Got me by the nads contract

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
1

7 yrs, ive been driving for my firm. long haul for 4 , locals for 3. in that time i,ve done 4 sats.
our NEW transport manager decides he doesnt want to pay agencies any more money for weekend runs , the reg drivers wont volanteer for. so he brings in a weekend rota. basicaly , you,ll work a weekend shift when your told, or swap with another driver.
told him i didnt want to work weekends. he says , do em or look for a job. went above him to big manager, who says i,m obliged contracturaly to be prepared to alter shift patterns at the companies demand.whatever they may be.
if drivers arent prepared to do it, we can always replace them.
the firm i work for used to have dricers who were apreciated. now were just [zb] numbers. :imp:
i,m now looking for another job.
possibly out of haulage altogether.50 odd hrs a week for £7.15 and hour.[zb]

2 x language edit. If you have to alter it to get it past the auto censor then that is the very obvious clue it isn’t allowed

2

For £7:15 an hour I would leave on that basis , not weekend working .
Is the rate going to be increased for weekend shifts ?
I reckon the answer to that will be no :confused:

3

time and a half after 8 hrs .class c/2.thats better than some firms in notts pay. our class 1 guys get 7.60 hr .1 1/2 sats double on sundays.
may only be 1 w/end in 5 , but i work with my missus most sats.(shes a wedding photographer) and go archery on sunday mornings.
i have an in house counterbalance , so looking at training up to rtitb etc.
its little wonder that thers a shortage of drivers , when the hours are so ridiculous, the money crap, and they treat you like ■■■■
strangly , weve had four office staff , and three drivers quit in the last six months. one more office monkey (a real nice guy too)has just tendered his notice, he,s going back to forky.
48 hr working week? you try getting in any poa when you do ten to 15 local palletised drops a day.
i shall stop whinging now. sorry.

4

Its not don’t want to, its won’t be. For that money I’d be out anyway. :wink:

5

inaneredstripe:
…strangly , weve had four office staff , and three drivers quit in the last six months. one more office monkey (a real nice guy too)has just tendered his notice, he,s going back to forky.

Speaks volumes!!!

Stan

6

big manager, who says i,m obliged contracturaly to be prepared to alter shift patterns at the companies demand

Have you SEEN this contract with your signature on it?

7

I was of the impression that unless they put this in writing and get you to sign it you are only obliged to do overtime you have agreed to in your start contract, so you need to read that, (ask your personnel officer) I would think if you have agreed to a reasonable amount of overtime in that contract and worked lots of weekends in the past you will find it hard to refuse, but if on the other hand you have not worked weekends in the past I would be inclined to argue the case, and if you are prepared to lose your job, after explaining why you don’t want to work weekends, threaten to go to tribunal on the grounds of constructive unfair dismissal and offer your resignation rather than work the week ends.
Also go and see your Citizens advise bureau with a copy of your original contract of employment

8

IF there was no formal contract that you signed then what you have been doing over the past few years IS YOUR CONTRACT - this was explained to me by an expert in this field.
For example - a former employer of mine paid us for all our breaks for 5 years and then decided not to - no formal contract so in law it is deemed that the regular practice is the contract - the employer had to keep paying us for the breaks.

9

Go in and remind him that as you have not had to do weekends for the last 7 years that has become your normal working practice and any change to that is seen as a change to your contract - I can’t remember the exact terminology but is basically an implied contract and has become the usual and accepted, therefore any change would be detrimental and a claim for constructive dismissal or unfair dismissal could be brought against them.

The last company I was a TM at tried to change drivers working hours and this is what I was told by their HR guru.

10

smcaul:
Go in and remind him that as you have not had to do weekends for the last 7 years that has become your normal working practice and any change to that is seen as a change to your contract - I can’t remember the exact terminology but is basically an implied contract and has become the usual and accepted, therefore any change would be detrimental and a claim for constructive dismissal or unfair dismissal could be brought against them.

The last company I was a TM at tried to change drivers working hours and this is what I was told by their HR guru.

the company could offer a pay rise / change of conditions ie dont sign a 90 day notice you re sacked /made yourself redundant

11

smcaul:
Go in and remind him that as you have not had to do weekends for the last 7 years that has become your normal working practice and any change to that is seen as a change to your contract - I can’t remember the exact terminology but is basically an implied contract and has become the usual and accepted, therefore any change would be detrimental and a claim for constructive dismissal or unfair dismissal could be brought against them.

It’s called accepted custom and practice.

