13th June 2013, 01:21 PM
Kel Wrote:Not saying that I agree with the underlying principle, but it's not unusual. At my last place of employment, the call centre staff were "clocked on" when they signed into a particular piece of software on their PC which routed incoming calls to them. Given that the PCs could take 5-10 minutes at peak times to boot up and connect, this could easily add 15 minutes to the start of the working day. They were literally deemed to not be at work unless they were actually working. Taking a comfort break involved clocking off, as they had to sign out of the software to prevent incoming calls reaching their phones whilst they were away from their desk.
Not sure I like equating skilled excavators with call centre staff, but if that's how the industry sees itself...
Under minimum wage law, breaks don't have to be included in paid time but booting up your computer would do and if an employee was to receive less than minimum over the pay period for that loss of 5 or 10 minutes each time they booted up then the employer will have broken the law. It doesn't apply of course if you are paid more than minimum wage and the unpaid worked time does not reduce your pay below minimum but you will have a contract of hours and the principle of what counts as worked time is detailed in minimum wage law, you'd probably have a strong case if you wished to contest the issue.
Work time counts as any time that you are required to be at work, other than when you are on a rest break, including travelling during the working day, though not to and from work.