I can’t see how the OP has grounds to moan, he got his flexible hours, he got an hour toil, and yet still winge, winge. If the car broke down and you were late by 2.5hrs and didn’t want to take half a day off, then surely you have to offer and then make up the hours?

If you are that fed up with the job get another, but I expect you’ll find it hard to find one that is only a 7 hour day and with flexible hours.

I’d also be surprised if in this case that even a Union would want to touch it with a barge pole, as the grounds for complaint seem minimal IMO. I don’t think having a huffy boss is something they’d be bothered with.

i never see it as an us and them situation as it is in everyones best interest we all just get along.
What I dont like is when employers take the piss. It is their rules in their contract so it is not unreasonable to expect them to follow them.
Mange folk out of an organisation is just bad management, sack them or work with them to improve their performance. Often this means make work so unpleasant they would rather leave than face the shit and stress dished out to them. It is pretty much just bullying IMHO.

In this case had he left after one hour of work i doubt the manage would have been fine about it and they were not fine about them being late – despite the issue so it is not even or fair or legal.

he got an hour toil,

everyone else got two hours and his was reluctantly – why is it fair to single him out for this. The only purpose i can see is to annoy the employee tbh. they get half of what they did and half of everyone else.

If you are that fed up with the job get another, but I expect you’ll find it hard to find one that is only a 7 hour day and with flexible hours.

You should familiarise yourself with the legislation as it is now a right and employers must demonstarte that it is impossible* [ not a pain] to do this

Flexible working includes, but is not limited to, part time working. It encompasses a range of options including part time working and can include job sharing, flexible hours, compressed hours, term time working and working from home, or varying start and finish times.

rational here
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/family-friendly-task-force-report.pdf
uniony one on rules
http://www.tuc.org.uk/extras/familyfriendlyguide.pdf

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/recession/5102373/Millions-of-parents-to-be-given-right-to-family-friendly-working.html

At present, around 800,000 people qualify for the right to request flexible working and 90 per cent of applications are currently accepted.
Under the new regulations, workers will have the right to ask employers to alter their contractual hours to fit in with their domestic life.
They may not request fewer hours, but can suggest, for example, altering them so that they fit in with school hours by starting work earlier and leaving by mid-afternoon.

In this case the company probably had to do this given they already did it for others

* ok there are spefic reasons they can give so impossible is not strictly accurate

my 2p worth

If you have 7 people working for you and 6 are positive, flexible and helpful and 1 who is negative, disruptive, always having problems, a work-to-rule person, would you manage all of them in the same way?

The 6 you could delegate to, have a collaborative coaching style with and be confident in their self management and decision-making skills.

You would manage them in a completely different way to the person who needed constant prodding to get things done, was always a ‘victim of circumstance’ (I’m late because my car broke down, etc)
Funny how it’s never the fault of this person, always someone else.
Funny how you never get the same problems with your top performers.

A good manager uses different techniques to manage these two types of people.

It seems strange to me that people think it an alien thing to actually enjoy their job and that if they voluntarily want to work through their lunch hour, that they are somehow deranged or the employer is being unfair in some way.
Most people who work through their lunch or beyond what is expected because they want to, often derive other recompense for their efforts. Whether that is having the flexibility to leave 10mins early etc or maybe seeing the face of a happy customer because their order is completed on time or against the odds.

I like my job, I’m happy to be flexible. I like to think that I work hard and contribute to the success of the team and am valued by my boss. The money pays the bills, but its not why I get out of bed in the morning.

I also see those that think they are owed a living, do as little as incompetently possible, are always ‘treated unfairly’. They never seem to be able to organise themselves to get to work on time, or sort their childcare, or doctors appointments, all their kit seems to go wrong more often that others.
They just will not put work higher on their list of important things they have to do to get by.
However, ask them to turn up on time for a free beer and see the response.

Yeah fine he might get flexible hours elsewhere but it’s not a given. Look I have every sympathy for holding an employer to the contract you signed, and plenty will try it on. However, I wouldn’t bother moaning about an hour here or there, it’s just petty. Normally universities are pretty cushty places to work in the main, so I’d say this all boils down to personality clashes of which we only have one side.

Plus vote with your feet, if you don’t like it move on. I just did after working briefly for a US company who were t*ssers and my new place is much better in comparison.

