Employer looking overtime?

n1guy

Need some advice here. I currently earn minimum wage, things have got busy at work and my employer is looking as much overtime as possible.

I've said I will do a couple of hours max and I am only doing it as a favour for him not for money for the reason being any extra money earned is taken off me in housing benefit so I am not benefiting at all from overtime. I thought this was fair?

But he see's thing differently, he is looking a few hours during the week and 5 hours on a Saturday.

In fairness, I would probably be better doing it unpaid as I will have to repay what I earn.

Any advice?

IAmWales

Benefits are there for when you're not able to support yourself, not as a lifestyle choice.

Take the overtime, take any opportunity to learn new skills, then you'll be able to progress so you don't need to worry about benefits in the future. You could even ask your boss if you could work on a development plan for promotion.

ohreally

TOIL when things quieten down a bit?

n1guy

IAmWales wrote: »

Benefits are there for when you're not able to support yourself, not as a lifestyle choice.

Take the overtime, take any opportunity to learn new skills, then you'll be able to progress so you don't need to worry about benefits in the future. You could even ask your boss if you could work on a development plan for promotion.

This isn't some multinational corporation, its a small family run factory with 5 workers, there is nowhere to progress to, no new skills to learn. I think this is known as dead end.

Masomnia

ohreally wrote: »

TOIL when things quieten down a bit?

I think this is your answer. Your employer might be happier if it saves them a bit of cash!

n1guy

ohreally wrote: »

TOIL when things quieten down a bit?

I had never thought of that, it might work but then again might not as we run a skeleton crew, there is no one to cover anyone. Failing that do the overtime, get paid and take a sick day or 2 somewhere which would be unpaid to balance things out.

gettingtheresometime

n1guy wrote: »

This isn't some multinational corporation, its a small family run factory with 5 workers, there is nowhere to progress to, no new skills to learn. I think this is known as dead end.

Youre either missing the point or deliberately avoiding it.

Attitudes like this give ammunition to those politicians who would prefer to dismantle the whole benefit system or make it as difficult as possible for people to claim.

custardy

n1guy wrote: »

I had never thought of that, it might work but then again might not as we run a skeleton crew, there is no one to cover anyone. Failing that do the overtime, get paid and take a sick day or 2 somewhere which would be unpaid to balance things out.

So who covers the sick days?

n1guy

custardy wrote: »

So who covers the sick days?

No one, we fall behind.

ThemeOne

I suppose you'll have to do some overtime, to show willing, but perfectly understandable in the circumstances you describe you don't want to do too much.

It always seems ridiculous to me that we have an economy in which businesses like this can only survive by paying minimum wage propped up by the state in the form of extra benefits.

MacMickster

ThemeOne wrote: »

I suppose you'll have to do some overtime, to show willing, but perfectly understandable in the circumstances you describe you don't want to do too much.

It always seems ridiculous to me that we have an economy in which businesses like this can only survive by paying minimum wage propped up by the state in the form of extra benefits.

This is why minimum wage needs to keep increasing above inflation each year.

If businesses can't survive by paying a decent wage to their staff enabling them to live without top-up benefits then the business shouldn't exist. It could be, of course, that the business is doing very nicely and making a lot of money for the owner, heavily subsidised by the taxpayer so could, if forced, easily pay higher wages.