Boxing Day bank holiday classed as Saturday!

oneblondebrow

Hi all, first a quick explication of my job.

I work for a hire car company in and Out Of Hours position, my working hours are always MON, TUES, WED 1600 - midnight, SAT 11 - 2100, SUN 0800 - 2100. On Bank holidays I am expected to work a Sunday shift (0800 - 2100).

Today I received an email stating that my team and the airport locations need to class SAT 26th as the bank holiday and MON as a normal working day, surely they cannot do this. MY normal Monday is 1600 to midnight! But as the rest of the company (daily rental, offices etc) do class MON as the bank holiday and therefore are not open I would have to work the SUN shift of 0800 - 2100.

I cannot find any documentation stating they cannot do this but all documentations says the bank holiday is on the Monday.

Anyone know if they can do this?

sangie595

oneblondebrow wrote: »

Hi all, first a quick explication of my job.

I work for a hire car company in and Out Of Hours position, my working hours are always MON, TUES, WED 1600 - midnight, SAT 11 - 2100, SUN 0800 - 2100. On Bank holidays I am expected to work a Sunday shift (0800 - 2100).

Today I received an email stating that my team and the airport locations need to class SAT 26th as the bank holiday and MON as a normal working day, surely they cannot do this. MY normal Monday is 1600 to midnight! But as the rest of the company (daily rental, offices etc) do class MON as the bank holiday and therefore are not open I would have to work the SUN shift of 0800 - 2100.

I cannot find any documentation stating they cannot do this but all documentations says the bank holiday is on the Monday.

Anyone know if they can do this?

There is no law that can help you - it entirely depends on what your contract says. If you get XX days plus public holidays, then you are entitled to the public holidays, which in this case is Monday. If, however, you get XX days with no mention of public holidays, your employer is entitled to tell you what your holidays are.

If Monday is a normal working day for you, then your hours should be your normal Monday hours, surely? They didn't say that Monday was a public holiday - they said that Saturday was the public holiday for you, and Monday a normal working day. Didn't they?

agrinnall

It's not very clear from your post, but is your issue that you came in at 08:00 to work the Sunday shift hours as you expected today to be classed as a bank holiday, but during the day you were told that at your location Monday is classed as a normal day and your hours would be 16:00 - midnight, even though you'd already been in since 08:00? Are you thinking that you won't be paid for the time you worked between 08:00 and 16:00, and that you'll also have to work 3 hours longer than you had planned? It does seem a bit odd that you would be told this today when you've already worked Saturday and you were part way through the working day today. I would have taken it up with the manager of your site, and if necessary with whoever sent the email.

oneblondebrow

Sorry if original post not clear but my main issue is that Monday is not classed as a bank holiday because they have said Saturday is and we even have to put on our time sheets Saturday is the public holiday. That should mean that today I should only be required to work 1600 to midnight which are my normal working hours but I an expected to work 8am to 2100 because the daily rental branches I do out of hours for are closed because it's a bank holiday Monday. Just don't think it's fair.

sangie595

oneblondebrow wrote: »

Sorry if original post not clear but my main issue is that Monday is not classed as a bank holiday because they have said Saturday is and we even have to put on our time sheets Saturday is the public holiday. That should mean that today I should only be required to work 1600 to midnight which are my normal working hours but I an expected to work 8am to 2100 because the daily rental branches I do out of hours for are closed because it's a bank holiday Monday. Just don't think it's fair.

I am struggling with what is not fair. Forget about public holidays and which dates they fall on. Your job is to provide cover for out of hours periods. That is what you do. That is what your employer is saying you need to do. So what exactly is unfair? Before the email, Monday was still out of hours, so presumably you would have expected to work 8:00 - 21:00?

oneblondebrow

My job is not to cover all Out Of Hours but working in the Out Of Hours department. Although my contractual hours are a bit strange (literally just says shift pattern) I have for the last 7 years only worked exact days and hours. Normally when I work an actual bank holiday I would get a day in lieu.

Just think it's unfair that I am asked to work a full Sunday hours on a Monday that he company has told me is now not a bank holiday day meaning it should be worked as a normal day but is not.

(There are many issue's with this company and me when it comes to fairness so maybe without the whole picture it seems I am being petty)

sangie595

oneblondebrow wrote: »

My job is not to cover all Out Of Hours but working in the Out Of Hours department. Although my contractual hours are a bit strange (literally just says shift pattern) I have for the last 7 years only worked exact days and hours. Normally when I work an actual bank holiday I would get a day in lieu.

Just think it's unfair that I am asked to work a full Sunday hours on a Monday that he company has told me is now not a bank holiday day meaning it should be worked as a normal day but is not.

(There are many issue's with this company and me when it comes to fairness so maybe without the whole picture it seems I am being petty)

But I still don't see what is not fair. Did you work the full "Sunday hours" some other day as well? Because one way or another, every Christmas period contains two public holidays - Christmas Day and Boxing Day. So whatever day those days fall on that is two public holidays that have to be worked on the Sunday hours. If you have worked more than that you may have a grievance.

That said, you need to be clear. There is a lot in life that isn't fair. But when you are talking about employment law, there is only one definition of fair - unlawful. So unless you are saying that the employer has breached the law or their contract with you, then it is fair.

getmore4less

I don't get the problem either,

You work what you work, are you getting paid get paid for it correctly.

Holidays are seperate if you have not used any, you get to use them some other time.

What the days are called does not seem to be of any relevance unless you spell it out, what does the change of the name of the days actualy mean to hours/pay/holiday?

What is the real issue?

jfdi

Surely the issue is the email was only received on the 28th December?

So everyone in the team will have worked incorrect hours over the Xmas weekend as they're being told what to work after the event?

What have the company said about hours next weekend OP?

sangie595

jfdi wrote: »

Surely the issue is the email was only received on the 28th December?

So everyone in the team will have worked incorrect hours over the Xmas weekend as they're being told what to work after the event?

What have the company said about hours next weekend OP?

But the OP hasn't actually said that. That is the problem. The OP hasn't actually explained why it is not fair despite several requests for clarification. It comes down to what more4less has said - what, if any, effect does all this have on pay? Or hours, or anything else. If it's just "not fair", then I am afraid that it is fair! There has to be a reason why it makes a difference - either the employer is in breach of the law, or the employees contract. So far they haven't explained how either of those things apply. One of them needs to, or it comes down to nothing but tough luck. But if the OP is saying that this has cost them wages or hours as a result, then they may have cause for a grievance to the employer. If it makes no difference to either, then there isn't. Announcing it late in the day isn't good practice, but in itself that is nothing but bad management.

Undervalued

sangie595 wrote: »

I am struggling with what is not fair. Forget about public holidays and which dates they fall on. Your job is to provide cover for out of hours periods. That is what you do. That is what your employer is saying you need to do. So what exactly is unfair? Before the email, Monday was still out of hours, so presumably you would have expected to work 8:00 - 21:00?

Exactly.

The OP (like many other people to be fair) seems to fail to understand that there is nothing special in employment law about bank holidays. Your legal entitlement, assuming a full time job, is simply to 28 days paid holiday per year. With only a very few restrictions your employer can totally dictate when you can and cannot take your holiday.

Any "rights" beyond this are a contractual matter.