Change of employment conditions

gookah said:
You are the employee, they are the employer..
that basically means your stuffed, nowadays they can do what the hell they like, and frequently do.

Many small business owners would argue the EXACT opposite.
 
nicko said:
consider also the European Working Time Directive


this thought crossed my mind whilst i was tossing and turning all night, i will have to look into them

i also worked out that for 128 hours on call I will get £100 gross, this is slave pay
 
Isn't the £100 not just the stand by pay and any hour worked additional earnings as overtime?
 
as far a I know an employer can change your contract given 13 weeks notice at any time - its shite and maybe someone could confirm this
 
As much as this will pi** a lot of poeple off - and as hard as it not to moan about work.....you drive a very nice Z4, and have a job, have money to put petrol in your car - am sure there are at least 1 millions people alone in this country who would LOVE to be in your situation....so either suck it up or don't......either way mate, you're a lot lot lot better off than the 2.5 million people unemployed....
 
doofus4000 said:
as far a I know an employer can change your contract given 13 weeks notice at any time - its shite and maybe someone could confirm this
They have to notify you of the intention to change it at least 3 months/13 weeks before the change comes into effect.

BUT, if you're contract doesn't have the pertinent clauses in it they can't (legally) force you to accept to the new contract - it has to be agreed by both parties.

If they do force you to do a role/function that is outside of your contract, and you are in all effect forced out of the job, then you have grounds for a constructive dismissal case.

This is why many new contracts are deliberately vague in their job descriptions, roles, function, capabilities, expectations - so that when a company goes from 12hr day/night shifts to 8hr early/late/night shifts they will be covered by something in around "shifts will be based around business needs", and the flat rate (which looks attractive when you're on the day shifts) suddenly becomes less attractive because you're in a 6am/2pm/10pm instead of 9am/9pm and your social life suffers.

Unfortunately, most people don't read their contracts very well, if at all, and only complain when there are changes afoot.
 
mmm-five said:
doofus4000 said:
as far a I know an employer can change your contract given 13 weeks notice at any time - its shite and maybe someone could confirm this
They have to notify you of the intention to change it at least 3 months/13 weeks before the change comes into effect.

BUT, if you're contract doesn't have the pertinent clauses in it they can't (legally) force you to accept to the new contract - it has to be agreed by both parties.

If they do force you to do a role/function that is outside of your contract, and you are in all effect forced out of the job, then you have grounds for a constructive dismissal case.

This is why many new contracts are deliberately vague in their job descriptions, roles, function, capabilities, expectations - so that when a company goes from 12hr day/night shifts to 8hr early/late/night shifts they will be covered by something in around "shifts will be based around business needs", and the flat rate (which looks attractive when you're on the day shifts) suddenly becomes less attractive because you're in a 6am/2pm/10pm instead of 9am/9pm and your social life suffers.

Unfortunately, most people don't read their contracts very well, if at all, and only complain when there are changes afoot.

+1 :thumbsup:

...and joyful statements along the lines of " shall stay on for any time needed to complete a piece of work"....

One of the main reasons I took VR when it was offered was because I was fecked off working in an environment (IT) where people thought their importance/worth was measured by the amount of time they spent in the office. I was all for working a bit extra to hit a deadline but when people start doing all-nighters just so they can be a 'hero', and dragging unwilling participants into it, it just says to me "here are people that either (i) can't do their job, (ii) manage other peoples expectations or (iii) stand up for themselves against bullying management".

It was time for me to leave...... :)

Hows about you give us a bit of a summary about what you do and in what sector and you might get somne very useful suggestions... :thumbsup:
 
Nickm said:
As much as this will pi** a lot of poeple off - and as hard as it not to moan about work.....you drive a very nice Z4, and have a job, have money to put petrol in your car - am sure there are at least 1 millions people alone in this country who would LOVE to be in your situation....so either suck it up or don't......either way mate, you're a lot lot lot better off than the 2.5 million people unemployed....


yes i agree, i am far better off than a lot of people, even so its not in my nature to bend over, given chance i would take the w4nkers outside and ....... well lets leave it at that
 
Good response mate.....don't mean you any disrespect, we all like to feel valued, but times as they are, everyone wants more from us, because the demands at all levels are a lot higher....
 
mikedav said:
gookah said:
You are the employee, they are the employer..
that basically means your stuffed, nowadays they can do what the hell they like, and frequently do.

Many small business owners would argue the EXACT opposite.

I'm afraid in many ways you are entirely correct.

Draconian employment legislation unfortunately though means that the more you are a bad employee/p*ss taker/chancer, the more the law supports you. There is plainly absurd bias against an employer who wants to get rid of one of these types (we've all worked next to them - take sickies, don't pull their weight, go early...etc, and always get away with it..),

Yet legislation overwhelmingly supports the employer who doesn't play fair with the good employee - as Taz x is finding-out.

