Days back for working weekends - advice please

[Guitarstrings]

I’ve been asked by my employer to work away for approximately 8 weeks. This would be 7 days a week, 12 hour shifts. My employer is saying I won’t be entitled to any days back for working Saturday and Sunday.

Are they allowed to do that?

Your employer is in danger of breaking the law asking you to work 84 hours per week for 8 weeks with no day off.

Have they asked you to opt out of the Working Time Directive, which states you can’t work more than 48 hours a week on average - normally averaged over 17 weeks. They are asking you to work almost double the weekly average amount.

www.gov.uk/maximum-weekly-working-hours

What type of work do you do? There are some exceptions listed on the Govt website Ive provided the link for, so it might be worth checking the list, but even so, if those hours deviate significantly from what is in your contract, I would think twice before agreeing, especially if they're refusing to let you have a break - what kind of disgraceful employer would do that to their staff?

They want you to work 56 days straight with no days off? No, they’re not allowed to do that.

You might like to remind your employer of the Working Time Regulations especially the rules around rest and days off

I think wanting days back is beside the point. Even if you have opted out of the working time regulations, this is completely unacceptable, why are you not saying it is too much?

I think saying they will pay for overtime, rather than give TOIL is probably ok.

What is not ok is the amount of work you are being asked to complete. That is a shocking amount of hours, and far, far, far too many days back to back.

As pp said this is a breach of the Working Time Regulations. Whilst the regulations allow employers to opt out of the 48 hour week they do not allow them to opt out of rest periods.
See ACAS website www.acas.org.uk/rest-breaks

There are exceptions to the Working Time Regulations provisions regarding rest (eg working offshore) where different rules apply to if you have a "normal" job, meaning that working 12 hours a day every day could be permitted. However even if those exceptions applied to your industry, you should be getting compensatory rest once the 8 week period finishes (ie a certain number of days off to make up for the rest you didn't get during the 8 weeks). I would ask your HR department/manager how what they are asking fits in with the Working Time Regulations, and whether you will get compensatory rest.