Call Centre Work

[pretty_snowdrop]

A friend of mine works in a call centre from 9am until 2pm and they are expected to be available to take calls within these times. If a call goes over their contacted hours they can claim the time back if it goes over 15 mins. They are now expected to do a small admin job at the end of their shift ( it will take about 5 mins) however they have to remain ready to take calls until 2pm and do the task afterwards. I know it may seem petty for the sake of 5 mins but calls often take them beyond their finishing times and she thinks it is unfair that technically she is not getting paid for it. Do you think she ought to bring it up and ask to finish on the phones early or just accept it and be grateful she has a job?

[cathfromsaron]

surely the employers should compensate with an earlier break or pay them properly!

[Purple_Popple]

Do you get a tea-break? Im afraid you wont have a leg to stand on, I understand what you are saying but call centre work is pretty rubbish work, getting monitored to make sure you do your call quota, at least its a job at the end of the day - I would try and grin and bear it, and look for something else, there would be plenty more people willing to do this job Im sure.

[Prudie]

Honestly I think she should put up with it, there are lots of other people who'd like to get call centre work. Don't think it's that uncommon to work outside standard hours for nothing - I have an unpaid 30 min lunch break every day and regularly work for at least half of it unpaid.

[Purple_Popple]

check your contract of employment as most employers have a 'cover their backs' that staff may be required to work over their contractual hours for the 'good of the business'.

[squarebear]

They are objecting to working an extra 5 minutes?! No problem, get them to resign. There are plenty of people who would jump at such an opportunity.

[The-HouseHusband]

I agree with everyone here, too many people feel they should be given something for every minute they work, what ever happened to enjoying working for a company and therefore going that extra yard or two to ensure everything is sorted at the end of a shift.

Maybe if people went to work with a positive outlook rather than just clock watching boredom we would have more people having lasting careers.

[mike11111]

A little bit unfair, I think. When it comes to wanting their pound of flesh, Shylock has nothing in comparison with call centres. I worked in one (and to be honest I quite liked the routine, till they decided that it was cheaper to give my job to someone in India). However, when you work from 3pm till 11 pm, as I did, and the last bus goes at 11.05pm, then every second counts. If you miss the last bus home the taxi fare comes out of your pocket, not the company's. At the time the taxi fare was equivalent to two hours' wages.

[pretty_snowdrop]

Thanks for your replies everyone :)x

[joko]

if it was a longer time id say say something... but for 5 mins...its not worth the bother... i mean how much extra woudl it get you?

i had an employer who while i was on minimum wage, still tried adding extra time on...casually asked me to come in half an hour earlier "just for this week"... then also changed opening hours to an extra half an hour and just assumed if stay for it... as it was he was hoping id do an extra hour a day without extra pay... i didnt - i was out the door dead on my time and i made sure i queried the extra half an hours pay... some employers hope you wont notice - as if

if it starts creeping up to 10 mins, then another 10 here and ther for other reasons, then bring it up.

can they not be doing it inbetween calls? or does it relate to the final call amount?