Unpaid Overtime

Overtime Campaign Archive

Unpaid overtime is a threat to your job, plain and simple. If you work before or after your official shift hours and do not claim it, the business assumes that any work you have completed was done within your contracted hours. If many people do the same, as we know they do, then huge numbers of hours of work are going unrecorded and the bank does not have an accurate picture of their true labour needs. When the company then reviews resourcing in your business area and makes cuts, you can easily end up under even more pressure with more work to do, leading to even more unpaid and unrecorded overtime.

Overtime is endemic in the bank and Unite has campaigned to address this for years. This newsletter was first published in March 2019 and contains some startling facts.

Unite tells members – ‘Stop working for free‘

Over £250,000 worth of overtime was worked for free in RBS yesterday.

Did YOU claim yours?

Every day in our contact centres, hundreds of RBS staff work for free.

You are told to come in early to allow the slow systems to get you logged on before your shift time. You stay late to handle calls – but you get monitored on your toilet breaks. Does this seem fair?

Did you know?

One member of staff starting 15 minutes early to log on, and finishing 15 minutes late, every working day, for a year, clocks up a whopping 115 hours of extra work.

What time should be paid?

Logging in, finishing off calls, adding notes in wrap…just some of the activities you should not have to do in your own time; these activities take your time away from your family, friends, hobbies and your personal life. Your personal time is precious and it is valuable.

Did you know?

At the National Minimum Wage, 115 unpaid hours is the equivalent of a mammoth £900.00, or an extra 16 days off, with time left over, for someone working 7 hours a day.

Clerical grade staff in the RBS are entitled to overtime. The shareholders are reaping the benefits of your work while you give it away for free. The minimum overtime rate is at time and a half for full time staff.

Time off in lieu?

You can also request to take the time back as time off in lieu rather than being paid.

However, if you and your team leader cannot agree on how you will be reimbursed the default position is that you are paid. TOIL is voluntary for both sides and not an automatic right. RBS has no TOIL policy.

Any time in lieu requested should be agreed before the overtime is worked, and is taken at the same rate as if it was being paid.

Did you know?

If you agree to take the time off in lieu, you still recover your time at overtime rates, not flat rate. 60 minutes worked should be 90 minutes off.

The 15 minute myth

If you are fortunate enough to get away on time most of the time and only occasionally work 5 or 10 minutes extra, you can diary the overtime worked and claim it as you reach the minimum requirement of 15 minutes.

Did you know?

If your team leader asks you to ‘just finish that before you go,’ or ‘you’ve got 5 minutes left, take that last call,’ they are authorising overtime to be worked.

Unite encourages all staff to claim ALL overtime, so that the business get an accurate idea of staffing requirements. The more work you do unpaid, the more you will be expected to do in a working day because your head of department thinks you have enough staff.

If you have any difficulties in claiming overtime, please speak to your local Unite the Union Workplace Representative for more advice.

Unite

For more information about becoming a becoming a member of Unite the union, becoming a representative for Unite and more about our member benefits please speak to your local Unite the Union representative or go online to www.unitetheunion.org.

Further reading