Bank Holiday and overtime in same working week problem.

tsuful · 28-10-2021 1:37pm #1

Hello,

I work in a day shift pattern that consist three 12h working days one week and four day week the next week. I normally get paid 40h shift rate and 8h overtime rate for the longer week. In this particular week, there was a Bank Holiday, which I worked. My company is stating they will pay me 12h double rate for Bank Holiday and 36h shift rate for the following days. Shouldn't that be 12h for Bank Holiday (double rate), 28h shift rate and 8h overtime rate? It looks like the my money from overtime goes to cover the Bank Holiday which doesn't look right to me.I cant find anything on this anywhere, my contract included.

Could anyone more knowledgeable chime in on this please?

Many thanks

T

Wishbone Ash · 29-10-2021 11:05am

No, that doesn't seem right as you still worked 8 hours over the normal regardless of whether there was a bank holiday included or not.

dennyk · 29-10-2021 7:36pm

What does your contract say about overtime in general? There's no statute requiring overtime pay, so that'll come down to what's in your contract. If it doesn't specify any exceptions that would cover this situation, you'd likely be owed the overtime pay in addition to the bank holiday pay, since you still worked the eight hours of overtime in that week. The bank holiday "double time" would be a separate matter entirely and wouldn't impact your overtime pay unless that's somehow spelled out in your contract. .

dreamers75 · 29-10-2021 8:00pm

Week 1 you work 36 Hours

Week 2 you work 48 Hours

They pay you 4 hours extra for Week 1 and 8 hours OT for Week 2.

Is that correct?

For the week 2 including a BH in normal companies you would be paid 48 Basic and 8 for the BH. (yours is abnormal in a good way for you)

What you actually got is 12 OT + 36 "basic", you are looking for the basic 8 for the BH?

Normal companies would Pay you every 2 weeks and only 4 hours OT to avoid the 4 free hours you get in week 1 if my assumption above is correct about your shift.

tsuful · 30-10-2021 4:04pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118091797#Comment_118091797

My contract only states:

Hours:

Your basic hours of work are 40 hours per week.

In order to support customer requirements you will be required to be flexible to support a shift

structure. One example of this potential shift would be supporting a Compressed Work-Week

Nights Schedule (4days on / 3Days off / 3Days on / 4Days off). For supporting this structure a

differential of 30% will be paid (€xx per hour).

Overtime will be paid when working in excess of 40 hours per week at the customer site at a rate of

1.5 times the hourly rate.

We reserve the right to change your work schedule to meet with customer requirements. Should

your work schedule be changed to a different shift structure an addendum to this contract will be

issued.

Public holiday entitlement per year is as follows:

1. January 1

Easter Monday

St Patrick’s Day

May bank holiday Monday

June bank holiday Monday

August bank holiday Monday

October bank holiday Monday

Christmas day

St Stephen’s day

If you work on any of the specified bank holidays above you will receive an additional 8 hours

pay for that day. ( as it's based on 8h work day )

I already pointed that out to the payroll and they are stubborn saying I am in no right to think otherwise. I asked could I see company policy for this as I cant see this in my contract and was informed that it was always done like that since the persoson doing my wages started the this job 🤯

Not sure what should be next steps to take. I already found (not contacted) salicitor that could help me out with this but dont want to go this route if not necessary....

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118091882#Comment_118091882

No, it's calculated based on weekly basis but I get paid monthly, so week1 I would get paid 36h shift rate and week2 40h shift rate and 8h overtime rate.

Im looking to get paid 40h shift rate, 8h overtime rate and 12h for BH (at shift rate).

dennyk · 30-10-2021 7:07pm

Your contract seems quite clear and unambiguous that the overtime pay and the pay for working on a bank holiday are not interconnected in any way:

Overtime will be paid when working in excess of 40 hours per week at the customer site at a rate of 1.5 times the hourly rate

If you work on any of the specified bank holidays above you will receive an additional 8 hours pay for that day.

However, note that it does only promise you eight hours of bank holiday pay, not 12 hours. Assuming you're paid hourly and are receiving your normal hourly rate for those overtime hours, you're actually still being paid what is required by your contract (an extra 8 hours of pay at your regular rate for working the bank holiday and an extra 4 hours of pay at your regular rate for those 8 overtime hours); it's just not being attributed to the correct source by your payroll department. As such, this might not be the hill you want to die on here, since if you keep pushing, you're just going to end up with the same pay in the end (and possibly less, if they're currently paying you 12 hours of bank holiday pay even on your 36-hour working weeks and you convince them to fix that oversight in the process...).

tsuful · 31-10-2021 5:17pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118095558#Comment_118095558

My contract is based on 8h working day, 5days a week, but I work shift pattern based on 12h workind day. I don't think they can do this

dennyk · 31-10-2021 5:51pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118098697#Comment_118098697

The 'additional day's pay' you are entitled to by law is actually one fifth of your normal weekly pay, even if you work a shift with longer days and fewer working days per week. With an alternating 3x12/4x12 schedule, that would be at most 8.4 hours of pay. Your contract could specify more, if you and your employer agreed, but in this case the contract specifies 8 hours of pay, not 12. You could maybe argue your employer is actually underpaying you by 0.4 hours on those weeks where a bank holiday falls on your 4-day week, but they are also overpaying you by 3.6 hours if they're paying you an additional 12 hours on the weeks where a bank holiday falls on your three-day week. If you want to bring this to their attention, that's reasonable, but just be prepared for them to correct both of those mistakes.

tsuful · 01-11-2021 7:00am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118098806#Comment_118098806

Thank You for Your help !

Darc19 · 01-11-2021 7:48pm

Reading the contract excerpt, it's very well written and very clear and 100% in compliance.

Other employers should copy and paste the details as in too many cases the contracts are as clear as mud.

But for the op, whoever you are working for is paying you your full entitlement.

Bank Holiday and overtime in same working week problem.

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