else just to get paid the same?

They cannot change your contracted hours without your agreement (or collective agreement which implies you agree to it)

Custom and practise may come into play here.
If you have been doing the job for some time (and especially if others have been doing exactly the same also) then being paid for a 30 minute break may now be considered part of your contract of employment

http://www.worksmart.org.uk/rights/pay_and_contracts

Be careful, though, of comparing youself to others that work different times to you as different rules may apply.

e.g. I've worked at more than one employer before where those working on a typical dayshift pattern (say 9am to 5pm) would be provided with a 30 minute unpaid meal break per day (so actually get paid just 37.5 hours a week). However, those working lates (say 2pm to 10pm) were provided with a 30 minute paid meal break because of unsociable working hours - so they were paid 40 hours per week.