Dh work making people go flexi and take a pay cut

[Thedarksideofthemoon30]

Dh works for Network rail. He’s been with them roughly 10 years but at his currently job for 3.

He’s a signaller and they are changing the hours from 6/2 - 2/10 6/6 etc to 12 hour days/nights.

But they have announced they need 14 people to go flexi, meaning they won’t get any overtime or Sundays etc. We rely to the overtime and 2 Sundays a month.

If people go flexi he would have to take a £10k pay cut from missing out on the overtime etc.

They said it will be the people who haven’t been there the longest.

Aibu to think this is wrong and the job he applied for wasn’t flexi shift? Can they even make you do it?

It also means he won’t know his shifts until a week or so in advance, which with young children makes things so much more difficult and hard for me to work.

You have already said this was under consultation prior to Covid so no doubt the unions are in discussion already and either have no issue with the proposal or have worked out the best solution.

As you state he earns a decent wage so it is up to him if he wants to stay on the terms offered or leave.

Unfortunately OP because you're DH is not entitled to CB & earns a good wage you won't much get sympathy here.

Apparently they are changing the shifts because they are working too many hours a week which is classes as not safe.

My parents always told me never to rely on OT. Cut your cloth on basic wage then Ot for savings etc. Funny inlaws were saying same the other day. Fil did OT for 20 yeara but mil never counted it in her budget

£500 for a days work on sunday is obscene. No wonder our rail services are in a f++kin state

Yes that and the rising ticket prices

£500 for a days work on sunday is obscene.

I think the fact the boss earns more than 1/2mill & is responsible for such a shoddy service is far more obscene.

@Thedarksideofthemoon30

Why is it an issue he gets £10k from over time and Sundays? On Sundays he earns £500 so it soon adds up.

We don’t rely on it for our bills etc, but it’s nice to have extra once the bills etc are paid.

Tbh we need to get rid of our car and that would save us a lot lol

It’s not exactly efficient for a company to pay £500 for one day of work.

I'm sure reducing overtime pay will improve the service 🤔

Still haven't answered why he was put on Flexi? 12 hour needs same amount of regular staff as an 8 hour roster
Regulars get overtime first as per national rostering principles

@Caramelwhispers That is the result of a deliberate government policy over the past 10 years to shift the cost of the rail industry onto travellers, rather than taxpayers (especially after Network Rail was reclassified as a government department in 2014 and its debt (which was levied against its huge amount of infrastructure) became visible on the government books). I understand the political reasons for this, but as an environmental policy it stinks as it makes roads - which are still heavily subsidised, particularly road freight - look like a better travelling alternative.

@Thedarksideofthemoon30 If they're working too many hours then this is being done for his safety, as well as to save money. Do you really want him driving home at 0600 having worked too many hours that week and I personally don't want anyone working in a control centre who is fatigued when I'm travelling, thanks?

When covid releases people back into the workplace a lot of people are going to find their worklife changed beyond all recognition. Given the rise of WFH and slump in rail services, your DH is going to be badly affected. Be grateful his industry has not gone bust leaving him jobless. Many others are not so lucky.

  My advice is, accept  whatever the new conditions are.  That gives you an income  while he considers what other work he could do and applies for other vacancies.   Its always easier to job hunt from employment, than from living on benefits and desperate.

I think my dh is in the same job with a different company.
( notice I said ,I think,not 100% sure what he does )
Point being,it’s a nightmare because he only gets his shifts 2 weeks in advance if we are lucky ,or 1 week in advance if not

@2bazookas

When covid releases people back into the workplace a lot of people are going to find their worklife changed beyond all recognition. Given the rise of WFH and slump in rail services, your DH is going to be badly affected. Be grateful his industry has not gone bust leaving him jobless. Many others are not so lucky.

