Why should he be in the building if he's not being paid to be there?
Let me start this by saying that I am not in the ops position, I have an office type role, I can basically turn up whenever as long as the work gets done, so this isn't borne of me being in the same position as the op.
That said, I have been in similar positions in the past. Previously in a service desk role, we were officially paid from 9 onwards, but we would generally get there a few minutes early to start up the PC and get logged onto the phones before the desk opened. Nothing official, it was just what needed to happen, so we did it. After a time, someone decided that this left a gap where people could turn up to close to the hour and not be logged on till a few minutes past, so they decided to make it official. We were called into a meeting room and told that we were officially required to be there 15 minutes before the start of the shift. I asked if we would be compensated for the additional half a day per month that this worked out to and was told no, that it was our problem, so I pointed out that our contracts specifically stated working hours and if they were going to take that attitude, we could simply start turning up bang on the hour and that no calls would get answered until 5 past 9.
Now I know that if I hadn't had my service desk job, I would be agreeing with most of you that op should just deal with it, but when you are in a low paid, **** job, respect is one of the things that matters. To be treated badly, even if it is as simple as trying to extract 2 extra unpaid minutes a day from you under the threat of disciplinary action, is extremely gauling. I'm sure most of us have had to work through the **** layer of the corporate ladder, and when your there, such things are important to you. As much as anything else, while this one change might not be big, they can add up quickly in my experience until a **** job turns into a nightmare job.
To op: this comes down to how big a fight you are willing to make. They can fire you, the law can't stop that, and if you choose you can take them to tribunal. It will cost and this is by no means a clear cut case. It sounds like you are in the **** job stage of your career. Unless they are really taking the ****, the best advise is to accept it for what it is and do your best to move up the ladder, or move on, asap.
.. I do understand the situation you're in and how it may be stressful, sorry if I sounded harsh.
