I recently started a new job last month and my manager started a couple of weeks before I did. We get on really well. Both of our contracts say 40 hours over 5 days with the occasional overtime. We're salaried (albeit not high ones) so won't be paid the extra. We know that's the norm. However, it's become evident that the company expect us to do overtime every week. This was never explained to us before we started. My manager is pretty much on call 7 days a week checking emails, taking phone calls etc. He's not had a day off since he started.
He tries to make sure that I take my two days off but the days change and it's always very last minute so I can't make plans. There's no work life balance at all with the company. They expect us to change or cancel our plans (the ones that we can make) at the last minute. We've also been told that we need to be on call during our days off. The final straw was last week when we'd both been out of the house from 7:30am without a lunch break, both driving home at 4:30 and the operations manager called to ask us if we could go somewhere else, which would have meant we wouldn't have got home until at least 9pm. We both said no and she made us feel awful. Huge huge guilt trip. She found someone else to do it and the poor bugger didn't finish until 8:30 (can see on the group chat).
Both of us have raised the issue with his line manager and the operations manager on multiple occasions. Both have fobbed us off and said that's just the way things are, take it or leave it and if we want a day off then we need to take it day by day and when a day is looking quiet just take it off. We asked why the contract states 5 days with the occasional overtime if that's not the case and they came back and said that the contracts need looking at and need to be changed. 
. My manager spoke with HR who told him to speak to his line manager as she couldn't comment on it as she's only just started with the company recently herself . Surely that's her job though? We are literally banging our heads against a brick wall.
The operations manager phoned me yesterday at the last minute to ask if I could drive somewhere 2 hours away. I said no as I already had a full days work, had been out the house since 6am and wouldn't get home until late with the extra work. My manager was off, still on call though but I really didn't want to call him in on his only day off. She was persistent and asked me 5 times. Made me feel awful and said that other staff have a higher work load than me etc.
I told her that the phone call was making me feel uncomfortable and I didn't appreciate being put on the spot and made to feel guilty for saying that it was too much.
When we started we were both told that Sundays are one out of two of our days off and we're both away next weekend. We're absolutely dreading it and how their going to make us feel. I've already spoken to ACAS who weren't very helpful and just told me to speak with my line manager. We're both already looking for another job but who knows how long that will take. We're suffering with a lot of anxiety because of this job and the unreasonable expectations and we can't seem to get through to management. They are all like robots, up at 5am and working until 10pm for a lousy salary. It's insane. They are a huge company and have a very high staff turnover which HR have openly admitted to my manager during a phone call. Other issues include being told we need to be on call during our annual leave as well and if we are called in then we given TOIL.
What are my rights here? My manager and I are supporting each other but I don't want to speak for him if I do contact HR.