Taking TOIL then doing overtime

[ShitOnIt78]

Hi is @flowery around, or other HRBPs? I wanted to check something out regarding TOIL and overtime.

Some people in my team are taking on tasks as overtime that take around 2 full working days to do - fine all good but what some are doing is taking 2 days TOIL to get it done but then claiming 2 days overtime pay.

Is this right? My understanding of TOIL was that you be are being paid with the time off, so can you then claim double rate OT pay as well?! If it's not I want to tell them before we get audited and they get into trouble if it's not ok to do it.

Thanks!

No, you either have overtime (if that's on offer) or TOIL

The clue is in the "time off in lieu"

I’m a bit confused by your title too. Are they claiming in advance of doing the overtime?

Yes I get that but this is for additional work outside of our standard work,so offered as overtime. They are then taking TOIL from our actual work to have time to do the project and then claiming pay for it, if you see what I mean?

So being asked to do a 2 day project. They already have TOIL built up for regular job, take 14 hours of that to give them 2 days off, come into work and do the project and then claim 14 hours of overtime for it.

But agree, if doing additional tasks as TOIL, you complete the tasks outside normal work patterns and are compensated by getting the equivalent time off during normal working hours,

DH does this about once a month. HR agreed it.

Usually the time taken is at standard rate so if it takes 2 days to complete, you get 2 days back, no upgrade for doublet8me etc.

What does your contract say/staff handbook?

We are psychologists, based at establishment 1 and are contracted for 37 hours per week- we always have loads of TOIL as so much work on. Establishment 2 has assessments that need doing urgently so some of us are using TOIL to get 2 days off, then going to establishment 2, doing the assessment and then claiming overtime for doing it. Is that clearer?! Sorry!!

How we would handle this is via a policy that said TOIL was designed to give employees adequate rest after working extra. It should therefore be taken as soon as practically possible and no other work can be undertaken during that time (for the company).

I just was under the impression that you can't be paid OT and take TOIL for the same period and worry they are going to get in trouble when we get audited

The point about TOIL is that you have already worked overtime - ie you have worked beyond your contracted hours but with no extra pay. Therefore the time off with pay cancels out the extra work done without pay. So yes, if they then work on their TOIL time, they are entitled to be paid. The pay they would get for the TOIL is for work already done previously.

I'm a little confused with what they're actually doing, but it's either one of the two below. I'm no expert but I know what I've been allowed to do previously.

Are they
A) Coming in above and beyond their normal work day so an extra Saturday for example. Claiming a TOIL day for the extra days worked, AND asking for OT pay? I would think this isn't allowed. They're getting paid twice for the same time, as they technically haven't worked any extra time, just more one week and less the next.

Or B) Accrued TOIL from something else, decided to take it on, say Tuesday, but came in anyway and did the extra work. That's okay, at least from a pay point of view, I've done that before with Holiday days, booked a holiday but came in to help out. Got pay for my "holiday" time, and for the OT I did.