common practice

[karene50]

if something has been done for years at work does it become common practice. all supervisors have allowed workers at work to finish early on a friday with the management knowledge now he has decided today that i must resign or be sacked because of this i am the only supervisor that he has said this to.

[harley_Husky]

There is a company ( charity ) called STEP ONE in Peterborough who would help with matters like this. You could try giving them a call for some advise. They helped me through an employment issue a couple of years back and were excellent. 01733 310107

Best of luck.
Eddie

[jno]

I'd say you were on strong grounds. Especially if all the others have been doing the same thing without being threatened, it sounds as if you are being victimised; perhaps you can think of some reason why. Anyway, fight it.

[TCL-MUMPING]

I cannot speak from a legal point of view but I can in relation to looking at suspending Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) because a job has ended through misconduct. The fact that a rule is often broken does not excuse the fact that it was broken nor does it mean that it was not misconduct but it is taken into account when deciding upon the length of a suspension.

It may be that a blind eye has been turnt til now but management are now enforcing the correct procedures.

[cassa333]

(*It may be that a blind eye has been turnt til now but management are now enforcing the correct procedures.*)

But surely that would mean they should warn everyone that the rules are now going to be enforced not threaten just one supervisor?

[samuelcat]

I had a situation involving "walking time". For all of my 18 years employment we have been allowed a few minutes before end of shift to leave our workplace and get to the gate. They have since tried to stop this. Our union says that although it is not in our contract we have been able to do it for so long that it became an "unwritten" clause.
If you have a union get it checked

[TCL-MUMPING]

I think there is more to this than we are being telt.

[buildersmate]

Geez, why is it people feel they need to tell others to join a Union to get this stuff sorted out - that's surely why they ask here for answers.
Terms within an employment contract may either be established through being 'expressed' (i.e. written down) or 'implied' (i.e. custom and practice would be one way of establishing an implied term).
I would be very surprised if the hours of work are not 'expressed' somewhere.
Generally expressed terms take precedence over implied terms, however there are certain situations when a lawyer can argue that an implied term is merely a variation in the original expressed term.
So the short answer is that you are deep in legal territory - assuming the compnay has written down the hours of attendence somewhere in its Handbook or employment letters written to staff.
So that is the technical answer to the original question, however I also think there is more to this.
Are you the only supervisor still allowing your staff to leave early?
What disciplinery is being taken with the staff under your command who are actually leaving early - since the issue is that they are breaking their contracts, not you. You are merely possibly not following a reasonable management instruction - for which you could be disciplined (unless you are bunking off early as well).

[karene50]

Thanx 2 all for your replies. All sups are still letting there staff go early its just me he seems 2 b pickin on.Surely he shud b tellin all sups this but hes not i feel as if i am bein victimised. He started at this firm about 2yrs ago n e seemed 2 av it in 4 me from day1 we always seem 2 b in conflict e tells me 2 do one thing then wen av done it he changes his mind. i seem 2 b bangin my head on a brick wall. i am in the union so will fone them 2mos.Surely there r procedures e must av 2 go thru e cant just sack me.once again thanx 4 all ur help.Will let u all no ow i go on.

[buildersmate]

I wish you'd write in English, not in some bizarre form of Code.
However from what you say, you appear to be being victimised. If you are in the Union already then might as well speak to your Rep.
Do not be bludgeoned into resigning - suggest to your manager that if he believes your performance is out of line with the general performance standards of supervisors in this matter, please can you discuss it with him/her. Ask you Union rep to accompany you at any meetings you have.
At the very worst (the very worst), even if there was evidence of misconduct on your part, this should result in the Written Warning, not dismissal for this first occasion. Dismissal for this (which implies Gross Misconduct on your part) seems not appropriate.
I trust your Union will say something similar.