DH being forced to work full day on Saturday

izoomzoom

warrend wrote: »

From a legal perspective no I dont believe they can change an accepted working pattern without "officially" notifying your husband. He may then have to respond about why this is not acceptable, however I believe its not that easy for an employer to do so without good reason (could they argue that it is hurting the business). Threatening him with a disciplinary action is easily covered by discrimination and should not be tolerated.

There has been no official notification - just a lot of heavy hints ... including the mentioning of a disciplinary action.

Business wise, it hasn't been an issue to date but DH seems to think that they are starting to manipulate this to their advantage. He says a lot of work has now started to be booked in for Sat.

izoomzoom

warrend wrote: »

Did your husband negotiate these hours on joining the company or once he had started working there? I don't believe that it matters legally but have they been fair and should you reciprocate? Will "digging your heals in" cause you further problems in the future if your circumstances change and they wont be so accommodating to a further change?

Are you planning on going back to work? If so It may be the best compromise to put it in writing to his employer that he can work a full Saturday until such a time as you return to work - that way ensuring that the arraignment can continue in x months.

I suppose DH did negotiate these hours on joining. The subject was brought up at interview level and then the job was offered.

I am contracturally obliged to return to work myself (and when I do this is really none of their business) but I suppose if push comes to shove, he could do a consultation thing about it, and include that the old contract will have to come back into play when I have to return to work.

hobo28

izoomzoom wrote: »

Business wise, it hasn't been an issue to date but DH seems to think that they are starting to manipulate this to their advantage. He says a lot of work has now started to be booked in for Sat.

Are you suggesting the business is booking in work on a Saturday specifically to put pressure on your DH?

izoomzoom wrote: »

DH gets no preferential treatment. He gets 1/2 a Sat off each week (thus 1 full day over a two week period) whilest everyone else gets a whole day off (in each two week period).

He is getting treated differently though from all the others.

Sensemaya

Sensemaya's BF posting.

You can request flexible working... but thats all
If you make an issue about this you may go on the trouble maker list

otherwise get the paper and find a new job

liney

You should contact ACAS and ask the question but you must bear in mind these points:

1)It may no longer be acceptable to the business for your husband to not work on Saturday afternoon (like everyone else already does) as business has increased.

2)The reason for his flexible working is not an issue while you are on maternity leave.

3)The company may be getting pressure from others who are working full days despite not wanting to, and feel they are being discriminated against as they have the same contract but are not allowed to specify their hours as your husband has been doing.

4)I believe an employer can notify you of a change of hours and you can 'like it or lump it' as it were. As long as they give enough notice they can do pretty much what they like, and you yourself have justified the reason: more work is being booked on a Saturday.

I can see where you are comming from - despite not being at work you want your husband at home with you, but from a business point of view it is obviously causing them problems, and it isn't very fair on the other people he works with to continue the practise when it isn't necessary at the moment.

DaisyFlower

If his contract says 5.5 days a week and doesnt actually specify the half day is Saturday then they can insist he works a full day on a Saturday. Perhaps as another poster has said, others want some of Saturday off to spend time with their families. Other staff may have complained or put pressue on the boss for equal rights to time off at the weekend.

I cant imagine that they are booking work in on a Saturday for the sake of getting your husband to work.

Seems they have been pretty flexible so it should work both ways. They could just give him written notice that his "implied" contract is changing and then he wont have a choice anyway unless he seeks employment elsewhere.

Can you not get childcare for the overlap on a Saturday?

warrend

liney wrote: »

You should contact ACAS and ask the question

Absolutely the best advice (the rest is me just being obstinate )

Sensemaya wrote: »

You can request flexible working... but thats all
If you make an issue about this you may go on the trouble maker list

disagree - this is in effect a pre-existing contract, not a proposed change on his behalf (which is here flexible/ family friendly working rules come in).

liney wrote: »

1)It may no longer be acceptable to the business for your husband to not work on Saturday afternoon (like everyone else already does) as business has increased.

this goes back to hurting the business - as I stated previously, however as the issue has only come up at the time of the employees change in circumstances I think the company would be on very dangerous ground in trying to push this through as it could easily be viewed as discrimination or (in the event) constructive dismissal.

liney wrote: »

2)The reason for his flexible working is not an issue while you are on maternity leave.

I'm not 100% but - whilst the poster is employed whether on maternity, sick or holiday leave doesn't have any affect on her husbands contract or terms and his employer cannot use this to change his term of employment (e.g. there has been no change in your circumstances).

liney wrote: »

3)The company may be getting pressure from others who are working full days despite not wanting to, and feel they are being discriminated against as they have the same contract but are not allowed to specify their hours as your husband has been doing.

hobo28 wrote: »

He is getting treated differently though from all the others.

DaisyFlower wrote: »

If his contract says 5.5 days a week and doesnt actually specify the half day is Saturday then they can insist he works a full day on a Saturday. Perhaps as another poster has said, others want some of Saturday off to spend time with their families. Other staff may have complained or put pressue on the boss for equal rights to time off at the weekend.

Whilst I agree that the company may be getting pressure - this again has no bearing on his terms of employment (contractual, assumed or implied). Where the employee has been working a regular (especially negotiated) pattern for any more that 6 months (as FleetFanatic states) then those hours "ARE" his contacted ones and then you start getting in to official notification to change.

liney wrote: »

4)I believe an employer can notify you of a change of hours and you can 'like it or lump it' as it were. As long as they give enough notice they can do pretty much what they like, and you yourself have justified the reason: more work is being booked on a Saturday.

Yes and no. If the change will cause the employee undue harm (I cant remember the exact term but its something like that) then I don't believe this is the case. The extra childcare cost would justify a refusal to change working hours (or negotiate compensation). Again his company cannot use the poster being on maternity as a reason (in fact it could play very heavily against them if they did).

liney wrote: »

I can see where you are comming from - despite not being at work you want your husband at home with you, but from a business point of view it is obviously causing them problems, and it isn't very fair on the other people he works with to continue the practise when it isn't necessary at the moment.

I would still say that the best option is to compromise - get it in writing that your DH intends to go back to his old hours once the circumstance change again build in a 1 month in writing that way they cannot then claim that he has accepted his new hours.