A public sector union is stepping up its campaign against a gap in employment law which it says leads effectively to staff being forced into unpaid overtime.

It wants to see more formal regulation of arrangements for time off in lieu (TOIL) in the workplace.

Prospect negotiations officer Mick Hewer said in some areas of government, such arrangements for employees to receive time off in lieu of the extra hours they work, were not formalised and often led to workers never getting the time back.

That meant they were effectively working unpaid overtime.

Mr Hewer said many members who work for the government believed they were offered time off in lieu because paid overtime was not being authorised, in in a bid to cut costs.

’I am being told by our members that there is no consistency in approach between employing authorities,’ he said.

’There is a pressure on people to work for time off in lieu, which they cannot get back. I have got people complaining to me that they feel as though they are being pressured into working extra shifts for TOIL as opposed to being paid agreed overtime rates.’

He added: ’It is across various sectors. Our members are accruing hours they have worked - they are not getting paid overtime - and when they ask to take the hours back they are told they cannot because there are already gaps in the rotas. To me, they are working for nothing.’

This week, Jane Copley, a legal officer with the union, visited the Isle of Man to help the campaign for better workplace arrangements.

She said the problem was that there was no legal framework, which meant there was no incentive for employers to ensure there was a written agreement in place to set out rules for any instances time off in lieu.

She said: ’From a legal perspective, the law is very weak. Employers do not have any obligation to offer TOIL, there is no legal requirement.’

Although there was a similar gap in the law in the UK, regulations there mean employees cannot be asked to work more than 48 hours unless they have signed an agreement to opt out. Those regulations do not apply in the Isle of Man.

Ms Copley said that having proper arrangements for TOIL would also help employers.

’It is in everyone’s best interests to try and construct some sort of best practice model, where we make clear the rules.’

Mr Hewer said that, if properly regulated, there were some workplaces where a system of TOIL could work.

’There may be a group of workers that would wish for TOIL, if they had confidence that it would be fair and equitable and they would get that time back within a reasonable time period,’ he said.

consultation

Prospect Isle of Man is embarking upon a consultation of its membership to find out how many work extra hours for TOIL and to see how many end up not getting that time off.

Mr Hewer said that would enable him to build up a picture of how many hours - and effectively how much money - workers were owed.