Can a company make you work for free???

Hannahpeach123

Hi
I used to work for (not sure I’m allowed to say what company 😬) H.Samuels during 2000-2002.   

One thing has always bothered me & still does today.   It was stated in my contract, which I did sign... but thinking on it now how wrong it was.   To have free labour.  

I had to be on the floor ready to serve 15 minutes before shift & could only leave 15 minutes after shift... so the company didn’t have to pay me for a half hours work each shift.   I never understood it, even while working there haha 😂 

Is this allowed & anyone know If the company (signet group) is still doing it? 

Any help / assistance greatly appreciated 😊

Thanks 

getmore4less

As long as it does not take you below minimum wages as defined by the legislation the rates of pay per hour can be from £0

The simple explanation is   (total pay/hours that count as "working")  should be at least min wage
the detail is what counts as "working" is pages so not going into that. 

Savvy_Sue

But this is too long ago to be able to do anything about it, I believe. 

74jax

Was it in your contract? If so you signed up to it. I'm not sure nmw was around then but now, as long you know the hours and your pay, and its meets nmw it's fine. Up to you if you accept the position or not. 

Savvy_Sue

74jax said:

Was it in your contract? If so you signed up to it. I'm not sure nmw was around then but now, as long you know the hours and your pay, and its meets nmw it's fine. Up to you if you accept the position or not. 

NMW introduced in 1999, but nothing to be done about it now.

TELLIT01

Did the contract actually state 'before/after shift' or 'before/after opening hours'?  Are you sure you weren't paid for that time?  It's not unreasonable to expect retail staff to be on site before and after opening hours for set up and tidy up, but it's totally unreasonable to expect them to do it unpaid.  Did you get morning and afternoon breaks?  as these are often unpaid.

Ditzy_Mitzy

I assume the OP's age at the time is also relevant.  From what I remember, there was no minimum wage for children and teenagers in those days.  Plenty of us worked.  If she was 16 or 17, Samuel's could have paid her whatever they saw fit.  There was a fair amount of sharp practice back then.  

lincroft1710

Hannahpeach123 said:

Any help / assistance greatly appreciated 😊

 

Just forget about it! It is far, far too late to do anything about it.

Marcon

You're still fretting 20 years on? The time to 'understand' it was while you worked there. Nothing you can do about, so really time to just forget it.

TadleyBaggie

Are you hourly paid on a salary? Pretty much all my working life I was salaried and working overtime, weekends etc when necessary was never financially recompensed, sometimes time off in lieu was offered.

Hannahpeach123

Thanks everyone for info 😊 no fretting going on, just a general wondering really.