Unpaid work - Is this allowed?

IS7Doji

IS7Doji

IS7Doji

Associate
Joined
14 May 2008
Posts
136
Hi,

I have a friend who works part-time on a 16 hour contract for there local store (which provides games/consoles etc cant say name due to rules but we can guess what it is) They love working there since it is part time and takes there mind of uni studies and has been working for them for near enough 4 years and they get treated like crap

Lately they been moaning about having to stay after 6pm to tidy up the shop for the next without getting paid for it, i raised the question of they shouldnt have to stay if they arent getting paid for it (sometimes it can take an hour to tidy) and they replied with i have to work it otherwise i will get fired and have to find a new job which i think is classed as unfair dissmisal.

Anyone got any views on if this should be allowed? the only thing that came into my head is TOA/S on applying for the job

Kind regards
 
They can't force you to stay if you don't get paid for it, and yes it would be unfair dissmissal if they sack you over it.
 
Yes it's allowed, working unpaid overtime is often expected of employees. The only legislation that applies in this area is the working time directive however since your friend is only part time it won't apply to this case.
 
Another point to consider:

Not sure how close your mate will be to the minimum wage, but if working the extra hours takes him under it then he has a claim.
 
Jokester said:
They can put what they like in their contract, legally you can't force someone to do unpaid work.
Click to expand...
The information on the Direct.gov website here seems to indicate otherwise.
Direct.gov said:
There's no legal right to pay for working extra hours, and there are no minimum statutory levels of overtime pay, although your average pay rate must not fall below the National Minimum Wage. Your contract of employment should include details of overtime pay rates and how they are worked out.
Click to expand...
Direct.gov said:
Can you be forced to work overtime, or stopped from doing so?

Your contract of employment should include the conditions for working overtime. You only have to work overtime if your contract says so.
Click to expand...
Based on that, have him check his contract. I suspect if he's working in a shop his pay rate may be falling below the national minimum wage.
 
As far as I know at the moment in UK and most of Europe it is not legal to work unpaid overtime. In terms of part time situation I believe there is a legal precedence accepted by European Courts in Voss v Land Berlin making unpaid overtime for part-time workers unlawful.
Your employer doesn't have to pay you extra or pay double for it if contract doesn't specify it, but the arrangement has to be along the lines of

- offer you lieu time in exchange for overtime
- pay below your hourly rate, but not below national minimum hourly wage for extra hours.
 
Last edited:
v0n said:
As far as I know at the moment in UK and most of Europe it is not legal to work unpaid overtime.
Click to expand...

This is not true for full-time employees in the UK.

You may have a point for part-time employees, will depend on his contract as other people have been saying.
 
PMKeates said:
The information on the Direct.gov website here seems to indicate otherwise.Based on that, have him check his contract. I suspect if he's working in a shop his pay rate may be falling below the national minimum wage.
Click to expand...

Based on that it sounds to me like it's saying "the employer isn't legally required to pay the employee if they choose to work extra hours", not "they can force the employee to work extra unpaid hours if it's in the contract"
 
Spike560 said:
This is not true for full-time employees in the UK.

You may have a point for part-time employees, will depend on his contract as other people have been saying.
Click to expand...
As far as I'm aware it applies to both full-time and part-time staff. If a member of staff doesn't get paid overtime he/she effectively gets paid less for the amount of work done, and hence is discriminatory under EU law.
 
D D Danneh said:
Based on that it sounds to me like it's saying "the employer isn't legally required to pay the employee if they choose to work extra hours", not "they can force the employee to work extra unpaid hours if it's in the contract"
Click to expand...
Why's that?

I see two non-exclusive statements:
  • There's no legal right to pay for working extra hours.
  • You only have to work overtime if your contract says so.
Thusly, if your contract says you may have to work unpaid overtime, then you may have to work it!
Jokester said:
As far as I'm aware it applies to both full-time and part-time staff. If a member of staff doesn't get paid overtime he/she effectively gets paid less for the amount of work done, and hence is discriminatory under EU law.
Click to expand...
What aspect of the situation would make it discrimination? Maybe unfair, but not exactly discriminatory.
 
As he is likely to be hourly paid, the amount of pay has to reflect exactly the amount of hours actually worked, otherwise the company is in breach of contract for not fulfilling his stated rate of pay. This becomes unlawful, if he falls below the minimum wage (which is highly likely). He can claim unfair dismissal in either case. If however, he is paid a set amount for the 16 hours work then again he has to look at his contract to see if it is "job and finish", in other words, all stipulated duties must be complete before you clock off. (this can work in your favour if you finish early).
 
Jokester said:
If a member of staff doesn't get paid overtime he/she effectively gets paid less for the amount of work done, and hence is discriminatory under EU law.
Click to expand...

Does this apply to salary paid employees? The vast majoriy of salary paid employees work significant overtime in my industry. They are surely not being "discriminated against" if they work overtime without compensation?

Not arguing, just want to know how that is explained.
 
If you get paid by the hour then you work by the hour. I'd lulz in their face if they made me stay an hour unpaid to clean up.
 
scorza said:
Yes it's allowed, working unpaid overtime is often expected of employees. The only legislation that applies in this area is the working time directive however since your friend is only part time it won't apply to this case.
Click to expand...

what about minimum wage legislation - if the extra free hour puts the average hourly rate below the threshold then the employer could be in hot water too
 
In my contract there is a bit that mentions something like "you will occasionaly be expected to stay longer than your contracted hours to finish important work" but it doesn't mention about it being paid or not
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom