Thank you Beau, that's very kind of you. The calculation you suggest would end up as above the minimum wage, so I understand what you say. That was one of my queries really, to make sure I'd understood what the acas helpline told me. I thought they said that every extra hour should be paid at least the minimum wage, although like you, I would have averaged the salary over all the hours worked. Acas also mentioned the possibility of discrimination, because I don't think full-time staff are asked to work on their non-work days. Mr honeybee was meant to work 3 days a week. Please keep in touch. I hope it is sunny in Devon. It isn't here now.

Hello paul321. I'm not an expert on this, but I'm sure one will turn up to help you. This doesn't sound right to me if you're being taxed on the car. What does your contract say about your car entitlement? I hope you get this sorted.

Hello again. Here is what the contract says. I'm paraphrasing a little bit, because I've seen the problems Deathbycrayons had and feel slightly paranoid. There isn't a lot of detail about salary or hours in the contract and they aren't mentioned together in a paragraph anywhere. The salary is stated as £xxxx per annum, then it goes on to explain how it will be paid-monthly in arrears, bank details needed, etc. For working hours, it says he is required to work 20 hours a week and that from time to time he will be expected to work extra hours and that these will not 'accrue remuneration'. It also says the hours can be varied, with consultation. As I said in my first post, the extra hours aren't happening from time to time, but every week. There hasn't been any consultation about varying his hours. That's all I can find on pay and hours, would be really grateful for any comments.

Hi guys, it's very kind of you to reply. I will look out the contract tomorrow and post again. In a short time on this forum, I've been seriously impressed with the dedication of the members. I've tried to contribute myself where I feel able to comment. Thank you again.

Hello all, I hope I haven't made my heading too complicated. I have an employment query and hope the kind people in this forum might be able to help me/us, please. My husband works for a large-ish company on a part-time basis, in an administrative capacity. I don't want to give too many details because of confidentiality, but he is relatively senior. His contract says he is required to work 20 hours a week, and extra hours from time to time. At the moment, he works about 10 extra hours per week in the office, because of urgent problems that need to be resolved, but he would like to stop this. He doesn't take a lunch break, or if he does it's about 15 minutes because of the amount of admin to be done. The reason for working part-time was to have a better quality of life and reduce his stress level, as he could have found a full-time job had he wanted to. My husband's boss thinks he should work extra unpaid hours on a weekly basis. I spoke to the acas helpline and the advisor was great. I believe he said that extra hours worked should at least be paid the minimum wage, which isn't happening. He also said that demanding extra hours could be disregarding the spirit of the contract. Am I right about the minimum wage aspect? I assumed that maybe you divided the salary by the hours worked, including 50% extra, to see if it ended up under the minimum wage per hour, but the man at acas gave me the impression that this is not the case and that extra hours count separately. Currently, the job is impinging on our home life and my husband's stress levels, because he is regularly working on the days he isn't meant to work, [apart from the 10 extra hours when he's in the office], and would prefer not to think about the office. Does anyone have advice for us please?

Hello PB. I'm so sorry to hear about your problems. I appealed against my ATOS medical report and won, but not until we went to a tribunal to appeal against the DWP decision. They had stopped my benefit [incapacity] and like you, we also thought it was in an effort to get people off sickness benefits. My husband was at the medical and so was able to endorse what I said about the meeting with the doctor. We asked for a copy of my assessment and then found the part of the DWP website that shows how they allocate the points. If you can't find it, please let me know and I will have a look and send a link. We wrote a letter saying why we disagreed with the answers the doctor gave, which went to the tribunal. It was a pretty short meeting with the doctor, and a lot of time was taken filling in answers on the computer that presumably enables the assessment. We tried to keep our comments to the tribunal factual and look at the doctor's answers the same way the DWP system does. There were some inaccurate details about me on their form and the doctor even contradicted himself at one point. If you don't already, I really encourage you to have someone with you at any meetings concerning this; it's moral support for you and also a witness to what goes on, should you ever need one. I could never have done all this without my husband and he was present every time. I'm rooting for you, don't give up.

Hello jib. I don't feel well placed to answer your query myself, but I think it might help you to use a heading that spells out your question rather than a generic 'Help'. That way, you might get some replies. Good luck.

Hi Tony. You don't say what kind of policy this is, which might help people in the forum to advise you. I'm very sorry to hear that your wife is unwell. Is there a reason why you've mentioned this, because it only affects certain policies. If it's a life assurance for instance, then your wife would have paid a lower premium than she probably would have been charged had she told the insurer her actual age. At the very least, I think they would want to look at the impact of this. Do you know what the reason was for changing her date of birth on the original form? I hope other caggers may be able to shed some light on this, but IMHO a few more details would help. Kind regards

Hello Stevie1958, sorry to hear about your problem. Other threads on this forum have mentioned the acas helpline, which has a good reputation and this sounds like the kind of thing they do. You could try ringing them. Regards and good luck.

Another thought, Gun1. Does your company have an insurance policy to cover employees who are ill and unable to work? These sometimes kick in after 6 months. I'm sure others will answer this, but would Incapacity Benefit, or its current name, take over? Clearly, you need something to live on. Best wishes

Hi there. I do sympathise with how you feel and would still encourage you to think about having the meeting somewhere that's not home or work, but that's up to you. I don't feel qualified to comment on your other queries, but having spent quite a lot of today looking at the website, I'm sure advice will be forthcoming. Try to stay strong. Best wishes.

Hello Gun1. I've been in a similar situation to you and, if it's any help, when my employer wanted to come and see me, I asked them to meet me somewhere neutral. With or without reason, I felt it was intrusive to come to my home. We agreed to meet at a local hotel/hostelry that has a coffee lounge and the meeting was held there, with my husband. That way, I felt a bit more in control. I'm very new to CAG and will stand to be corrected by other members, just quoting my personal experience. Good luck, I'm with you.

Hello DBC. I really feel for what you're going through and am rooting for you. I agree with the many other posters about not giving up. This forum is a godsend to lay people, particularly those who are up against organisations with huge resources and legal teams and I've been so impressed with the advice given voluntarily in this excellent forum. My husband is also having problems at work, although they pale into insignificance compared with your supermarket ones, which are unbelievable. If I do need help, I shall certainly ask the folk on this forum. Good luck and best wishes