O/T n e one good with employment laws???

Who asked you to work the extra 2 hours per week? Does your contract state start/end times?

Ask on OT as well - it's really picked up recently and someone there may well have some knowledge.

I dont actually work in employment law but did part of my training contract in that department.

If your boss has asked you to work those hours and you havent been paid for them i.e. it isnt your error that you've worked the wrong hours, then the best thing to do is work out your hourly rate and times it by the excess hours you've worked to work out how much they owe you. Then write a letter to your boss/the head of the company/HR explaining what has gone wrong and how much they owe you. Make the tone relaxed, but make sure they know that if they dont pay you'll be contacting a solicitor but hope it doesnt come to that. Putting it in writing is a MUST in case you do have to take it further.

Thing is, a solicitor will probably charge you £150+ to do a standard letter to them, so if you think they are reasonable people just do the letter yourself. If you think they'll need a letter from a solicitor to scare them into paying its worth paying the extra to get your money.

A letter should do the trick unless they are completely unreasonable people - in which case its the small claims court (County Court).

HTH

xxx

You need to look at your contract/handbook and see what it says regarding working hours. Many times it may only state a minimum and have a caveat in there to work what is necessary to do the job.

That's pretty brief as to be honest any lawyer/legal advisor would need more info than that to give advice.

What did you qualify into Mrs B?

Criminal! So obviously very different from Employment!

The above was meant as VERY general advice - it obviously depends on your contracted hours and whether you are on a salary/hourly rate etc. But I always find a letter first usually does the trick!

xxxx

Was just curious - not having a dig, sorry if it came across that way. I actually qualify tomorrow hence my reason for asking!

Well it was just the hours i was asked to work as 5 half days

so never been asked to work the extra hours

x

Oh no I didnt take it that way at all - it just made me think that I dont ACTUALLY know what I'm talking about! He he!

What are you going to qualify into? xxx

Are you including breaks in your calculation of hours?

Problem is thats quite non-specific. I think it might be better to speak to someone in HR to clarify it for you. If you dont have HR then speak to your boss about it and see what they say. If I was only being paid for 20 hours then I would only work 20 hours and would want it sorted asap!

xxx

Employment ;o)

There could be a totally innocent explanation. As advised here I'd speak to HR as it's hard for anyone to give advice without looking at the documentation etc.

HR are your first point of call. Show them your calculations and see what they suggest. I suspect you'll just have to suck it up (depending on how much it's worth ££, I'd be inclined NOT to rock the boat with my employers, particularly if you'll be after any flexibility from them in the future). Do bring it up though, particularly if you only now want to work to rule for the 20 hours rather than 22.

Hope you get it sorted though. It may be that your 22 hours has become a requirement. If so, seek an amended contract with suitably amended remuneration, too.

I wouldn't be inclined to seek legal advice at this stage (well, seeking advice is one thing, splashing that fact around at work is another!). Regardless of how friendly your place of work, things do change the moment you mention getting a lawyer involved. Most things can be resolved amicably (and certainly more cheaply) without one! I say that both as a lawyer and a partner in my own firm dealing with lawyers in all sectors!

So your contract states 5 1/2 days? Not working hours?

As this is so non-descript and there are so many other variants like lengths of breaks, whether they are paid or unpaid, office hours etc. this is really difficult to advise on without seeing all of the paperwork.

I would mention it to HR, not formally in writing just yet, just enquire about your contract and ask for clarification on your working hours and see what they say.

Is there anything in your contract that mentions overtime? If it is anything like my company it may have a clause in it after your contracted hours that says something along the lines of "you will be expected to work the hours required to fulfill the responsibilities of your role" which basically means they don't have to pay you overtime!

Let me know what HR say...

BUMP!

How did you get on? x

Hey - congrats on qualifying GemmaLouise - I'm 2 years now and the whole thing including my training has flown by! I do medical negligence on behalf of the NHS

Alexiness - do let us know what your employer says/does - I hope it works out for you!