Verbal agreements

dawsepill

Hi All.

i need some advice please

Three years ago at work i got asked if i would come off the road as a driver and work in the warehouse, as i had experience in that field.
As a result i would have lost money, so they agreed to give me two hours aday in overtime.
Like i said that was three years ago and its become part of my income that i budget too.
Today my new boss has told me that i would lose this agreed amount because he never agreed to it.
i read somewhere that after an agreed amount of time things become set in stone and would become part of your contract, is this true ?
Any advise please would be welcome

Undervalued

dawsepill wrote: »

Hi All.

i need some advice please

Three years ago at work i got asked if i would come off the road as a driver and work in the warehouse, as i had experience in that field.
As a result i would have lost money, so they agreed to give me two hours aday in overtime.
Like i said that was three years ago and its become part of my income that i budget too.
Today my new boss has told me that i would lose this agreed amount because he never agreed to it.
i read somewhere that after an agreed amount of time things become set in stone and would become part of your contract, is this true ?
Any advise please would be welcome

With only a very few exceptions a verbal agreement is just as binding as a written one. However, if there is a dispute, then the problem is proving what was agreed.

Also, with an employment contract, very little is truly "set in stone" as it is generally easier than most people realise for an employer to change the terms of you employment. Basically, if you can't agree they can impose a new contract leaving you with the option of accepting it or resigning and claiming unfair dismissal at a tribunal. It is then for the tribunal to decide if the change was reasonable or not. If you win you would get some compensation but you are still without a job.

Another_not_new_user

dawsepill wrote: »

Hi All.

i need some advice please

Three years ago at work i got asked if i would come off the road as a driver and work in the warehouse, as i had experience in that field.
As a result i would have lost money, so they agreed to give me two hours aday in overtime.
Like i said that was three years ago and its become part of my income that i budget too.
Today my new boss has told me that i would lose this agreed amount because he never agreed to it.
i read somewhere that after an agreed amount of time things become set in stone and would become part of your contract, is this true ?
Any advise please would be welcome

But how would you prove that they had agreed guaranteed overtime, since overtime by it's very nature is more time than the contractual hours? The fact you have worked overtime for any amount of time still makes it overtime and not contractual hours.

getmore4less

I think this needs clarifying.

Did they just give you 2 hours extra pay to make up the shortfall or did they expect you to work 2 hours extra as overtime to get the extra pay?

dawsepill

hi, they gave me two hours overtime, meaning i just added it to my timesheet, i never had to work it, its was compensation for losing driver benefits

Undervalued

dawsepill wrote: »

hi, they gave me two hours overtime, meaning i just added it to my timesheet, i never had to work it, its was compensation for losing driver benefits

So, are you saying they verbally told you to falsify your timesheet as a round about way of paying you a little extra?

Not a good arrangement!

Mistral001

This all very murky. It is little wonder this practice with the timesheets has been stopped.

Another_not_new_user

dawsepill wrote: »

hi, they gave me two hours overtime, meaning i just added it to my timesheet, i never had to work it, its was compensation for losing driver benefits

You may have added two hours to your timesheet as compensation - but as others here have observed, it is actually called falsifying a timesheet, and there is not excuse for that no matter what your manager told you to do. You have left yourself wide open for dismissal and there is little defence to be put if they did. Falsifying a timesheet is not compensation, and surely common sense must have told you that?


I am afraid that I see nothing here for you. You cannot even begin to claim custom and practice for fraud, and this amount is clearly "overtime" (above your contractual hours and duly declared as such) even though you never actually worked it. I would suggest that any attempt to fight this could, and probably will, get very nasty for you. And only raise the profile of what you have been doing with the timesheet to the attention of many more people.

ohreally

dawsepill wrote: »

hi, they gave me two hours overtime, meaning i just added it to my timesheet, i never had to work it, its was compensation for losing driver benefits

What good did you think would come of this?

Custom and practice would certainly not apply in this case.

LittleVoice

If you need the extra income, ask if there is real overtime work available.


If the driver work is more valuable per hour than the warehouse work, then ask if you can return to driving.


You are lucky that your new manager appears to believe you when you say that your former manager led you to falsify your timesheet rather than have the new manager take you through a disciplinary with a very fast route to dismissal.