Try these links

http://www.yourpeoplemanager.com/YUq-b3xoTX_-WA.html

http://www.yourpeoplemanager.com/YX4zNRY.html

This part is interesting:

It is unsafe to simply notify employees that the contract will be varied without their agreement, particularly if the changes lack immediate impact such as a change to pension rights or sickness benefits.

The only safe option is to dismiss all employees who refuse to consent (on proper notice) and immediately offer to re-hire them on the new terms. This is, obviously, hugely damaging to staff morale and employers should think carefully before embarking down this route.

Plainly, any employee who does not wish to accept the changes will have a claim for unfair dismissal (subject to establishing one year’s continuity of employment). Indeed, there is no reason why an employee should not be able to accept the new job but claim unfair dismissal in respect of the old one, from which they have been dismissed.

If, however, the employer can demonstrate a ‘good, sound business reason’ for the change, it is likely to be able to establish some other substantial reason for dismissal. If a proper procedure has been gone through, including consultation and inviting voluntary agreement, the dismissal is likely to be fair.

However, if the changes do not have any negative financial impact on the employees, tribunals will usually be willing to accept that dismissal for refusal to agree is fair.

At tribunal the following factors will influence whether the dismissal is deemed fair or unfair:

Even if the dismissals are found to be unfair, the employee may well be found to have failed to mitigate their losses if they refused the job offer on the new terms. The tribunal will, however, normally award the basic award in full. Knowing this, employers and employees sometimes agree cash sweeteners calculated by reference to the basic award formula in exchange for accepting changes in terms of employment.

12

i have a copy of my contract. i knew it required a “reasonable amount of overtime” . theres also a little clause at the bottom that says we may have to
" be prepared to change shift pattern to accomodate the companies needs."
theyre using it unfairly , but short of letting them sack me for refusal ,i,m pretty much stuffed.
on the phone . spoke to our ops manager he told me very nicely in office speak, even tho he has sympathy for my plight , he has to make the company a functioning concern and staff can always be replaced.
just confirmed how far downhill the company has gone. 5 yrs ago, the gaffer new every driver by first name and his working preferences/hobbies / required number of [zb] a day… now they dont give a [zb]
as hes put my bloodpressure thru the roof , i,m now off sick with a doctors note for two weeks. took it in this morning and handed it to said TM. barstewrd just said “ta” and walked back to his chair. never even asked me how i was.

now looking or a new job.

Yet another language edit. If it needs altering to get it past the auto censor that is the clue it isn’t allowed. Please have another look at the rules you agreed to when you joined the forum.

13

how much overtime a week do you do currently

14

i now do sundays as part of my working week and you do get used to it, even geting up at 1 oclock sun morn , who the ■■■■ am i trying to convince :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: , dont do it

15

Just take your time longer it takes the more you make

16

I couldn’t help noticing this:

inaneredstripe:
and go archery on sunday mornings.

…and this…

inaneredstripe

Location: notts

Does that nasty Sheriff still make you Notts guys go to archery every Sunday :question:

inaneredstripe:
i shall stop whinging now. sorry.

But seriously, it’s not whinging mate, it sounds like they’re not good to work for. :smiling_imp:
You shouldn’t have to put up with all that, the others voted with their feet, so methinks it’s time for you to go too. :wink:

There’s another firm out your way, Robin someone or other…likes archers…pays better too :wink:

17

no, the sherrif doesnt insist on the archery practice. just for fun. i want a photo of our TM, to put on the target. :smiley:
ok . still off sick till friday next week 23rd. then in mo tu, holiday ( booked ages ago ) wed thu fri. ( minor op in hospital for my mrs)
meanwhile next monday/tuesday i,m doing my rtitb counterbalance flt at a local centre (£250) . wed i have an interview for a job thru a recruitment agency.(turns out a freind of mine works there. local work 6 til 2 or 3. £8.55 ph.
we shall see what happens. throws his weight around now. he gets his [ZB] notice. :smiling_imp:
oh and thanks for the support guys.

(This site has an Auto-censor, write the word out fully, if it isn’t allowed it’ll be auto-censored. If you don’t like that, use a different word. DONOT try to bypass the auto-censor. A Mod will catch it and add notes onto your post, like this one :unamused: Simon)

18

apologies for the naughty words , and i work about 50 hrs a week. not including my 45,s.not excessive by transport standards, but i think it should qualify as REASONBLE amount of overtime, for 7YRS on a 40 hr basic week.
EU? 48 hour working week ?. AHAHAHAHAHAHA

19

who is this then inaneredstripe

it it rts by chance

20

prefer not to say as thats also a sackable offence. discussing anything to do with company policy with non company personell :open_mouth: . if i get the new job, i,ll happily spill the beans.
small notts based logistics company . formally in nottingham, now mansfield area.