The 'Flexability' Trap

[farmer69]

Hi,

I very nearly fell into this trap today ! Now, for my sins ( ) I agreed to be 'flexable' yesterday, when I advised my manager I'd only be working my contracted hours......by going over by 30 mins on wednesday, and thefore starting 15 mins later thursday & friday. Now, it's a crazy thing for them to do (un-synchronizes internal missorts, redirections and demoralises me cos I'm even later out the office than everyone else) but, that's management for you. And then , I just get 15 mins less work done today / tomoz, before I cut off

Now, heres the important bit. I'm on a 25 hr / week contract, attendance 10am til 3pm.
Cos i'm a retard, I currently start at 8.30 (and finish at 13.30) to minimise the above issues.....
So I starts today at 08.45, with a view to cutting off at 13.30, having taken my full entitlement of 30 mins Meal Relief

Fortunately, whilst mulling the bullshit coming out of RM, whilst out on delivery, the penny dropped !

My attendance today & tomorrow will only be 4 hrs 45 mins and therefore, Meal Relief is only due to be 20 mins

I'm quite sure, had I taken 30 mins and left the office DEAD ON TIME, the buggers would've tried to say I'd not worked 10 mins that I am paid ! God only knows what they'd try saying if i'd miss-judged cutting off, and ended up claiming a few mins o/t, maybe say it was fraudulent claim??????

Maybe I'm paranoid, but, watch your backs, folks, esp if, by being 'flexable' it changes the amount of Meal Relief you're due...............

[Lounge Lizard]

- and remember 'Flexibility' only works one way.

[Hitcher]

If your finish time is 3pm then, no matter what time you come in, you have to work up to that time. So there's no way you can turn around and say you're cutting off at 13.30.

[kt606]

Dont come in earlier than your official start time.... if your contracted hours are not allowing you to do your job properly, then its up to your manager to sort this out

[postietaz]

so if your employer keeps giving an unwokanle work load and chooses to stick his head up his arse its contructive dismissal or rectify the problem and listen to the person its affecting

[pokos27]

work you hours dont come in early, and never go back to the office early.

[fishtank]

Since flexibility is a request and therefore can only be applied through agreement then the circumstances and time of the "payback" should also be by agreement.
Tell them coming in 15 minutes later is unacceptable to you...ask to finish 30 minutes early on a saturday.
Swings and roundabouts not swings and swings.

[farmer69]

If your finish time is 3pm then, no matter what time you come in, you have to work up to that time. So there's no way you can turn around and say you're cutting off at 13.30.

I understand what/why you're saying that, but I have been, on and off, for 6 months or more, with no manergerial recriminations (afterall, I have worked 5 hours ) other than being an unpopular bugger. That goes for some of my colleagues too, not understanding why I won't do the overtime, either :-(

Since flexibility is a request and therefore can only be applied through agreement then the circumstances and time of the "payback" should also be by agreement.
Tell them coming in 15 minutes later is unacceptable to you...ask to finish 30 minutes early on a saturday.
Swings and roundabouts not swings and swings.

Saturday is my day off but, yes, will do that in future, if I choose to be 'flexible'

I did 30 mins o/t today, so, of course, I had my usual 30 mins break entitlement (cos my attendance was 5 hrs 15 mins)

[Flashman_]

When this came in originally in our office management insisted it was compulsory and if they said you have to do it, then you had to do it. Since then people have learned that it was not that simple and refused it(usually with grounds). Now the management seem to have given up even asking at all for some time.

[Talell]

You'd be due your full meal relief since, "there is no change to the contracted hours".

Basically, it's business as usual for you except for the modified start finish times

[motherhubbard]

You'd be due your full meal relief since, "there is no change to the contracted hours".

If that was the case it would also apply to people on o/t.
A 5hr/day contract is due a 30 minute break.
If he does 3hrs o/t "there is no change to the contracted hours". Are you saying they wouldn't be due a 40 minute meal relief?

[fishtank]

Breaks are based on length of attendance...not contracted hours so if you attend for less than 5hrs you would lose 10 minutes of your break.
It wasn't well thought out the flexibility thing...even reading the agreement it appears cobbled together as an afterthought.
Who uses "swings and roundabouts" in an agreement?

[dvbuk55]

I work 5 hours a day and have always maintained that the meal relief is just twenty minutes up to 5 hours and you have to work over 5 hours for 30 minutes - if I'm wrong then I'm owed 6 years @ 10 minutes for every working day - that would be nice.

[fishtank]

I work 5 hours a day and have always maintained that the meal relief is just twenty minutes up to 5 hours and you have to work over 5 hours for 30 minutes - if I'm wrong then I'm owed 6 years @ 10 minutes for every working day - that would be nice.

3 hours 31 to 4 hours 59......20 mins
5 hours to 7 hours..............30 mins

[motherhubbard]

http://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/communit ... 36&t=22175" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It definitely says 5hrs = 30 minute meal relief.
They don't like it though and virtually every new manager we have had has maintained it is 5hr 1min until they are shown the evidence.
I'm sure when they introduced 25hr contracts they believed it was 20 minutes. A 24hr 55 minute contract would have got them an extra 20 minutes work/day.