paid salary overtime required?

P

peterpan

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Hi
I will be returning to work in jan after maternity leave.
I went on leave in april, the previous Sept i was given a raise and was told that the conditions of the raise was that it was now a weekly salary and not an hourly rate and therefore i would not get any time in lieu or payment for any over time i did. in this job it is presumed that you do overtime and are not asked if you are available. before my leave i worked on average 50 hours per week, my question is i am now returning to work and now that i have a small child i am no longer willing to put in that amount of hours, i understand when staff shortages occur the nature of the business is that all others are then required to work a longer shift which is fine occasionally howver but i am not willing to work extra every day for no reward. everyone else is contracted to work 40 hours, gets paid for 39 hours and all other hours are given back as time in lieu. i however am contracted to work the same 40 hours and get paid for 39 and do not get any hours back as time in lieu. is this allowed? as i am paid a salary am i required to continue working crazy hours for nothing?
 
This is par for the course in a lot of professions. The junior ranks get time-in-lieu; management don't.
 
"I went on leave in april, the previous Sept i was given a raise and was told that the conditions of the raise was that it was now a weekly salary and not an hourly rate and therefore i would not get any time in lieu or payment for any over time i did."

Peterpan, you accepted the raise in Sept. when pregnant knowing the terms and conditions of the raise. If you do not agree with it, why did you accept ??
It seem eaten bread is soon forgotten.
 
Are you doing the same work at the same level as your colleagues who are getting paid overtime? Is your basic salary same as their basic?
 
Peterpan, I have a friend in a very similar position. They went back to work and were trying to do the long hours but it was just impossible with creche closing times etc. They spoke to their employer and went back to their terms of employment from 2 years ago with a salary cut and change of job title. They now don't feel guilty when they do not stay late and the employer was happy to save the money.
 
there is always one person on a forum who is no help at all, so thank y ou red for your useless comment.
so basically the answer is yes i am required by law, contract etc to work any overtime required, thats really the question, the background info now seams irreleventy
 
Peterpan, Only you know what it says in your contract. My contract has a clause about the 'exigencies of work' which is the polite way of telling me that if my employer needs me to work late I will. Your employer should still be complying with the rules governing working hours which I believe is a maximum average of 48 hours a week.

It is also important to understand that productivity is as important as the hours worked. Depending on the nature of your role it may be possible to do an excellent job without working long hours.
 
This is a common arrangement once you reach management.

You seem to have a couple of options -

- Go back to the original contract terms. This would probably mean a secondary drop in income/ time in lieu anyway, as you are unable to work the paid overtime hours.
- See what you can arrange in order to work the additional time required; e.g. work from home morning/ evening if possible - Consider if there is someone who would collect your baby from creche a couple of evenings a week to allow you to work late? You could work up a few very productive hours on those evenings in peace when the office is quieter and you have fewer interruptions. I don't know if you're in a relationship, but some couples I know stagger their hours to work early or late so that the other can get through what they need. Maybe every second day/week you could help each other out like that?

Ontour is correct also - it won't be the hours you work rather than your results that will matter.
 
thanks very much for your replies, will have to speak to my boss, unfortunately working from home etc isn't an option nor is productivity an issue as its not overtime to get a job done, the nature of the business is you can't go home until end of business unless someone comes to cover you, v complicated to explain without being specific. anyway thanks for those of you who were helpful
 
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