Is this workplace discrimination?

[overtimeban]

Posting for advice as I'm struggling to make sense of this and whether it's OK or not.

My partner is a public sector employee. He often works a lot of overtime shifts which are essential for paying the household bills. Without the overtime our family would struggle. It's always available so that's not an issue and never has been. He works an average of 60-80 hours a month of overtime on top of his contracted hours.

He very, very rarely cancels an overtime shift. I can count on one hand the number of times he's done this in the past couple years, and it's only ever been when our toddler has been unwell and my partner and I have had to juggle the days off between us (I also work).

The past week or so he's booked 4 overtime shifts, 3 of which there were no issues with, and one he had to cancel with only a few hours notice because our 2 year old started to vomit and had become quite unwell (doctor had already seen her earlier that day but she deteriorated by the time it got to a few hours before his overtime shift).

Today he has spoken with one of the senior staff at his work who have given him a 'warning' that if it happens again that he needs to cancel overtime at short notice, they will place him on an "overtime ban".

Can they do this?? He is a very reliable employee with a strong track record of showing up for overtime he books. He very rarely cancels shifts, and on the odd occasion he has it's because our child is unwell and I'd been unable to take anymore carers leave myself. He would never just cancel because he'd changed his mind and couldn't be bothered. He has a very strong work ethic etc.

I just don't know what they expect him to do when he has a young child to consider too? Is it not discrimination to punish someone with a "ban" on overtime because they've had to unexpectedly cancel one shift in probably hundreds he's booked and worked over the past year??

I'm just so angry at this punitive response from his work and the lack of support for a working parent with a sick child
.

Any advice welcome.

You did say this (below) which is why I can see why people would think your husband has cancelled his OT up to five times in the past couple of years.

He very, very rarely cancels an overtime shift. I can count on one hand the number of times he's done this in the past couple years, and it's only ever been when our toddler has been unwell and my partner and I have had to juggle the days off between us (I also work).

I know this is missing the point but you said he works 60 to 80 hours OT on top of his normal hours. Does this mean he works 100 - 120 hours per week??

"No brainer" is an unfortunate term, in this instance. That's exactly what your post is, in the literal sense.

I just couldn’t envisage an issue when he was down for OT and you were not at home. I can see now that as he works different shifts that’s the problem.
When he books OT, are there other employees who would have liked to do OT but can’t as there are no more ‘slots’? In which case, I could see how it may cause other issues of organising cover if the OT staff call in at short notice to say they can’t come in after all.
I know how difficult it is managing sick kids when both parents work FT, when my Dc were little, I was usually the one who took time off to stay home with them as my DH didn’t get paid if he was off with them. I would say in this instance, if you’re absolutely relying on this extra income, that you’re the one who covers sickness from your job if it’s when DH is booked in for overtime. As you’ve already said, soon you’ll be eligible for some free childcare hours so that may mean DH can do less OT.

They have not actually put him on an overtime ban though have they, just warned that if it happens again then there would be a ban.
How many times do you think he should be able to cancel last minute before the warning is given?

No, that’s what she said he works extra in a month

you have become reliant on a source of income that is utterly variable and not guaranteed

consequently it is making you dogmatic in your view it is unfair despite the consensus being it is not unfair (and perhaps you haven’t even been furnished with the full detail)

So she did. Thanks for clearing that up cos I was exhausted and worried at the thought of the poor man working 20 hours a day 😂

So this is why it doesn't make sense as a first response.

he has done it a few times you say. so not their “first” response

It feels out of order by his boss. But if that's the way he deals with short notice cancellations for overtime for everyone then it's not discrimination per se.

Is there something in writing to say you must give x days/hours notice to cancel OT else it will be a 'warning'? It could be that they cannot replace him and therefore lose money. If his contract states his normal hours only then the extra I think is discretionary.

Is there a mate of his he works with that he could swap OT shifts with?

