Bank Holidays forced to work when not contracted?

Undervalued

jamesyboy007 wrote: »

So you're saying Acas are wrong?

They clearly state "as long as the bank holiday falls on one of the
employee's normal working days".

There's no caveats to that. It doesn't say 'unless stated otherwise in the contract'. Its a pretty clear statement as far as i can see.

Thanks for your help anyway.

For heaven's sake, you have CONTRACTED to work bank holidays if required!

I'm out!

Sncjw

I'd work it as you will get extra pay maybe double time or time and a half. It's extra money and are you actually planning to do something on good Friday. If you aren't then I would do the shift . Extra money.

jamesyboy007

Undervalued wrote: »

For heaven's sake, you have CONTRACTED to work bank holidays if required!

I'm out!

So by that reckoning an employer can put whatever its wants into a contract whether legal or not and you have to abide by it?

Say for example, it was in a contract that you had to 60 hours a week if so requested, they could enforce it despite working time directives stating that employees can't be forced to work more than 48 hours a week?

Work contracts trump the law? Is that what you're saying?

KiKi

Firstly, you are misreading the ACAS information.
Secondly, no, your employer cannot act unlawfully (well, they can, but there are consequences).

The ACAS advice is there to explain that there is no right to BHs off, not to provide every possible interpretation of employment law. A more correct interpretation would be:

"There is no statutory right to take bank holidays off work so employees can be required to work on these days, as long as the bank holiday falls on one of the employee's normal working days. However, some employees may have contractual rights to time off on bank holidays - and some employees may have contractual requirements to work on bank holidays which are not their normal working days."

It is not against the law to ask you work additional days, nor to ask you to work BHs on days which are not your normal working days IF your contract requires it. Your contract is more than a piece of paper - it includes the policies and practices of the organisation (ie, information in your handbook).

Hopefully that clarifies a couple of your questions.
KiKi

jamesyboy007

Thanks everyone. I'm going to try to negotiate with them tomorrow. Maybe offer to work longer on easter monday or see if i can do an early shift on friday (my wife won't leave the house till 12). Just hope they'll be more reasonable than they where yesterday.

szam_

Odd.

I worked part-time at Asda for around 18 months, this was back in 2006-7.

At no point was it forced upon you if you did not work that day normally. You were asked, but you were never forced to accept, and the guy who did the opposite shifts to me often took Bank Holiday Monday's off, which is why I was always asked.

They don't usually struggle for volunteers given the A-Level and Uni students are always after a bit of extra cash, so I'm not sure why they may have changed it since I worked there, they must have their reasons.

Also agree with another poster, horrible place to work in general.

specialboy

A little bit of advice for you OP, ACAS are about as useful as a chocolate fire guard.

Andy_L

jamesyboy007 wrote: »

Even if some of what it says isn't legal in employment law?

The illegal bits wouldn't stand but wouldn't invalidate the rest of it. But does it actually say anything illegal? Since they will have had it vetted by their employment law I suspect not - they 5 days maximum may apply to paid emergency leave or the limit at which they start to take action, both of which are allowed

duchy

If the job suits you (which presumably it does) don't rely on ACAS being the font of all correct employment law. A search on here alone will show cases where ACAS were wrong in their advice.

theoretica

According to employment law there is nothing special about bank holidays so the question you are asking becomes - Is it legal to be made to work a day in addition to my normal ones? In other words is compulsory overtime legal? And the answer appears to be yes, if it is in your contract. https://www.gov.uk/overtime-your-rights/compulsory-overtime

I hope the compromises you suggest work.