Employment Law & Working In A Bookies.

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Griffin

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I'm doing a bit of digging around to help a colleague of mine. He's a manager with a 40 hour contract, which states that some evening work will be required. For years now he's regularly worked far more than 40 hours a week, as most betting shop managers do. Most recently, he worked for three months without a day off except for three days at Christmas, and with absoloutly no thanks at all due to a shortage of staff h:) Yesterday he was told by the area manager that the shop is under-performing and as a result he will not get a pay rise this year. He was furious and replied that he'd been over-performing and if that was the case he was going to work strictly to his 40 hour contract. He was then told that he'd have to give three months written notice if he intended to just work the hours he's contracted to do :blink: Is that right?

Also, does anyone know if there are any laws regarding single manning? At Tote nobody had to, and I happily worked most nights last summer with another woman. The staff across the road at Ladbrokes the girls were expected to work nights on their own, and surprise surprise it was them who got robbed one evening. I'm refusing to work on my own, and if that means I lose my job I don't really care as I'm lucky enough not to need to work but I do enjoy it. My manager supports my decision and if needed he will come in and work a few hours with me because he's desperate not to lose me. He knows I'll shut the shop and go home if I'm on my own in the evenings and next week he's going to discuss single manning with the area manager.

We'd like to know where we stand before we leave and set up an independant next door :lol:
 
There are exemptions to the working hour regulations (eg journaliosts and certain catering industry jobs), though I'm not sure that bookmakers are exempt. That is easily checked.

I'm afraid that there are no laws against single-manning, though there could be health and safety implications. For instance, is a hire shop has only one member of staff in attendance, he/she would not be excpected to do electrical testing on a piece of equipment. Again, I doubt whether the chance of being robbed comes under health and safety regulations.

In the end, it all comes down to the contract of employment - does it specify exceptional hours of work and is it legal and fair?
 
Griffin - I suggest you go to a law centre or a Citizens advice bureaux with an employment advice contract from the Legal Services Commission.

Your friend's case is likely to depend on whether there is an overtime clause i.e a clause that allows his employer to require him to work overtime . The Working Time Regulations can be opted out of in certain circumstances but also require regular breaks .

Much will depend on the full facts and the contract of employment so he should take advice

It is all good reason for joining a union .
 
Bugger.....typed a longish reply & managed to lose it!!!! h:)

There are no rules on single manning although there certainly should be - it is disgusting that anyone is expected to single-man, least of all women. Betting shops are an obvious target for robberies and are often frequented by drunks who can often get violent.

As for the 40 hour contract - when I was a shop manager they made us all sign a waiver stating that we were prepared to work more than 40 hours a week if need be as by law you could not be made to work more than 40 hours a week unless you had signed the waiver. They weren't allowed to make you sign it either, but they made you understand that you'd get your P45 if you didn't - work that one out!! Anyhow, as the shops were invariably short staffed it was accepted that you had to work long hours as the area managers would really put the pressure on by saying that you had to work as there was no-one else to do it. It is a bad situation and it is about time that someone did stand up for themself and take these companies to court as they shouldn't be allowed to continually get away with it which is what happens now. Basically, staff know they have to work all hours but they also know that if they refuse to do it they will lose their job as the unspoken threat is heavily implied and as people want to keep their jobs, they do it. Hence why there have been calls for betting shop staff to be represented by unions - again, another catch 22 situation as a lot of betting companies forbid membership of unions. It is something that must be addressed, and quickly, as there is more and more racing being staged, creating more hours that shops have to be staffed.
 
You can't forbid membership of unions . Any person dismissed for joining a union would be automatically unfairly dismissed whether they had only worked one day -the usual one year requirement for unfair dismissal does not apply .
 
Ok, it's heavily discouraged then. Let's face it, companies get away with a hell of a lot by implying threats and people are too worried about losing their job to go against them.
 
25+ years ago Ladbrokes sacked and replaced almost their entire shop workforce because they went on strike over joining a union.
 
The Trade Union and Labour Relations Act 1992 - an EU inspired piece of legislation bans both closed shops and preventing an employee?worker from joining a union .

There are now rules brought in after 1997 that can force a company to recognse a union . They are far too restrictive and divide and rule is often the appraoch companies take to those seeking recognition .
 
The trouble is though James, that very few people want to go through the hassles and trauma of taking a company to court (not to mention that no matter what anyone says, and although it is wrong, prospective employers tend to take a dim view of potential employees who have taken previous employers to court) so many companies do get away with the implied threat that you do what you are told or you will be the proud recipient of a P45. I agree that it is a deplorable situation and should be rectified but unfortunately I believe it will only take strong people who are willing to take bookmakers to court to make that difference so that the guilty companies rethink their policies.
 
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