But maybe boss is taking it as if he is using his child's illness as an excuse. Does the boss feel he 'hogs' OT shifts that others might want or need? Lots of people might want the hours so if they are given out to someone they need to always be reliable maybe.

He could be really sexist and think, well, he has a wife, why can't she stay with the sick kid? It's not right but I don't think from an HR perspective it could be classed as discrimination. If he thinks differently I guess he should contact his HR or the boss above this guy.

That legislation is about carers for people with long-term health needs, not anyone with a 2 year old child.

"A “long-term care need” is defined as an illness or injury (either physical or mental) that requires or is likely to require care for more than three months, a disability under the Equality Act 2010, or issues related to old age."

It gives people with long term dependant's caring responsibilities the right to up to five days unpaid leave a year. Much like - hmm - parental leave already does! Zero relevance to a parent who cancels overtime shifts because of a child with a general nursery illness.

Where I've worked staff doing overtime cover vacant shifts, and overtime is paid at 1.5x as this is still cheaper than agency.

We had staff call in sick for the normal rota's, then come in for overtime, as that obviously pays more.

We had to put in a policy of not allowing overtime if staff call in sick for their normal hours; unfortunately the few who take the mick have ruined it for the many who don't.

I can absolutely see why your DH's work have put this in place, and not it's not discrimination, as it doesn't relate to a protected characteristic.

@fruity81

When I said I can count on one hand the cancellations of OT I meant like one per year since our child was born, she's 3 in April. So 3 at the most. In contrast I've been off with her around 8-10 times in the same timeframe. She's a very sickly child like I said. It's a nightmare. But it's my job that's felt the real impact really; not my partners. Which is why this stings all the more.

@Soontobe60

The shift he cancelled was a night shift, he needed to leave the house at 5pm for that. I was due to be at work til 5pm and wouldn't have got home til 6pm. DC was already in the care of her dad at home as too unwell for nursery and so instead of me coming home early and not meeting deadlines I needed to meet, we made the decision to cancel his OT instead. She was vomiting all over the place and we knew that was likely to go into the night, meaning my next day at work would also be written off (partner was on a day off the next day), and this would have impacted my deadlines even more. And so we thought the lesser of 2 evils here is to cancel his shift. And I'd also done the previous 3 consecutive occasions of sickness with her as I've said.

@BobbyBiscuits

His boss has commented previously when he said he needed to be off with her as she was sick, "why can't your Mrs look after her?" So yeah there's an element of "well that's the woman's job to look after the child" going on. His workplace is quite a misogynistic culture unfortunately.

you have relied on a source of income far from guaranteed

and now your husband has been given a warning (which is NOT a punishment)

and you are getting very worried
Perhaps use this as a warning that your finances are very precarious of so dependent on overtime and you and him need a serious chat. This is very precarious and making you think a reasonable situation is actually grossly unfair

@overtimeban do not send that email.

There are 3 types of overtime:

• Guaranteed : Contractually the employer is required to provide overtime & the employee is required to work it.
• Non-guaranteed: Contractually the employer is not required to provide overtime but if they do provide it the employee is required to work it.
• Voluntary: The employer is not required to provide it and if they do provide overtime the employee is free to work it or decline.

Step 1 is to find out your DH’s contractual terms and overtime policy and establish what type of overtime.

A possibly policy requirement maybe you have to work your hours for the day/week. So if your DH left early he may not meet this requirement.

You are in an incredibly vulnerable position relying on overtime which can be withdrawn at any time. I know this is the reality for many but in the circumstances sucking up the comments as a one off maybe a pragmatic option.

Obviously if the manager treats your husband less favourably than his colleagues he needs to gather evidence and consider a grievance.

As a pp said it is worth checking out the childcare/caring for dependents policy and the link to overtime.

Finally, if your husband is not in a TU I would strongly advise him to join one now.

Ok thanks all. I see I'm unreasonable. Fair enough.

