Exactly, and some companies will know that they won't be able to get through all of those changes to T&Cs for a small pay increase. So it's back to how it had been for along while.
Well there had better be an exemption as I haven’t worked Sundays for over 30yrs.
We had Sundays Inclusive for new starters brought in a year or two ago. We've now had some Sundays removed from their roster and weekday turns added in because of a shortfall in weekday spare coverage.
So after more than 18 months we have finally got to where everyone should have been before the Government decided to wave a big stick and Take Charge.
When I joined the railway I remember staff fighting (not literally) for Sunday work to boost their meagre wages. The Sunday sheets were studiously studied by many to see if claim’s could be made if not booked out. Now pay has risen significantly over the years the above situation has disappeared. The railway has had the opportunity to make Sundays compulsory for new entrants for years and whilst some TOCs appear to have done this,mine hasn’t.
When I signed my contract, (yes legally binding contract) it clearly stated Sunday was voluntary and outside of normal working hours. So I have and will continue to have every right to refuse to work it. The dft need to put Sundays within the working week, then most of us will happily work them. Simples. Dft can't have it's cake and eat it im afraid.
Some may remember when full or half London Allowances addressed most of those problems without requiring dozens of different companies & employment contracts .
While it's understandable that shift work is part of the job in a 24/7 industry, it's important to recognise individual contractual agreements and historical precedents. As Ashley Hill mentioned, the nature of Sunday work has significantly changed over the years, and as irish_rail pointed out, their contract clearly states that Sunday work is voluntary. These personal and contractual circumstances are crucial and should be respected in my opinion.
I've not done a Sunday for 5 years but if the company make the job 5 days out of 7 with 2 rest days together in the week I'll happily come in on Sunday and "suck it up" as you sarcastically say.
It might be cheaper short term than recruiting and training someone, but comes with dis benefits of having no control over overtime.
True but historical realities of weekend engineering work meaning several routes totally or partially closed on certain Sundays may be a contributing factor as to why it’s not been the easiest problem to solve .
I am sure you will find that all Rail delivery group TOC's in this current dispute will push for workforce reforms. Whether by agreement or forced through. We are back to March 2023 currently. If they don't get this through then the no compulsory redundancy till end 2024 will be dropped. So terms and conditions are still part of this as 'multi skilled' station grade staff with flat rate, no enhancements, commited overtime on sundays and on board train crew with short notice changes to rest days as I read it. Happy to be corrected.
They are legally entiteld to the backpay. But they have to claim it.
If you read Genesis you will understand.
What law would that be then?
I would question "legally entitled" - do you have documentation which supports this? It may be custom and practice in the industry or an agreement with the union but I don't recall it being part of employment law.
That's pretty much how I'm reading it but I'm clearly in the minority so I'm going to withhold my scepticism and celebrate a potential forwards move. I'm not in the industry, my only dog in this race is wanting the trains to be reliable with a well-stocked bar on late evening intercity journeys so I'm happy to be wrong or corrected too.
Genesis before or after Peter Gabriel left?
Agree with this the pay in the good old days wasn't that great so usually plenty of volunteers to take your Sunday now many new entrants will be earning way more than they did before joining the railway.We (scotrail) have the options permanently available,booked Sundays only and permanently not available (only have to work if no volunteers),sounds okay but the permanently not available have to get covered first before the guys who do work them but might need the odd one off.This is slowly peeing off the guys who work the not availables Sunday knowing that it wouldn't be reciprocated on the odd occasion you might need a booked Sunday off.
I'd have to disagree a little with this. I'm a management consultant and work/have worked across a number of industries and mandatory overtime is not that uncommon. I would say that most companies do their best to find volunteers and alterative staffing models to minimise or effectively eliminate this but it is still there.
Historically large parts of the country had no services on a Sunday