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.

Well he’s been there 6 years.

Last minute cancelled a couple of times and never received a heads up re limited availability of OT.

And now he gets a heads up, not a punishment, to say that OT will be limited for last minute cancellations.

I mean it doesn’t sound heinous

and the other example is hearsay.

Overtime is never guaranteed

I have worked in companies that offered over time for various reasons

However, the overtime stopped totally due to various reasons eg more people were employed, that task no longer existed, changes in budget etc

If you need to rely on the extra money, it would be sensible to apply for a second job with a contract, sick pay, holiday pay etc where the work & pay is guaranteed

Just because people don't get what they have decided they want doesn't make everything discrimination

I work for the public sector and overtime is optional so people can do it or not, say they will but cancel the day before. It’s fine, their work will be reallocated. I agree with you it’s very unfair and I’d recommend he speaks to his direct line manager about it and say he feels this was very unfair given the situation. Mine were so sick when at nursery, they literally catch everything

Caring responsibilities aren't legally recognised as being a basis for discrimination, although you'd hope an employer would be supportive of staff with them. Can they say this to him? Yes. Should they? No

Eh?

and the other example is hearsay.

What other example?
If you're talking about the sickness examples I know these people as well, and they are true. They treat their staff like shit end of .

I don't think people are reading my update so I'll re post for the benefit of those adding to the thread

re posted from yesterday:

He's spoke to someone higher up and been reassured the ban isn't going to apply to him if it a genuine childcare reasons. Thank goodness for that! I can stop worrying now. Thanks everyone for your comments.

There also a risk that at 60 to 80 hours overtime a month that an individual will be working in excess of the maximum hours allowed under the working time directive regs. Though of course one could opt out of that, but it doesn’t seem sensible to have anyone regularly working that much.

He could potentially argue it’s an implied contractual right as it has been an essential part of his role for so long. I guess he has also opted out of the Working Time Directive?Having appropriate rest breaks? Public Sector should have this covered but manager sounds like a cowboy. Speak to HR.

more the amount of tax payers money paying 1.5x pay rate to one person for 80 hours a month!

Same where I work too.

@fruity81
My partner endures verbal abuse, being spat at, having bodily fluids thrown at him, being physically attacked etc .... on a regular basis during an average shift. Trust me, no one is bothered that he's happy to pick up the extra shifts cos most people (me included) wouldn't be prepared to do that job for any money!

He has regular breaks on his contracted shifts, yes. Many of his OT shifts are 12 hours though with no break.

His work only need to give him his contracted weekly hours, he does not have the right to work overtime. Discrimination is when you have been unfairly treated because of protected characteristics like race, religion, sexuality!

Also, if his additional 60-80 hours are paying household bills then surely you can't be implying that you're full time salaries combined are for childcare?

poor chap that he’s doing 60 hour weeks there then

Your" not you're!

@fruity81 strangely, he enjoys his job! Not many other people could do what he does though. I include myself in that.

@Scottishshortbread11877 I didn't say his OT alone paid all the bills. It goes towards paying bills, it's a proportion thereof. Those bills include a nursery bill.

Not all public sector jobs are the same. In my organisation, we are there to provide 24/7 safety and security. If people can't do the overtime they committed to (regardless of their reason), then we can actually endanger lives. It's not just about getting a bit of extra admin done.

I'm really proud of my organisation as a whole, but sometimes I do despair of the way we can treat our workforce. As the OP says, they deal with horrible things on a daily basis, and although they are well-paid, their emotional wellbeing is sometimes overlooked. As a senior manager, I'm trying to change that.

Yet the same people are happy for your dh to cancel agreed overtime at very short notice once it's for "genuine childcare reasons"? 🤔

@StarlightLime
No, they weren't "happy" were they? They threatened him with an OT ban. It was only when he took it higher that he was told this ban wouldn't apply to him.

@PonyPatter44
It sounds like you understand the culture of my partner's workplace well. It can be truly awful can't it, when it comes to employee wellbeing. Thank you for trying to change it!