hoping someone here may have some experience in employment law as am having problems with work.  i have been at my current practice for a year and when offered the job was given a rota of shifts which included a saturday every few weeks.  now they are trying to make us work a full week of 40hrs, a 12 hour saturday AND a 8 hr sunday totalling 60hrs in one week!!  i am livid at this suggestion and am sure that they cant just force this upon us, has anyone any advice before i leave!
many thanks,
kelly

Ring ACAS Kelly.  Their helpline is very good. They have a website with the phone number on it.

As long as they dont break the law regarding working hours per week/month (not sure excactly the law on this) then they can give you 12 weeks notice and force you to do the hours. My OH had this problem when his workplace got took over and they fought it with the union and lost on working times - they had to do the new hours which involved a 6 day week, but they did keep their holiday entiltlement as they tried to cut it back as well. If you dispute this matter get everyone envolved as it will have more impact. Also stick to your working conditions ie health & safety conditions must be correctly followed at all times, follow everything by the book and good luck

Have a look here it's a maximum of 48 hours average over a 17 week period but you can volunteer to do more but that has to be done in writing

Bear in mind that there are exceptions to this rule for certain occupations..................

thanks for all the replies, have spoken to the helpline and it seems they can do this as the total hours just come in under the 48hr rule.  however there are at least 2 other girls who are just as unhappy and we are going to speak to the partners and see if they will change their minds.  cant believe they can get away with this though!!