New job - contract discrepancy

dcouponzzzz

Hi All,

So I'm starting my 4th week in my new job. I received my contract on day 5, and immediately engaged HR to rewrite it, as the 'Hours' section states that I'm not entitled to on-call allowance or overtime as I'm above grade G (I'm grade I).

3 weeks in, HR stated that the contract is a company standard, and my overtime and on-call allowance is permitted according to a separate policy, which actually only details an exception to the contract for Grade H. I made sure my manager sent me an email with the exact OT/OC allowances as some form of written confirmation before signing my contract and sending it off...

Now I know contracts can be changed at the companies discretion anyway, and I'm sure it's easier for them to change a policy, however all 3 of us on this team were told during interviewing it would be 1.5x for weekday OT, 2x for weekends, 2x + lieu for bank holidays. The policy doc states flat rate, 1.5 and has no mention of bank holidays. It also caps earnings at £29 p/h which would be -£3 p/h if we ever claimed double time. Regarding on-call allowance we can claim £240 for the week regardless of being engaged or not.

I guess my questions are;
Can we do anything about the discrepancy in advertised compensation

Should we be pushing for a rewrite of the contract, or should we ask for the policy to be updated to include Grade I? If not, will the recorded email hold any weight if there were any future disputes?

Should we be asking for clarification on Bank Holiday pay rates? According to the policy we could earn flat rate only, although it is a paid holiday.

Is any clarification futile, and just seen as rocking the boat at an early stage? I have 5 years continuity of service working for this company's parent bank.

Thanks

sangie595

I don't see anything wrong with asking them to clarify your pay, without being pushy about it. That doesn't rock the boat - it only becomes an annoyance if you start demanding. Start off peaceably and see what they say. Sometimes an individual's terms may be different from the general rule.