You would manage them in a completely different way to the person who needed constant prodding to get things done

You would if you were a skilled manager what you would not do id breach their contract and ignore the law as part of your management package to them – if you do they are not the only employee who cannot do their job

Not all employees are equal in value but your job is to get the best you can out of each of them….you will still get poor employees and i doubt treating them unfairly will be a motivational master stroke.
if they cannot do the job support them and then train them and then use procedures if they are still not up to the task

I wouldn’t bother moaning about an hour here or there,

Would you if everyone else got paid and you did not for doing overtime?

Would you if everyone else got paid and you did not for doing overtime?

Well work as you mentioned is a 2 way thing, with many shades of grey, so yes in some cases, and no in others. Only the OP knows whether he is working hard, or taking the p*ss and hence, whether he should get the 2 hours or not. But from what he’s written he sounds moany to me and others.

I’ve been an employer (140 people) an employee and am now an employer again (80 people). The rights and wrongs of it vary as every single person has varying tolerances to what they want out of a job and life.
I wrote a big spiel but deleted it.
Suffice to say you get whingers and you get people who would lick the sh1t off your shoe if you asked them. Neither are better or worse. Loyalty works both ways but you have to be clear, consistent and above all else honest.

i’ve just skimmed thorough the comments since my last comment last wednesday…and i will say this..
some of you seem to think that i am a disruptive and difficult to manage person to manage
you also seem to think i am some sort of whinging shyster who is not picking about one hours work
you also seem to think i’m some sort of incompetent worker who is getting his comeuppance and isnt liking it

well let me set the record straight about some of the points that have been made about me so far…

like i have said i made a request for flexible working, which i am more than entitled to just as any other employee…this was granted very reluctantly even though other colleagues who have also made the same request have not experienced the resistance that i have…how do i know? they have informed me after i casually asked them…

the issues i had in my previous role…was that i was being bullied and harassed by my previous manager…that was dealt with by moving me to another team…they couldnt sack me as they wouldnt have had a leg to stand on in a tribunal…that manager has since left the university…but it seems some of you think it was my fault that i got bullied and therefore maybe i deserved it….was there an issue with my work…no…the quality of my work was not an issue in that incident nor is it in this one…

regarding being flexible…i think i have been more than flexible by working late, starting early, working through my lunches etc in the past…all i did was that i asked to claim back the 2 hours i did as TOIL in the same manner that the rest of my colleagues were…with regards to the extra hour i mentioned as a result of the car breakdown…in the past i have booked half a day off and come in earlier to work and have been told by my line manager that i should take that time off as TOIL later…but seeing as my line manager is off sick at the moment this seems to be an issue…to be honest i’m not even bothered about that hour…

how have i been flexible in the past?…every year i participate in the month of Ramadan that is a prerequisite for every muslim…this means i do not eat or drink during daylight hours…therefore i do not disappear off for a fag break and i do not take my lunch hour….i would rather work through my lunch break and i have never considered claiming this time back…i am fully aware that flexibility works both ways and have always been willing to be as flexible as i can towards my employer…Ramadan starts tonight so again it will be a month of fasting and working through my lunch hour…but i am not bothered by this…

like i said the head of my team who i am having this issue with does not seem to really like me and the only reason i can think of is that i am the only one on her team she did not have a say in the recruitment of…

across the whole division i AM the only BME worker so is it a race issue?…no i do not think it is and i have never thought it has been…there obviously seems to be a clash of personalities here…

is she bullying me? most probably, given that she is aware of what happened previously she seems to have found me to be an easy target but she is being very clever about how she attacks me…whereas the last one wasnt and went at me whenever she felt like it…

some of you think i should quit this job and get a job in the real world…i.e. the private sector…well let me tell you this…i have had jobs in the private sector, the public sector and the third sector…and have never been treated unfairly like i am being right now…yes i should leave if i’m not happy…that is my intention…obviously the timing isn’t great but it never is

others get treated better than me….the standard of my work is very high, always has been and always has been…how do i know this? if it wasnt then the issue would have been raised in my one to ones with my line manager or in my annual PDR’s….everyone else seems to value my work but her…but like i said its not my work she has an issue with but me…

i’d like to say thanks to those people who have tried to defend my point of view and have tried to offer constructive advice/support…those who have chosen to have a pop at me…well what can i say? you’re entitled to your opinion…but for those who have seen this as an opportunity to try to troll me…all i’ll say is this…next time you’re out on a ride, i hope your dropper shoots the saddle into your nuts…really hard!!

you may not like this response but having spent the last 4 days watching my father in law slowly deteriorate to point where the doctors cannot do any more for him…my mind is in a pretty dark place