Was I wrong to speak up at work?

[bridgelolo]

I have only been there two months but the whole place is chaos.
I work selling kitchens /bathrooms in a well known shop.
They have shops all around the country.
I work Monday -Friday 8am-5pm
Saturday 9-1 pm

Last week after work we had to go to a meeting at a hotel 1 hours drive away.
This meeting was from 6.30pm -9.30pm
I got home after 10.30pm and had to be back in for 8am.
We didn't get paid for this
It was them telling us how to sell more ,how to make them more money.
This happens every 3 months.
They provided tea /coffee
So we had no time for food and were starving.

I said I didn't think having to travel 1 hour then have a meeting for 3 hours after work was great.
I suggested that every 3 months for the meeting dat , closing at lunch time was a better idea then staff could get home at normal time.
Or suggested it being via teams rather than having to travel .

Was I wrong to speak up?
Does anyone else think this is a bit shit after being in work all day ?

the entire job sounds shite

and doesn’t work for the OP

presumably it works for some of the business is successful enough to be expanding

I would just say no to this.

So they ultimately expected you to work for free for 5hours and they want you to do this 4 times per year? I’d be saying I wasn’t able to attend.

You should be paid for this.

I think you should definitely speak up, but maybe you could put together a bit of a plan - come at it from a sustainability perspective and using Teams etc.

These meetings are far too long at the end of the day. The people running them like the sound of their own voices. You could compress what they say into an hour I'm sure

Sounds like Wicks. They were total bastards to my elderly mum who used them to replace her kitchen and bathroom. Chaotic was the word.

I wouldn't be prepared to do this under these circumstances. Training should be done in work time, and if it can't be done during the day, you should at least each receive a half day time off in leiu for the extra 5 hours you've worked. Plus an evening training session after a full day of work should have at least a few plates of sandwiches or some pizzas available for those attending.
The Christmas party in London may be something you just have to accept but i'd be asking questions. You say the business is paying for your hotel room. Are your travel expenses to be met by you personally? I bet the train won't be cheap at that time of year. Are you sharing a room with a colleague? I bet you are. Are you expected to contribute to the cost of the party? I'd also bet that there's a £40 per head ticket price or something like it. If it's out of your contracted hours, you're surely perfectly entitled to refuse to attend, especially if you're being asked to pay.

Occasional team meetings after hours are fair enough in my opinion. But food should be provided, kept brief and kept at the workplace or near by.

Great for speaking up but think suggesting closing the business for an afternoon wasn’t the best idea

Beyond ridiculous that they didn't provide an evening meal.

I mean none of it is great but normally you'd expect them to at least provide that.

No it's not - unless you're in the habit of working for shite companies that work outwith what's required of them legally.

Not rtft but if you finished the meeting at 9:30pm and we're starting At 8am the next day did they not breach the 11 hour rest period defined in law?

"because it is a very common clause "

It might be for salaried well paid professions like solicitors accountants etc but a bit exploitative for people working in sales/ retail surely?

No, why should yiu have to work for free and they didn't even give you food and expect yiu to travel an hour each way, that is really rubbish.

No way. I work in a very well paid job and I could
not do this.

Look for a new job xxx

If not contractually obliged to be a such an event, & not paid to attend, I wouldn’t go. I don’t work for free, you shouldn’t have to.

I'd just make up an excuse and not go

It is NEVER wrong to speak up.
If, having spoken up you are given cogent reasons why you were wrong, accept it.
If you are not given good reasons, keep asking.
If the bosses get snippy, channel your inner "bloke in red braces"
and expect a proper response.
If it does not come, move on.

Your company is an example of why British "management" is derided around the world.

Completely unreasonable if you're not getting paid for it!!

This. By law, you can't be left on the equivalent of less than minimum wage when training time is taken into account.
Also note that you should have a minimum break between work shifts of eleven hours.
Call ACAS for advice.

What sort of knife was it OP? From what you describe it is not the sort of place that would sell these, but I would expect a junior chef to buy a chefs knife or serrated pastry knife. Victorianox is a common brand youg chefs use, as they are relatively cheap and good for the price. Could that be a possibility? I would be honest about your experience with knife crime to your manager. They may understand your reasoning better. You didn't want to be involved in violence that is not wrong. With your past experiences and given the customer only bought the one item it would put me off too. I used to work in a pharmacy and we would sell needles, a few times I found that very difficult when the customers looked barely teenagers. I rationalised it as harm reduction and got used to it. Making your manager aware this area is triggering for you might be helpful.

As pp have mentioned you must be paid at least the national minimum wage for the hours you work and HMRC are putting a lot of focus on this with significant penalties for breaching the law. This would apply to the offsite training and also being asked to start before your contacted start time. Acas would be able to provide support here