Should employers record the working hours of all their employees? Whilst the UK is still under the auspices of the European Courts the answer is ‘yes’ according to the Advocat General in the case of Federacion de Servicios de Comisiones Obreras v Deutsche Bank.
Most employers only record absences and annual leave. But that does not always satisfy your obligations under the Working Time Regulations 1998. Employees should only work an average of 48 hours a week unless they have signed an opt out agreement and they should have a minimum of 8 hours off between shifts – 11 hours if the individual is working 12 hour shifts. Without recording working hours it may be difficult to prove you have met your obligations.
Annual leave pay must be calculated as an average of pay over the preceding 12 weeks so if you are paying overtime don’t forget to calculate annual leave pay appropriately.
If your staff are salaried and not paid for overtime then you should check you are meeting your obligations by dividing pay by hours worked in order that you can be sure your hourly rate is at or above the national minimum wage – £7.83 at the time of writing rising to £8.21 on 1st April.
Watch out for my next post which will detail the rises in statutory sick pay etc coming in April or contact me through my website www.bdroper-hr.co.uk