  My advice is, accept  whatever the new conditions are.  That gives you an income  while he considers what other work he could do and applies for other vacancies.   Its always easier to job hunt from employment, than from living on benefits and desperate.</div></div>

Good post.
Trying to change jobs is going to become harder I think.
Harder times to come for lots of people.

@Thedarksideofthemoon30

Apparently they are changing the shifts because they are working too many hours a week which is classes as not safe.

Which is a pretty good reason.

@doubleleopardy

This is a tricky one for unions because actually they will be fighting for properly staffed services so companies are not reliant on overtime. There is also the issue of work life balance and an expectation of overtime disrupts that.

I'm guessing that there will be consultation over the flexi shifts and people will be able to discuss the impact on their family life and any mitigation they have for not being able to do the new flexi role.

Agree with your first sentence here. When I worked in a highly unionised environment, the local rep was very clear with our staff (every one a member) that the union would always put more full time jobs ahead of overtime.

It’s not so much the loss of overtime but the fact that shifts will be different and it could be nights one night and days the next and that there would be no option of over time but if they are shift staff they get offered 2 Sundays over time a month
He won't be on nights one day and days the next contractually. A 12 hour break is needed in-between. Everything will be done by the union, they always fight for their workers.

Rail workers can only do 13 shifts in a row also, so if people are doing more than this, they are comprising the safety of themselves and their co workers.

You say it is not about the OT, but it clearly is. It's a lot of money to lose when you've got used to it coming in. OT is a bonus, it shouldn't be relied on. Seems NR are getting in line with some of the other rail companies.

I work in a related industry, in which demand has been decimated by the pandemic and thousands of my industry colleagues have sadly lost their jobs.

I’m one of the lucky ones. I have been furloughed twice, and I have accepted pay cuts and part-time working to avoid the need for further redundancies, but I probably will have a job when this nightmare is over.

Anyone who works in travel, tourism, non-essential retail or hospitality who still has a job on whatever terms is very fortunate indeed and has absolutely nothing to complain about.

OP, your DH needs to get advice from the union here. I am surprised that they are essentially asking some staff to take on worse conditions than others, that could easily expose them to anti-discimination action.

As for those saying that £500 a day is ridiculous. Plenty of people get paid more for less. Management consultants regularly pull in such sums and I don't see anyone on MN complaining about it and that is an almost entirely pointless industry.

@AgeLikeWine

I work in a related industry, in which demand has been decimated by the pandemic and thousands of my industry colleagues have sadly lost their jobs.

I’m one of the lucky ones. I have been furloughed twice, and I have accepted pay cuts and part-time working to avoid the need for further redundancies, but I probably will have a job when this nightmare is over.

Anyone who works in travel, tourism, non-essential retail or hospitality who still has a job on whatever terms is very fortunate indeed and has absolutely nothing to complain about.

Network Rail isn't really the same as other travel companies, they are responsible for maintaining national infrastructure that moves an awful lot of important goods as well as passengers. It is also a GoCo/NDPB so is funded directly from government.

Anyone who works in travel, tourism, non-essential retail or hospitality who still has a job on whatever terms is very fortunate indeed and has absolutely nothing to complain about.

It's hardly their fault that their industries were closed or heavily reduced & it was to stop the spread of covid to stop the NHS collapsing to benefit the whole of the population. Why shouldn't they complain?

Any change in contract will have to go through consultation with staff and unions. It’s unlikely that overtime is contractual. I work in an industry where shift patterns were changed from 9-5 Mon-Fri to 6am-midnight 7 days a week with no extra pay for bank holidays. You get about 10 weeks’ notice of the shift pattern. Union involvement mitigated some of these changes.

Why are they not employing extra staff to cover hours needed? They'd only need to pay regular salary rather than £500 per Sunday for overtime for existing staff (which is ridiculous). No wonder they're taking a look at it.

Sunday isn't part of the working week

Sunday isn't part of the working week
It most definitely is on the railway. As are bank Holidays, including Christmas day etc