Subject: Contracted employees

you can refuse to sign the opt out form and that will ensure you never work over 48 hours or you could take them to court if they force you to, i would say don't sign and stay if and when necessary but at your will and you will leave yourself in a much better position, is your right not to sign

I've got that in mine, don't have to sign it but did anyway. Not actually gone anywhere near that working hour wise though.

I only get 20 days holiday a year, plus bank holidays. the company also closes for a couple of mandatory days around xmas.

bargain, or robbed ?

Our bungling HR staff are so clueless that when we transferred to another division my fixed-term contract suddenly became permanent. No questions asked. Until I realised my notice period had become 3 months instead of 1. They still haven't answered that one; and I asked them months ago. And (working for the NHS, as I do) Agenda For Change; what a disaster! Don't get me started on that one.

Robbed.

I get 24 days + bank holidays and days surrounding Christmas. Meant to have 4 of those holiday days to get 2 weeks off around Christmas but no one did last year which was a bonus.

i work 10 hours a day, 8am till 6pm but i get lots of money especially for my age 16. £200 a week, i plan to retire before 30.

I had plans like that at 16....and at 34 am nowhere near retiring....things get in the way like a Wife, Kids, Mortgage etc. If you retire before 30 then I will eat a hat. ;)

youre right there

the joy of working in the UK... never again thanks!
the only bit I enjoyed was friday pub lunch :)

I was so shocked no one was stopping for lunch during the week it depressed me the first few weeks...
Now I'm in Oz I've made them increase lunch time from 30mn to 45mn-1h just by talking shit with the ladies...

Bargain. That's 4 more than the minimum they have to give you.

We have 45 minutes if we want it for lunch, and coffee break if we want it :O

I say sod it, go and work as a parkie somewhere pretty like dylanos.

I also say that I, like others, planned to retire at 30, probably could have done, chose not to and now I think 50 is a possibility...

make sure you choose a pork pie hat as it will be a lot easier to eat.

It isn't actually an opt out form we are being asked to sign, it's an integral part of the new contract so you sign both or neither.
The whole workforce is being issued new contracts, so it is not as if there are any particular operational considerations being applied.

ha. retire at 30? that means unless you also plan to live as a squatter, you will have to be mortgage free by that time. so, considering house prices, and your fluctuating age - previous posts you have claimed 17 & even 22 - that gives you say 10 - 15 years to save 250,000 - 300,000 for a 2 bedroom house... if you are lucky with prices. In 10 years time with the cost of living, you will probably need an average of say 30,000 p/a to live on (again very conservative estimate). say you live your 4 score years that gives you 50 years of life post retirement. So being very very generous with the figures, you will need to save around 2 million quid in the next 10 years - 200,000 per year. good luck.