Just another example of the Lunatics running the Asylum in this country :evil:
 
Taz x said:
nicko said:
consider also the European Working Time Directive


this thought crossed my mind whilst i was tossing and turning all night, i will have to look into them

i also worked out that for 128 hours on call I will get £100 gross, this is slave pay


You could have had £100 for that sleepless night amongst others :D , cos that's also what being on call does, £100 retainer means you can't live your own life for that week and your home life is owned by the company, doesn't matter that they pay you if you attend, its the waiting hours that get to you.
In a previous job I kept waking in the night looking at the clock to see how close it was to being able to finally relax. attending was the easy bit. It is actually easier to work the nightshift.
I had the argument ' Oh its money, even if you don't get called, but to me it was a week of my life lost. I hated it and won't do it again.

I left my last job as Maintenance Manager in an automotive trim manufacturing company, to look after my terminally ill mum. When she passed away 7 months later I was offered my job back again, but the T&C's had changed.
I was now 'allowed' a phone that "I could take home", but I would be on call to manage the maintenance function 24/7/365, "even from my house" which was 35 miles away. If I couldn't get anyone else to attend,I would have to turn up myself, or turn up anyway if it was serious enough No travel expenses but time off in lieu, for the time I am there. if it was a 10 minute fix, 2 hours driving and 10 mins Time off in lieu...
Their answer to "so that means I can never have a drink in case I have to attend ?" was that "we don't think you would be called out too often", and I said "but I have to be able to drive just in case".. "well we wouldn't expect anyone to drive over the limit"
£2k extra on the salary or £38 a week for on call.
Needless to say, I remain unemployed and the job is still being advertised.

As much as people on here say the Employers don't have enough rights, they will force it on you, all you can do is try and get more for doing it, or leave, trouble is there are already people there who will try it, and then that weakens your case and it will be you who is seen as being 'negative towards change'
Unfortunately laws only protect the bad workers.

Contracts nowadays should read.

Terms and Conditions of Employment.
The Company now control you, you will do whatever we want, whenever we like.
By signing here, you accept the above conditions. :headbang:
 
I've been on-call for 15 years (i think), but it's always been in a rota between 3-5 people (currently 4)
We have what I think is a reasonably generous system, and it's always been optional.
There's a pot of, say, 60% which is shared between the number of people on the rota
so with 4 people, they each get 15% added to their basic salary
then a fixed £ per call-out, unless the time taken to resolve it is above x hours, then you claim overtime

it's a bit more complicated as there are 2 separate rotas, weekday and weekend.

Years ago when I was younger, we used to get loads of call-outs, and I was glad of the extra money.
Nowadays we don't get so many, and now I'm glad of that too.
I've been lucky :D
 
Draconian employment legislation unfortunately though means that the more you are a bad employee/p*ss taker/chancer, the more the law supports you. There is plainly absurd bias against an employer who wants to get rid of one of these types

An illustration:

A guy I know employed a woman in her forties who was arrested and prosecuted for claiming benefits while working. FSA regulations stated she could not legally work in his accounts department anymore, so he quietly offered her a role in customer services - at her much higher pay rate - rather than making her redundant. She took him to tribunal, and won. The tribunal agreed the law was contradictory in this case but sorry, he cannot force her to change jobs. She got a settlement AND turns up to work every day as if nothing happened.
 
You haven't said how often you have to do your week on call.

When I was working, I had to do one in six, which wasn't that bad :) .....except in winter, when it was a bastard. :cry:
 
MalcZ4 said:
You haven't said how often you have to do your week on call

I would only have to be on call every 4 or 5 weeks, depends how many engineers get bullied into it, but its irrelevant how often or not i would be on call, i just don't want to do it, thats not why i accepted the job 5 years ago
 
On call is a major change to your working pattern and unless they are a really slippery outfit (most I.T firms are) you should not feel as if it's a forgone conclusion mate.
My wife had something similar with BT and basically said No it will upset my life/work balance and the amount payable is not enough to warrant such a change in working conditions.

With DSG when I first started on call we got £340 for the week and time+half for any callout plus travelling costs. Se did a 1 in 4 rota and if we were in all night we claimed the overtime AND got paid for the next day.
I've not had anything that good since hence why I don't do on call. Mind you I'm a freelance IT consultant these days so it's a tad expensive for them to ask me to do on call :)

Pete
 
wheelie said:
With DSG when I first started on call we got £340 for the week and time+half for any callout plus travelling costs. Se did a 1 in 4 rota and if we were in all night we claimed the overtime AND got paid for the next day.
Pete

I pretty much have same arrangement. 100 quid is a joke.
 
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