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Original poster

Can my evil boss change my finish date to miss the bank holiday?

23 replies

grendel · 31/03/2009 12:16

I have posted here before about my evil boss, who has made me so ill with stress and anxiety that after 4 years in post I've had to resign. However he is continuing his harassment through my notice period.

Latest one is this: I usually work Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Counting 4 weeks from my resignation date takes me to Friday 10 April which happens to be Good Friday. So my last day of employment would be 10 April although I would be taking that as a bank holiday. Therefore in my last week I would be working just Monday and Wednesday.

Boss is now saying that to ensure all work is completed before I leave that they want me to work Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday that week. This means that my last day of employment would be Wednesday and that therefore they don't have to pay me for the Friday bank holiday.

Can they do this?

Note this is a very small company with no contracts, written policies or procedures - boss makes it up as he goes along.

OP posts:

IheartNY · 31/03/2009 12:19

He cant make you I dont think.
He could ask you to do an extra day, but you should make sure you get in writing that you'll get paid for the extra day before going in!

Ponders · 31/03/2009 12:21

Surely Tuesday should be an overtime payment? It shouldn't affect the fact that your official last day is Friday 10th, so you should be paid for Fri 10th.

But, as it says above, check this with your CAB & present him with the official legal facts ASAP so he can't try to pull a fast one.

Good luck, he sounds poisonous.

Oh - just seen that you have no contract - he probably can do what he likes then.

prettybird · 31/03/2009 12:22

Have you handed in a letter of reignation stating that your last day is 10 April?

ACAS are usually good at giving advice in this sort of situation.

Original poster

grendel · 31/03/2009 12:29

Yes, in my resignation letter I said that my last day was 10 April.

I kind of don't mind working the Tuesday if they pay me for the extra day (so effectively I'll be working 4 days in the last week although one will be a holiday). But I don't think this is what boss has in mind - he just wants to get 3 days work out of me and not pay me for the bank holiday.

OP posts:

flowerybeanbag · 31/03/2009 12:42

So you handed in 4 weeks' notice on 16th March?

if you give the correct notice and he makes you leave before that, he is effectively dismissing you, so he can't, no. Alternatively it could be an unpaid wages claim.

But in reality the only thing you can realistically do is not work the Tuesday, because you are hardly going to claim unfair dismissal I would think, and it wouldn't be worth it anyway. I would also imagine you might not want to bother making a claim for unpaid wages?

theyoungvisiter · 31/03/2009 12:47

Tell him that you can't work that Tuesday for personal reasons but if he feels there are 3 days worth of work to be done, you are happy to work the following Tuesday. Then he would presumably have to pay you for BH Friday and BH Monday.

Having said that, if you work pro-rata they are not obliged to pay you for all the BHs in the year anyway, only 3/5 of them. If they are currently doing this then you are on a good deal and they are within their rights to stop (unless it's specified to the contrary in your contract I suppose).

Original poster

grendel · 31/03/2009 12:53

Yes I handed in my notice on 16 March.

I don't want to have to make a claim for unpaid wages - I just want to leave and forget about the damn place and leave all the aggro behind.

So I'll get him to clarify that they will be paying me for an extra day in the last week, and if they won't then I'll refuse to work the Tuesday.

I have a second question if anyone is still around:
Evil boss wants me return all 'company property' that I may have at home (in the past I have worked from home a couple of days a week). Fair enough to return copies of newsletters, software etc. But he is also asking me to return my notebooks. Now these 'notebooks' are not company property, they are day books which I have kept for the past 12 years and contain notes about all sorts of things: PTA meetings, quotes for oil deliveries, meetings for freelance clients, phone numbers for speech therapists etc etc, but also of course a lot of jottings, notes etc from my job with evil boss.

I don't want to hand them over but don't want to get into a fight with him about it.

Any advice?

OP posts:

prettybird · 31/03/2009 12:56

Who paid for the day books?

