What an interesting week ahead.

[Guest]

Bloomin hell Chris - you really are a minefield of information matey

[bellman]

Knowledge is power Dave

Regards

Bellman

[Guest]

It seems to be with you Chris - I trust you with it though LOL - others I dont

[morph]

Lots of interesting views on this one guys, mainly from employees I note, but you need to remember that employemnt law is a minefield and that employers have rights as well. Also have to take into account that you have been doing the job 3 installations a day etc etc so it could be argued that you have accepted a variation in your contract.

Have a look at these pages

Also say you do leave, try to do it on good terms as you will need a refference from them for any job you go too.

Best advice is the same as we tell all the DIY guys on the forums, TALK TO A SOLICITOR who specialise in employment law, as they are the only people who will interperet the law correctly and without bias, Employers and Employees will always see it diferently. If your unhappy get on with the job of getting a new one, few months down the road you could be happier with another firm.

[Guest]

Hmm, can't see anything definitive as yet. It does seem that you should be able to view your contract by law, if you can't see it then you have the option to have your employer in a tribunal.

I can't see anything that says whether it applies whether it's signed or not though.

[bellman]

Colin gives good advice above, speak to the Legal Guys.

The nazgul link I posted above are such a company.

Regards

Bellman

EDIT:Explination of what nazgul are can be found HERE scroll down to modern slang.

[black knight]

I'm p***ed off too, not for the same reasons.

Got home 17:40

Phone Call at 17:45, goes like this...I'm soo sorry mate but when trying to save you a job by trying to upload/alter/download new information to a site, things got messed up, the panel is now corrupted and will need defaulting so now you'll have to go and re-program the entire site from scratch.

I say WTF, I 've just walked through the front door, my dinners in the oven and it'll be a few hours before I can get to site (50 miles away), he say's ok.

I ring up site to explain why I'll be soo long, he says I'm open till 8 PM and you'll get here by then, I say sorry mate but I wont and if yer not prepared to wait for me I'll arrange for the local engineer to attend in the morning, he say's that's not good enough, puts the phone down ranting about phoning someone to complain.

I then get a call from the ARC saying, he aint waiting for you, when yer 1/2 hour from site call his mobile and he'll come to meet you. It's now 18:50..

So this idiot is leaving site at 8 PM, he lives 1/2 hour away so will be home at 8.30 PM, at about then I'll arrive on-site and he'll get back in his car and drive to site probably very annoyed, then I'll tell him I'll likely be a couple hours re-configuring his alarm system and setting up all the areas by HAND on his bloody big Men vier.

I'm leaving in a few Min's (with no dinner), I don't expect to be home till after 12..? and if he start's he'll likely get a slapping..

56834[/snapback]

I've had instances like this at just about every company I've worked at, from Modern through to small companies, Chubb and the present company i work for.

Unfortunately s*** happens and it the poor "on call" service engineer who has to pick up the pieces!

the more important factor i find though is the managers reaction the next day.

the good one will ring you , apologies for the short notice call last night and say the the most important two words any manager can say - 'thank you'

the bad ones will not even bother to contact you and if you do say anything to them will just say "take the rough with the smooth", "it comes with the territory" or the worse one i heard "if you don,t like it i,m sure i can find somebody who won't moan like you"

thankfully my current employer falls into the first category and not the second.

I hope your call went ok and you didn't lose your temper with the customer - take it from a old hand thats the worst thing you can do.

Hi Dave,

I'd be looking at my contract and the European working time regulations.

Your entitled to a break after set periods of time.

If I'm on call they wait for me to have my meal or they go without,

4 hour response rule and all that.

Regards

Bellman

56846[/snapback]

Unfortunately i don,t think the European laws are enforced over here!

your best defense is the "I've been behind the wheel for over X hours and i', entitled to 8 hrs rest before i drive again.

again it depends on your bosses attitude the next day - if they say thanks and sorry for inconvenience then you're more likely to put it down to experience as opposed to kicking up a fuss and making a nuisance of yourself

hope your call went ok and you finally got your tea in peace

paul

[bellman]

again it depends on your bosses attitude the next day - if they say thanks and sorry for inconvenience then you're more likely to put it down to experience as opposed to kicking up a fuss and making a nuisance of yourself

hope your call went ok and you finally got your tea in peace

paul

56933[/snapback]

Hit the nail on the head mate, attitude is all important.

As for your point about the badly implemented enforcement, I have to agree.

Easy access to relevent information about the rights and correct implementation is critical.

Employers are just as oblivious as the employees half the time as Colin touched on above.

Regards

Bellman

[Zak]

There's always two sides to every story and usually both are right. Engineers always have one outlook and company managers/owners have theirs. If you are on call and a client has a problem, the company should do anything they can in order to provide a reasonable service. Engineers never like being called out - it will never be convenient. I agree that there has to be give and take. Management should understand the strains on their staff - and value the good work that they do. Engineers should also understand the strains on the company! From what Service Engineer was saying - it didn't sound too fair at all. There is a reason why there is a 4-hour response. Unless a client is paying a small fortune for a more special service (extremely unlikeley) then they will have to wait their turn. Look at it like this - if you weren't having dinner but were on another call out - and genuinely couldn't get there for 4 hours, then the guy would have to wait.

I see a lot of resentment here from engineers about their companies. Howabout, instead of running off and speaking to solicitors, go and speak to your boss. You may think that there are a lot of super engineers around, but I don't think so, and you would probably be hard to replace. Your bosses should value you if you are good and put in effort. It is a two way street though - and you should be looked after too. But, if you are working for a real **** company, and want to know about employment related law, you can speak to ACAS who will give you a no frills answer over the phone, which is free and instant. Sorry for going on!! :!:

[Guest]

Speaking to your boss as above should be your first port of call , but I think that had been done already.