I am just beyond stressed with trying to make life work at the moment with no family support, a sickly child and both working. My head is exploding with stress and just desperate for a break or something to make it more manageable 🙁

hold on to fact he has not been punished he’s just received a warning

but use this experience as an opportunity to serious address your reliance on his OT that could be pulled at any time

I know people are saying he's not received the ban so it's ok. It still feels like a threat hanging over us, though. I now know that any future instances of sickness with our child are 100% on me, because he can't take the time at all. The split of us taking days off with her when sick is already around 80:20 (majority me). Now it's all on me. So my career now takes the hit. She's a really sickly child too so there will be more episodes of me being absent from work to deal with it. What's the point in me working? Eventually my career will suffer. That's a huge pressure and stress on my shoulders alone.

This is not helpful, don’t send a letter like this. It will be company policy and quite common in a lot of organisations. It is to stop people taking overtime and cancelling at the last minute, everyone will be subject to it.

Yes sorry but quite normal, a lot of places also require you to find cover for the shift yourself if for some reason you're unable to do it once named on it.

@overtimeban I feel your anxiety. But he has his contracted hours and it seems they can put sanctions on OT cancellations. How else could they deal with it if people agreed to extra work then bailed out hours later.
You should not panic. Just understand that his OT hours are not guaranteed work, so if possible he/ you should not be so reliant on them for income.

@overtimeban OP I agree, it's ridiculous.
Is it one person being a total idiot with that remark? Has he talked to HR about it or is it not worth the risk?

Maybe just some fool flinging their weight around.

are people really keen for overtime there?

How else they could deal with it would be to take each case of last minute shift cancellation on it's individual merits. Is this person a total piss taker who cancels on a regular basis, or is this a one off, infrequent cancellation for a genuine reason of an otherwise reliable hardworking and well thought of employee? If the latter, don't start issuing threats of bans. If the former, bans are appropriate.

It isn’t helpful at all OP, and I say that as an employment lawyer! If you send that, it will be very obvious he hasn’t taken legal advice and frankly he will just look like a bit of an idiot.

As things stand, he has the right to unpaid time off for dependent leave during his working hours, so arguably it doesn’t even apply to overtime as he would have to work the extra hours in the first place in order to be paid! So legally speaking, it’s likely he isn’t taking dependant leave to cover the overtime shift - he is simply unavailable to work it. It depends on his contract though - if overtime is guaranteed or compulsory it could be different.

I would also add that the new carers leave provision applies only to usual working hours in its current form - not overtime. That may change and develop in time.

Also I’d add that the Working Time Directive is EU legislation - UK legislation is the Working Time Regulations - neither of which contain anything to do with dependent leave as it’s in the Employment Rights Act 1996.

So it isn’t discriminatory or a breach of his employment rights - they aren’t threatening to stop his overtime because he’s taken dependent leave (a statutory right) they are threatening to remove it because he has cancelled overtime shifts at the last minute, which legally is very different.

He could try and say it’s indirect discrimination based on the fact that women are more likely to have caring responsibilities and therefore as a man it should equally apply to him… but you were available for the childcare so I’m not sure that would succeed either.

@overtimeban Does it seem to be specifically child sickness he takes a distrust to? Could DH tell a white lie and say he personally was unwell?
It is not a long term solution but to see if the boss reacts differently? Though I would accept the fact you have a better childcare flexibility from your employer and try and use that, they sound way more sympathetic. You could ask them to extend your 'leave' if need be?

think you're right - I think it's just someone saying things without thinking it through. Someone who doesn't even properly know my partner (or for whatever reason doesn't like him?).

He plans to speak to someone higher about it and possibly also HR and the Union he's a member of. Not sure how much any of that will help but that's the plan.

Yes overtime is sought after but it's also freely available. There is always overtime, always has been consistently over the now almost 6 years he has worked there. They're constantly sending messages on his days off begging for staff to do overtime shifts. That's pretty consistent.