BestOfBid.com

Did my employer act within their rights in regards to this contract ?

I was recently employed as a "Christmas casual" at a local specialty store, in New South Wales. The contract, which both me and the employer signed, indicated that the contract was until the 31st of January. After my first shift, I checked the roster and realised that none of the Christmas causals were rostered on during January. So I asked the manager if I could have some shifts in January. She responded with a flat no, with the reason being that they were switching back to their normal rosters and were therefore not rostering any of us on. However, a couple of weeks after that I noticed that three of the ten girls who had been hired using the same contract as mine had been given shifts during January. None of our names initially appeared in the January roster. Also, in the contract there is no mention of a maximum number of hours, however one of the other Christmas causals offered me her two shifts during one week as she had secured another job (lucky girl!). When I went to confirm the swap with the manager I was flatly informed that I wasn't allowed to take those shifts, as I could only work a maximum 25 hours in one week. However, at the initial training night she told us that according to government regulations we could work a maximum of 38 hours in any one week. I know that casuals usually get the short end of the stick in terms of rosters, but I am curious to know, is this a violation of the contract? I didn't have the guts to ask these questions to her face, as I don't like being the workplace whinger, but this sort of thing has never happened in any other place of employment I have been in. I was always informed when I started "you will get shifts up to date x, and that's it", where date x was the last week in the contract, and I have never heard that the maximum number of hours I can work was 25. So I am rather curious to know if this is within her rights. Sorry if I was unclear, I was illustrating that I have never had this problem before. In my other places of employment, the employers have been clear what sort of hours to expect before either of us sign. In all cases I have been asked to do more shifts as they arose, and that was great for me. This was not the case here, so I was suprised and somewhat bemused at the sudden change.

Public Comments

1. Note I am not a lawyer and only given opinion. I have hired people, never with a contract. Things may not be good for you though. You boss wrote this contract. Most likely everything is good for them and nothing in it to really protect you. The boss was saying a Fed limit and there personal limit. Hey they could make your hours 1 hour a month. They are paying and you are accepting. Since you had this problem in the past, you may want to look inward. I hate to say this, but as a boss too many workers look at every minute work and trying to do as little a possible. Most workers think they work hard (maybe true) but do they make there bosses job easy (almost never true). In the future look at ways to make you bosses job easier and you will get all the hours you want.
2. Unfortunately I think this was more like a 'temporary employment' contract, and basically the employer holds all the cards. Try reading the contract again; they usually stipulate that the contract can be terminated by either party at will. If they didn't specify any number of hours, they would probably give you hours 'as needed', which could mean 25 hours a week or 2 hours a week. Plus even if she told you that government regulations allowed you to work 38 hours a week, it doesn't mean the store will allow you to. The only time they would break the law is if they made you work over 38 hours a week, which clearly they have not. It sucks, but I don't think they're breaking any laws, they can give you hours as they deem needed, and maybe they gave those three girls the hours they had available for whatever reason and that's all they had. Sorry this has happened to you, but it may be time to find an employer who will treat you better. Good luck.
3. No break in contract here. You signed a temporary work contract which didn't stipulate hours, just a finalisation date. Up until that time they could give you any number (including over 38) of hours per week they wanted; even 0. The laws stipulate that you get paid penalty rates for over 38 hours, not that you cannot work them - wrong information no breach of contract here. With respect to you not being allowed to take on the hours of another, that would appear to be the personal preference of that Manager. No break in law, breach of contract or anything here unless they specifically stated a personal reason for you not being allowed to work (race, sex, religion, etc). Hope it helps. Please note: the current national fiscal state would indicate many Christmas temps didn't get the hours of last year.