We do not guarantee overtime as our business peaks and troughs, however, we have a clause in our contracts that state where business needs dictates it is a condition of employment that a reasonable amount of o/t is worked.

But overtime is now becoming a pain for us and I have been asked to investigate the woes of implementing compulsory overtime into contracts. IE: what are the limits on the hours that can be requested in any one day / week? Can we do this? Where do we stand legally on those who will not accept or sign a contract etc etc.

We need the overtime as our production line relies on a full team to make it work and to achieve a finished product. One or two people turning in for work don’t help us & we want to use overtime as a potential lever for additional machines or recovery & we will always need a full team – At present we have 8 hours a day to work with, and if we experience problems on line in a week with shortages etc, then it is crucial that we have some flex to recover the loss.

What is the best way forward? How do other manufacturing companies manage this?

kirsa edwards