Dispute over pay during Xmas period

[Malkuth]

DH worked on Xmas eve. He and all his colleagues were told by their boss that they could leave early but still get paid. This happened about 3 times over the Xmas/New Year period meaning that he worked about 9 hours less than normal. On each occassion he was already in work and was prepared to work the whole shift but was told to go home and they would shut the site. The company is now claiming that their boss was not authorised to make that decision and DH will not get paid for those hours. Can they do this?

Thanks in advance for your help.

[LoveBeingAMummy]

I wouldn't have tought so unless he was advised at the time it would be unpaid - its not your Dh fault he was at work and THEY sent him home.

[Malkuth]

Morally I agree with you but have a horrible feeling that legally they may be in the clear.

[27]

I wonder if you might have a claim against the boss - he assured your DH that he would be paid for the work.

[KingCanuteIAm]

Does he have the right to make that call?

IE is he the person who set the wages when they were hired, doe she agree pay rises etc or is there a HR department for all of that?

If there is an HR department who make decisions over pay and your DH knew this then I would say they are probably in the clear - thge emloyees should have checked with the relevant department rather than taking the bosses word for it.

If the boss makes the pay decsions usually then I think you have a case to argue with the company as it was perfectly reasonable for your DH to think that the boss could make that decision.

FWIW, it would not have occured to me to argue or check as, even with a HR department, I would have assumed that the boss was sure of his facts before telling others.

[Malkuth]

KingCanuteIAm I think you are probably right although the company is pretty shoddy in many ways and there is a culture of blame-shifting. I think that they all assumed that their boss had cleared it with the relevant departments and wouldn't have checked as it would look like they were questioning his judgement. God, and they wonder why they have absolutely zero employee loyalty!

[Malkuth]

Sorry 27 didn't mean to ignore you! Not worth the aggro to claim against their boss. DH said he actually feels really sorry for him as the company are totally using him as a scapegoat and undermining him with his staff.

[flowerybeanbag]

malkuth what kind of contract has he got? What does it say about hours and pay, and varying hours, reducing hours, that kind of thing.

It's not necessarily about whether the boss has the right to do that, it's also about what your DH's contract says about situations like this.

[Malkuth]

Thank you, will get him to dig it out. What should I be looking for? I think he has just written it off as another example of how petty the company is but I am fed up of them getting away with messing staff around so often.

[kickassangel]

if they were closing the gate, what choice did he have? would he still be paid if, for example, they had to shut for another reason (like lack of heating)? i think he may have a case for dispute, but is it worth the fight?

[Malkuth]

Not worth the fight in DHs opinion. Now if it were me ...