Advice on rules for young workers please.

ckerrd

She, and anyone else in this position, is being taken advantage of, apart from the legality of it.

There can be a reasonable expectation that when she finishes her work at 10pm there is a small amount of time for tiding up, getting her things together etc perhaps 10 minutes at most. Restocking is a function in its own right which has to be paid for.

She should ask where she should submit her claim for overtime to.

LondonDiva

The important thing is thatr you & your dd log all the days & times & reasons that are unpaid until it's resolved.

IOf sge raises it with her supervisor & it doesn't go well, she needs to pass it on to the area / hq head office along with details of the overtime as well as the fact that other members of staff are being made to work in a deliberately

When I started a paper round many, many moons ago (aged 13) there was a child welfare / work person at the council who rang me at home to check that I was doing the agreed hours and no difficulties with the paper people, there were no problems etc - would it be worth having a chat to them too?

hullight

Sometimes I will go to the bank to take cheques or to the Post Office to get airmail stickers, but I always take an extra ten minutes or so for lunch as these errands are part of my job. I do make an effort to leave work at 5PM.

I'm not sure if this militant attitude to working hours is making me seem like I'm less interested in work?

Tribulation

Not to me, no. I personally think that it should be made law that everyone gets 1 hour for lunch and are not allowed to work through it. I also don't think people should work without pay, so if your paid until 5pm then yes I too would leave at 5pm.

However, if you were an employer and had to promote someone, if you had 2 people that always took their lunch and always went home on time, and another person that often stayed late and worked through their breaks (and this person is doing so because they want to, not because they're a slower worker than the other two) which person would you honestly promote?

Which causes big problems for a lot of people. Some people have no social life outside of work and no family life. Others do and might need to finish on time, might need to pop to the shops in their lunch break or might even need the rest etc.

hullight

I only get half an hour for lunch. To be honest it actually makes the day go faster for some reason!

Anyway, my contract says that my usual hours of work will be 0830 - 1700 but also says they can be however long it takes to do the job at hand. What complicates things is me being 17, because I can work a maximum of 8 hours a day.

Also, I get paid in days not hours which means that I get paid for 8 hours and no more.

Maybe once I turn 18 things will change. In spite of all this I couldn't ask for a better job really, because most people my age are treated like expendable workers because there's always an endless stream of them leaving school or college.

C_Ronaldo

LondonDiva wrote: »

The important thing is thatr you & your dd log all the days & times & reasons that are unpaid until it's resolved.

IOf sge raises it with her supervisor & it doesn't go well, she needs to pass it on to the area / hq head office along with details of the overtime as well as the fact that other members of staff are being made to work in a deliberately

When I started a paper round many, many moons ago (aged 13) there was a child welfare / work person at the council who rang me at home to check that I was doing the agreed hours and no difficulties with the paper people, there were no problems etc - would it be worth having a chat to them too?

god idea what LD said, in my first job i always left at 6:05 or 6:10 but then 6 was when we closed but i always left at the time i was contracted to work till and it didnt do me any harm, i still leave at the time im contracted till

OP have you had a look at this site, i not sure if its any help mind

http://www.worksmart.org.uk/rights/young_workers_under_18

PasturesNew

Tribulation wrote: »

Some people have no social life outside of work and no family life. Others do and might need to finish on time, might need to pop to the shops in their lunch break or might even need the rest etc.

I think we all need this, just some people "daren't", or are desperately trying to finish the pile of work that is never ending.

I worked for a company who sent me hundreds of miles away for weeks "because I didn't have a family" - and the bloke in the same job as me was local and came home every weekend "because he has a wife/kid". My grievance and annoyance was: and don't you think I'd LIKE to be at home, to get the chance to MEET somebody nice?

Luvly.cuppa.T

Tribulation wrote: »

However, if you were an employer and had to promote someone, if you had 2 people that always took their lunch and always went home on time, and another person that often stayed late and worked through their breaks (and this person is doing so because they want to, not because they're a slower worker than the other two) which person would you honestly promote?

Well..... honestly I think that the 'overworker' would not be promoted. Why?
1) they overwork for no extra money- so keep them where they are. The soldiers make up the work force.
2) Person who clocks off on time is seen as assertive and can organise themselves without worrying about what others think, whereas person who overworks unpaid is a doormat and can be viewed as unorganised and cares too much about what others have to say about them.
3) there may be suspiscions as to why people stay on unpaid- what are their motives? No one does something for nothing in this world type mentality.

I hasten to add that I too have done the unpaid overhour thing, but really it does nothing but to aid the company's pocket.
Best thing is not to ever, from day 1 of job, to work more than what you are paid.

faerie_girl

Is your daughter in a union. USDAW is the one shop workers.

Here is a pdf you can download to read up on young peoples rights at work. you might be able to find an anwser in there (i just had a quick flick through)
http://www.usdaw.org.uk/equality/resource_library/files/RLFyoungWorkersECstatement/NMWyoungWorkersECstat07.pdf

Does it say anything in her contract or staff handbook about working beyond the hours she agreed to?

dipsy

Luvly.cuppa.T wrote: »

Well..... honestly I think that the 'overworker' would not be promoted. Why?
1) they overwork for no extra money- so keep them where they are. The soldiers make up the work force.

Well I work more than my hours, through choice, I work in a remote place, so no where to go really.

I have been rewarded in a monatary sense twice since I joined my company 18 months agao

2) Person who clocks off on time is seen as assertive and can organise themselves without worrying about what others think, whereas person who overworks unpaid is a doormat and can be viewed as unorganised and cares too much about what others have to say about them.

Actually I really can't agree with that, I worked for a company where I always left on time, infact I would say up until my current role I have never worked over as it always appeared to be one sided, they accept your extra hours, but when you ask for time off to sort something out... "you will need to make the time up" seem to forget the extra hours you put in....

I work and give that bit more in current job because I truly do love my job, the people I work with and the ethics of the company, and they don't whinge if I need to take a couple of hours off to go to school play/dentist with kids etc.... that means alot to a working parent.

3) there may be suspiscions as to why people stay on unpaid- what are their motives? No one does something for nothing in this world type mentality.

Sometimes we do what is percieved to be something for nothing, but to be fair what we are doing is putting goodwill into a pot so that if we need time off to deal with emergencies we can be comfortable knowing that we are not taking the P***

I don't get much holiday in my job so being able to take time off to deal with silly things like leaving early for dogs vet appointment/plays (kids not dog)

I hasten to add that I too have done the unpaid overhour thing, but really it does nothing but to aid the company's pocket.
Best thing is not to ever, from day 1 of job, to work more than what you are paid.

I would have agreed with you until I joined my present company and now I have to say I can't, I can imagine, bar them sacking me or going bust, staying with them till the day they kick me out....

That said the discussion about the 17 yr old girl doing overtime(unpaid) is completely wrong, maybe look for another job say Asda if close enough, they treat their staff well, they always look happy and my friend works there, been there 8 years and she flitted about before that so they can't be all bad.... good luck with it all x