Original poster

grendel · 31/03/2009 13:01

I paid for them.

OP posts:

Ponders · 31/03/2009 13:05

Why does he want them?

prettybird · 31/03/2009 13:08

The just tell him "no" and leave the ball in his court. They are your property.

Original poster

grendel · 31/03/2009 13:09

I don't know.
Because he is paranoid?
Because he thinks I have some company secrets hidden in there among the endless 'to do' lists?
Because he wants to upset me?
Because I wrote in them on company time therefore he thinks he owns what I have written?

OP posts:

Ponders · 31/03/2009 13:15

If you've been keeping them for 12 years but only worked for him for 4 they are nothing to do with him, are they? I agree with prettybird.

He sounds awful - you poor thing for having to put up with him all this time.

flowerybeanbag · 31/03/2009 13:17

agree, they are not his or company property, refuse to hand over the books.

Original poster

grendel · 31/03/2009 13:22

Thanks for your support. I just wanted to check that I wasn't being unreasonable in refusing to hand them over.

The thing is, he presents himself as the model of reasonableness and always puts me on the back foot by making sudden and totally unexpected demands. It's very like being in an abusive relationship - after a while it's hard to tell what is right anymore.

Only 5 more days, only 5 more days...

OP posts:

Original poster

grendel · 01/04/2009 14:39

Boss is now incensed because I refused to work the Tuesday and because I will not give him back 'company property' (ie whatever I wrote in my notebooks on company time). Says that it is my own fault for not keeping company notes separate from other stuff and all other companies expect notebooks to be handed back and that he won't discuss it further.

So... in exchange for them agreeing that I can work at home for the rest of my notice period (I utterly cannot face going into the office) I have agreed to work the Tuesday for no extra pay.

I have not responded to his latest tirade about the notebooks but if he really pushes it I will get out the scissors and cut out all the company stuff from my books and give him a pile of crumpled paper.

This is just like a nightmare that goes from bad to worse.

OP posts:

Sam100 · 01/04/2009 14:44

Call in sick on the Tuesday!

racmac · 01/04/2009 15:07

What an *hole - have you taken legal advice i would think you have a claim for constructive dismissal - ie its so bad that you cant possibly work there anymore and its left you with no choice but to leave.

I would consider going off sick with the stress - get a sick note for 2 weeks and stuff him.

Go and get some proper advice

HecAteTheEasterBunny · 01/04/2009 15:11

buy notepads. write in the things that are relevant. That way he has the info he requires and nothing else.

although I realise that is just a stupid amount of work for you to do.

HecAteTheEasterBunny · 01/04/2009 15:13

oh, missed your bit about cutting the stuff out. good idea. you paid for the notebooks, so the books themselves are not company property, right? so he wants the info returned, yes? so yes, cutting it out sounds like a good (and satisfying) thing to do.

prettybird · 01/04/2009 15:18

I had been going to suggest the same thing: cut out the relevant bits. You could incense him even further by inking out any "personal" bits that might be on the other side of the paper. It would drive him up the wall wondering what it was!

Could be a very satisfying exercise!

PuppyMonkey · 01/04/2009 15:22

This might not be relevant for your company at all, but I work part time tues, weds and thurs.

As you can see, that means I "miss out" when it comes to all the usual Bank Holidays, inc Good Friday. But my company has a policy of giving all part time staff a proportion of the normal Bank Holidays - in my case I get an extra three days on top of my annual leave. So all I'm saying is, making a fuss about it might result in you finding you owe him some days back or something ridiculous because you're not entitled to ALL Bank Holidays as a part timer!

I'd just phone in sick if I were you.

mascarpone · 01/04/2009 15:22

Can I just add that I haven't ever been asked to return my notebooks (even though I am know for writing everything down!) even when they were provided by the company. So don't be bullied by his 'all other companies expect notebooks to be handed back' - if you bought them, keep them. Keep hanging on in there!

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