Bosses: bastards

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Joseph Kay's picture
Joseph Kay
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Joined: 14-03-06
Sep 26 2008 09:59
Bosses: bastards

A couple of months back i posted up here about being made to do unpaid overtime. At the time, workloads were high (50 deals a day) and we (the 3 workers in our dept) were being expected to work through lunch (1 hr) and work an hour or and an hour and a half late, for nothing, to clear the work.

We all got together and talked about it, one of my workmates got a better paying job and handed in her notice, and the other two of us decided to tell the boss our workload was unsustainable. He fobbed us off saying it was just a temporary busy spell, then next week changed the procedures we follow to drastically reduce workload. So we basically won a small victory, and the boss was trying not to lose face.

Yesterday, one of our rival companies pulled out of the market and we saw a massive spike in business (back up to 50 deals in a day, but with one less member of staff since they didn't replace the girl who left). We decided we'd continue our de facto work to rule established after the last episode, and take our full hour lunches. I was on lunch first (we have to take staggered breaks), and soon enough the boss said 'JK, which deal are you looking at?', so i just said 'i'm just on my lunch', and got an evil stare. My workmate did the same (took her full break, not the evil stare).

Then got in this morning and we were both called into a meeting with the boss and told in no uncertain terms it's not acceptable to take our lunch breaks on occasional busy days. Now obviously that's illegal (30 mins is legal requirement, 1 hr unpaid is in our contracts), but that doesn't really help. Of course the reason we've been making sure we take our breaks and leave on time is precisely because last time we gave an inch they took a mile.

Not really sure where to go from here; they'll struggle to discipline us for taking our contracted breaks, but we're both due for pay reviews next month. Obviously there's going to be a lot of pressure put on us to 'put ourselves out for the team'... does anyone have any experience with doing (informal) work-to-rules? Any suggestions? Any good arguments that have worked with co-workers or stumped bosses?

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darren p's picture
darren p
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Joined: 5-07-06
Sep 26 2008 11:15

You could go through a formal collective grievance procedure, as you probably know. I could you a template letter if you choose to do this. Though I guess It's a case of working out which approach will be most affective.

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posi
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Joined: 24-09-05
Sep 26 2008 12:10

Any chance for connecting with workers in other departments?

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jef costello's picture
jef costello
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Joined: 9-02-06
Sep 26 2008 12:20

You might want to check on MATB there was a good thread about this.
iirc someone said that once you start doing something not in your contract they can argue that it's expected and you can be disciplined for it.

In terms of the pay review, how much do you need it, how much are you likely to get and is it likely to be anything like making 1-2.5 hours a day extra worth it?

Look in the staff handbook, that's always a good start.

You can also have a look and see if there is anything in there about staff support for stress. If you ask HR about getting stress counselling through work there's a good chance that they'll leak it to your boss and he might back off. The last he'll need is you going off sick.

If you both stick to your guns then you should be fine, although you might lose out on the pay review (but honestly at this point in time they're not likely to give you much are they?)

edit: I had a look but couldn't find it, maybe ask wraeth?
Also, is there a chance you could get time off in lieu? Off course get that in writing before you do it.

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Joseph Kay's picture
Joseph Kay
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Sep 26 2008 12:54
darren p wrote:
You could go through a formal collective grievance procedure, as you probably know. I could you a template letter if you choose to do this. Though I guess It's a case of working out which approach will be most affective.

It's something to consider, but it's a small business and the bosses take these things personally, so we'd probably be victimised. Not been here 6 months yet so i don't even think i'd get much legal cover if they just sacked me. Which brings us to...

posi wrote:
Any chance for connecting with workers in other departments?

potentially. i get the train with a lot of them and we all get on, and have similar general gripes although the specifics differ, of course. The reason our informal work-to-rule has just been the two of us so far is cos conspiring has proved easiest since we work so closely together (and i guess have confidence we're both doing it, not 'scabbing' on each other, since we sit next to each other). This is something i'll try to persue, we've got a works drinks tonight so i'll wait for the bosses to leave and see what people have to say. Any tips on this much appreciated, like good ways to present all our particular problems as part of a collective problem with the bosses...

jef costello wrote:
iirc someone said that once you start doing something not in your contract they can argue that it's expected and you can be disciplined for it.

i think that's correct, but we should be ok on these grounds since it was a supposed 'one off' few weeks/month before and now they're telling us to work through lunch only 'on busy days.' if they try and impose that, i think we'd both be pissed off enough to quit, and the threat of us both quitting at the same would leave them pretty fucked. high risk though.

jef costello wrote:
In terms of the pay review, how much do you need it,

pretty bad, the job was advertised at '£16-£18k' temp to perm through the agency, as they knew my previous agency job salary (under £14k) they offered me the minimum, and i took the job with the condition it would go up on completion of my probationary period.

jef costello wrote:
how much are you likely to get... (but honestly at this point in time they're not likely to give you much are they?)

my workmate gets £19k to do the same work (she has 1 more year experience than me, but less relevant qualifications and the same responsibilities, so we're pretty equal in terms of what we do). I was basically told it'd go up to £18k. as you suggest what they're actually going to offer is another question, they'll plead poverty cos of the credit crunch, forgetting i've seen the pretty healthy balance sheet via my mate in accounts black bloc

jef costello wrote:
is it likely to be anything like making 1-2.5 hours a day extra worth it?

nowhere near. the directors don't pull those kind of hours on their salaries + fat dividends, so fuck that, 40hrs a week of dead time is plenty.

jef costello wrote:
Look in the staff handbook, that's always a good start.

You can also have a look and see if there is anything in there about staff support for stress. If you ask HR about getting stress counselling through work there's a good chance that they'll leak it to your boss and he might back off. The last he'll need is you going off sick.

that's definitely something to bear in mind, but it's a very small company and the HR 'dept' (one woman) is very matey with the directors.

jef costello wrote:
Also, is there a chance you could get time off in lieu? Off course get that in writing before you do it.

could be a 'compromise' position, but unlikely since the point is we're so busy and they want us working more (overtime has to be signed off in advance, and you can't know the workload in advance so we can't get overtime pay). although it would play to their argument they only want us to do it occasionally on busy days.

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Jason Cortez
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Joined: 14-11-04
Sep 27 2008 16:58

I would say stick to your guns the two of you and wait until after the pay review before really making any serious attempts to develop broader resistance. Keep your head down when trying to organise and don't appear to slack off esp until your probationary is up. (unless of course if you don't care if you keep the job)