SRL Archive - Discussions & Debates

Cheeky little story first:

Right, I've got a part time job as a sales assistant at a shop, and as a 16 year old am classed as a young worker (in the UK). Yesterday I was meant to be working from 13:00 - 17:00 (4 hours), but when I arrived I agreed with the guy in charge (assistant manager [let's call him AM]) that I would stay on working until 18:00 so I could give another guy working there a lift home, making the length of work 5 hours. I knew I was entitled to a break, but was not too sure how long, and AM was said he was only going to give me 10 minutes. I went along with it so I could find all the relevant info on my phone. Now, a little quote from direct.gov.uk

Young workers who need to work for more than four and a half hours will get a rest break of 30 minutes.

I went back to AM and said that I was entitled to 30 minutes. He said if I wanted 30 minutes he'd make me leave at 17:00 without any break, and to stay until 18:00 I'd have to make do with 10 minutes. Now for another quote

Unless your contract guarantees you overtime your employer can stop you working it. But your employer mustn't discriminate against you, or bully you, by letting others work overtime but stopping you from doing so.

I've bolded what I believe relevant. Anyway, I had my 30 minutes since I knew what I was entitled to and AM isn't above the law which caused a bit of a scene (AM swearing and threatening me with disciplinary), but I didn't do anything wrong (I think?).

I'm back at work tomorrow and the store manager is in, so I'm going to speak to him and about how AM is totally unsuitable for a managerial role, and if he doesn't do anything I'll make a formal complaint. Anyway…

Would you say he was discriminating/bullying based on the fact I knew my rights?
Do you think there's a case against him?
Did I do anything wrong?

Cheers guys.

I think you were within your rights, and bringing it to his attention that you are entitled to a 30 minute break was the right thing to do. His reaction shows he was trying to force you to break the law, which he shouldn't have done. Bring it up with the store manager, tell him the exact story and how everything played out, you will be fine.

If the store manager tries to take the side of the other person, tell him you'll make a formal complaint as that is your right to do so.

This seems like a tricky situation. I think you've done nothing wrong though. You might not have a case against him as he was exercising his right as well:

Unless your contract guarantees you overtime your employer can stop you working it.

But if he actually does discipline you for taking the 30 minutes break, you definitely have a case against him. You also have to keep in mind that it's all relative; would he give a co-worker a 30 minute break if their shift was increased by an hour?

Also:

But your employer mustn't discriminate against you, or bully you, by letting others work overtime but stopping you from doing so.

It is specifically talking about allowing overtime work, nothing to do with break time. He did allow you in the end to work overtime (whether you took the 30 minute break or not) and in the end you'll get paid for it. Once again, it's a tricky situation because it seems like things were said and he mentioned disciplining you, but if nothing happens of it he's technically not in the wrong. I'd bring it up with the store manager though, this guy obviously doesn't know your rights and is abusing his powers. I wouldn't go as far to say he is unfit for the job, but he needs some disciplining of his own.

Alright, thanks guys. Just checking to make sure that it's not me being a complete and utter b*tch, which I am a little bit I suppose, because to be totally honest I didn't desperately need the break, but it's fact that he was willing to break the law and thought he was above it, which obviously needs to be sorted out.

I'd just go along with what he says - no point arguing because the chances are you'll lose the job and at 16, I'm guessing you really need it.

Anyway, it's a very peculiar situation.

He's willing to give you 30 minutes break when you work 4 hours - meaning you are not entitled to it.
However when you are working 5 hours and are entitled to a 30 minute break, he decides not to give it to you.
Strange…

I think you should sit down and explain the above to him and he'll give you the 30 minute break in the end.

From: abu_jwka
I'd just go along with what he says - no point arguing because the chances are you'll lose the job and at 16, I'm guessing you really need it.

Anyway, it's a very peculiar situation.

He's willing to give you 30 minutes break when you work 4 hours - meaning you are not entitled to it.
However when you are working 5 hours and are entitled to a 30 minute break, he decides not to give it to you.
Strange…

I think you should sit down and explain the above to him and he'll give you the 30 minute break in the end.

I think you've misunderstood a little bit. I never get a break when I work my 4 hour shift usually due to fact I'm not entitled to it. I'm willing to stick to my guns because of two points really:

1) Like said above, I've done absolutely nothing wrong

2) The store manager considers me to be one of his best members of staff, so hopefully he'll actually listen to me

Anyway, I'll speak to the manager tomorrow and let you know how it goes :)

Sorry for the double post but I just thought I'd let you know how it all went.

I went into work early today to get a chat with the boss because he was down to leave when I started. Anyway, pretty much he agreed that I was well within my rights to do what I did and that I'd done nothing wrong. He said that AM didn't actually have to authority to say whether or not I could work the extra hour because it's not down to him to pay me, and that he also shouldn't have tried to blackmail me with the options of no overtime, or overtime with shorter than legal break. Bossman also said he completely disagreed with AM threatening me with disciplinary since it was totally inappropriate.

So, all good then!

Technically you were scheduled for 4 hours, which means any time after that he would be giving you as a kind gesture and could have easily told you you can't work till 18:00 if you want the half hour break. Personally I would have just took the ten.

From: Nietszche
Technically you were scheduled for 4 hours, which means any time after that he would be giving you as a kind gesture and could have easily told you you can't work till 18:00 if you want the half hour break. Personally I would have just took the ten.

Are you saying that overtime doesn't count as work?

I live in Ireland, maybe its just me but I've never heard of a ten minute total break… Lowest I've heard is 15, maybe that's just over here though.

Although you were within your rights, keep in mind that you made to use that business as a reference in the future, so be sure not to burn any bridges! Good on you for not chickening out though and talking to the manager.

Takes balls to do that, way to stick up for yourself. And as for a reference for the future, you and the store manager seem to get along very well, so just keep being nice to him.

From: Griff
Takes balls to do that, way to stick up for yourself. And as for a reference for the future, you and the store manager seem to get along very well, so just keep being nice to him.

Yeh he's a really nice, reasonable guy. He's not the uptight sort of manager who tells you to do all the work and sits in the office drinking, he actually gets on the tills and all that. It's all pretty much blown over now, except AM is being a bit childish. For a whole 4 hour shift he didn't say one word to me, so I'm not sure if my manager had a bit of a go or not, but it's the past now.

I had the same problem last year, the short of it was that me and a few guys complained to the authorities, the place got shut down and we all lost our jobs, be careful what you do…