Holiday
Contact whilst on annual leave
Q. Hello. I've just received a WhatsApp message from my manager asking me if I wrote a delivery on the board for tomorrow. I replied it wasn't me & to ask my assistant manager. As I'm actually on booked leave & so is my assignment manager actually for 1 week. Is today now Not classed as holiday, as I've been contacted by my employer. Out of working hours & obviously while on booked leave.
A. Sadly no! Simply because you are contacted by your employer whilst on annual leave will not change the leave to a normal working day. It’s up to you whether you choose to respond to an inquiry from your workplace, but at the end of the day a simple question from your manager is not too difficult to answer in a couple of sentences. If you are upset that you are contacted whilst on leave I suggest you make it clear to your company that you cannot be contacted unless it is an emergency.
Pay
Q. Good evening, Can I refuse pay rise, and is pay rise confidential? Can we talk about our salary?
A. I don’t think I’ve come across anyone refusing a pay rise, but ultimately it’s a change to a fundamental term of your contract, and as such it will need your agreement. So, yes - you can refuse a pay rise.
Some companies prefer to keep the details of staff salary strictly confidential, others are more open with it. Specific references to your salary would fall under personal information and should be compliant with your company’s privacy policy, so disclosure to third parties without your permission would be in breach of GDPR.
Can you talk about your salary? There is no law to prevent you from discussing your salary with work colleagues or anybody else for that matter, but you may find that your employer prevents you from discussing your salary during working time. Check your policies and employment contract as it may elaborate further on this point.
Working time
Q. Hi. I work in the care sector, which I’m the duty care, I’m contracted for 35 hours a week and may have to cover sickness and absences. So if I go over my contracted hours I get paid my basic rate of pay. I work Monday to Fridays usually weekends off. Now my question is I am theoretically on call 24 /7 and more times than not I am called on the phone most weekends for advise. Can be once or twice or thought out the day. I am not paid for this as my contract only states you are contracted for the 35 hours. Is this correct. Many thanks
A. It’s difficult to advise as I don’t have sight of your contract. However, the question is, are the times you are called for advice classed as working time? If you are contractually
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