Time off between Shifts

[Russ77]

If an employee's normal shift pattern is 08:00 - 16:00 Monday - Friday but they are being asked to cover out of hours work at 01:00 through until 08:00 (at least), bearing in mind the Government's work time directive which states there should be 11 hours between shifts, do you think it would be an unreasonable request to ask to work from home from 07:00 - 14:00 in order to maintain the 11 hour rest period before being back in the office at 01:00?

Might be worth bearing in mind the employee has a 30-45 minute drive to/from the office too.

 

[Mr Bump]

Isnt he/she still working even if from home?

 

[Llamaman]

Depends if you've opted out of the WTD. Most employers heavily lean on you to do so - I've always had it thrust in my fact as soon as I walked in the door.

 

[Mr Bump]

As an IT contractor in a *specialist* field I can't get in the door without opting out.

 

[Russ77]

Isnt he/she still working even if from home?

The idea of WFH is to allow a the minimum 7 hour day to start and finish before 14:00 but not having to up from 5am (which would be the case if the employee needs to travel to the office).

This isn't about the number of hours that's going to be worked, it's purely about the number of hours between shifts and the employee hasn't opted out of the WTD.

 

[Russ77]

As an IT contractor in a *specialist* field I can't get in the door without opting out.

The employee in question isn't a contractor or specialist and has a standard minimum 35 hour per week contract plus provides rota'd on call support.

 

[Llamaman]

and the employee hasn't opted out of the WTD.

Am I missing something? Working from home is still working. If the worker is doing 01:00 - 16:00 then starting 01:00 again, that's only a 9 hour break. If they've not opted out of WTD, you cannot compel them to work those hours.

Edit: if the worker is volunteering to work in excess of WTD, but with caveats (WFH) then the employer would be wise to accept that, rather than not have the worker do the shift at all.

 

[Russ77]

Am I missing something? Working from home is still working. If the worker is doing 01:00 - 16:00 then starting 01:00 again, that's only a 9 hour break. If they've not opted out of WTD, you cannot compel them to work those hours.

Edit: if the worker is volunteering to work in excess of WTD, but with caveats (WFH) then the employer would be wise to accept that, rather than not have the worker do the shift at all.

Hang on.... just to make it clear.....

WFH 07:00 - 14:00 27/10
On-site 01:00 - 08:00+ 28/10

 

[Llamaman]

Hang on.... just to make it clear.....

WFH 07:00 - 14:00 27/10
On-site 01:00 - 08:00+ 28/10

Ah, ok. Well, that would have to allow the shift of hours on the 27th to maintain the 11 hour break, but this could be in the office as, IIUC, the WTD doesn't include usual commute.
Whether asking to WFH is unreasonable will depend on the type of work and how productive one could be offsite.

 

[Russ77]

Ah, ok. Well, that would have to allow the shift of hours on the 27th to maintain the 11 hour break, but this could be in the office as, IIUC, the WTD doesn't include usual commute.
Whether asking to WFH is unreasonable will depend on the type of work and how productive one could be offsite.

WFH is permitted on a regular basis, the employee's manager was WFH today and will be tomorrow too. A lot of the time to cover repairs/servicing of vehicles and childcare.

The point of WFH is that being in the office for 7am would mean getting up at 5am which wouldn't help the cause

 

[viv1969]

The point of WFH is that being in the office for 7am would mean getting up at 5am which wouldn't help the cause

For a 45 minute drive? (Post 1).

 

[Russ77]

For a 45 minute drive? (Post 1).

S..., shower & shave, make lunch and get dressed without having to tear around like a blue arsed fly (the employee is not a morning person) and leave just before 6 in case of any hold ups on the road so that he/she is at their desk & logged in ready to start bang on 7am

 

[Nod]

Sod the shower (and I don't shave!), the s... can take up to 45 minutes!!!

 

[Cobra]

S..., shower & shave, make lunch and get dressed without having to tear around like a blue arsed fly (the employee is not a morning person) and leave just before 6 in case of any hold ups on the road so that he/she is at their desk & logged in ready to start bang on 7am

Blimey! I hate mornings too, but I can be up at 5 am, S/S/S'd and be at the 1st call 80 ( none motorway) miles away by 7am!
(Sarnies prepared the night before or McD's for breakfast after the first call )

 

[AJQS]

The time off between shifts is averaged over a good few weeks, which means doing it this once isn't going to put you on the wrong side of the rules. I suffer from this badly at work, I got a light reprieve of an hour because I told the boss it was a p*** take and she knew it, but the other poor sods there still get the full whack. I don't recall ever having opted out of any directive, never knew it existed.