Employment law question

[happy_highlander]

Ok my question is this I started work at 8am ish finished around 4pm was then called out to work again at 7.30pm and got home again around 9pm. Does this constitute a 13 hour working day meaning a can't do any other work without 11 hours consecutive break. Yes I have opted out of the 48hr week but do know my employer has kept no records of weeks where 48 hrs have been exceeded. I have now been suspended while an investigation is carried as to why I didn't attend a job that came in just after midnight. The reason being I was asleep. I get no pay for covering out of hours except for a percentage of any work carried out.
Sorry for the long post folks.

[digicon]

Not too sure on this one but if you opted out then as long as you have reasonable break periods they can pretty much have you at work : Working time limits (the 48-hour week) | nidirect, Like i say Not 100% sure but in this sort of circumstance is when Union's come in handy

[happy_highlander]

I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter if you have opted in or out you still need to have 11 hours consecutive rest between shifts as it is capped at a maximum of 60 hrs per week if you have opted out which makes it 6 12 hour shifts because you should have at least 1 day rest per week

[digicon]

Like i said HH not 100% on this sort of employment law as being self employed for so long you lose grasp of what is right and wrong so to speak, but from your case if your on call 24 hours then your working day starts at Midnight so if you start work at 8 you already have had 8 hours form midnight finish at 4 and start again at 7:30 is another 3.5 hours which totals 11.5 in that working day not consecutive i know but still 11.5 plus the time from 9pm onwards and i assume you had at least a 20 minute break in your standard shift.

Perhaps a member who is a HGV driver who i know some work all week delivering and only have the standard breaks by law which is recorded on taco so they may be able to give you an idea on it.

[happy_highlander]

I see where your coming from but is not 24 hr all the time only that day the 24 hrs start at 8 am but I do not finish at 8am the next day. I am required to carry out my normal shift from 8am that day or I do not get paid for normal shift. Hgv drivers have different working laws m8. What I really need to know is does the work that is carried out in the evening get classed as same shift due to no 11 hr consecutive break. Regarding the 20min break I only get paid while on site not driving from job to job so I do not get any paid break so to speak unless I earn less than nmw over 40 hrs which is what they class as fall back wage. I am generally passed this point by tuesday evening. So essentially no I don't get paid to have a break on Wednesday Thursday or Friday

[digicon]

As far as i can tell your employer can do what they want if you have no union, I worked in a Union place for over 15 years and everything had to go through the union including working hours and breaks. If you have no Union your screwed which means your trying to go up against your employer yourself with no backing and in this day and age every employer who does not have a union can pretty much hire and fire at will and then deal with the tribunal consequences later.

I have seen the Temp industry explode over the last 20 years and people wonder why

[skydive80]

Speak to these guys, employment law for free http://www.acas.org.uk

[happy_highlander]

They aren't too bad most of the time but the service can differ greatly depending on who answers the phone