Discrimination in the workplace, is this what this is?

Question

A colleague has worked at a company for just 6 months and now works flexi-time when they choose, is allowed time off in lieu and is allowed to work from home when they choose. Nobody else in the company is allowed these privileges.

Their reason given is this person "works long hours, has to travel a long distance and doesn't get paid over-time", yet all staff members work long hours when required, one other staff member travels in from the same town, and no over-time is paid to anyone. So the reasons are irrelevant.

What is my standing on this legally? Are employers obliged to offer this to all members of staff?

This person is not on welfare benefits.

We do not have an 'employee handbook' other than what is in our contracts is all we can go by, and it states the fixed hours, no over-time and no days off in lieu.

They are paid a very good salary, much higher than their colleagues doing the same job.

Answer 1

No, this is not discrimination in the legal sense. Discrimination in the workplace only occurs when your job is negatively affected (non-promotion, terminiation, disciplinary action) and you are in a protected class of people.
This sounds like someone is playing favorites. What is going on at your job does not sound fair. You should document all that goes on, bring it to HR and file a formal complaint. Be careful NOT to include hearsay (he said she said) in your documentation. Re-visit your employee handbook and see if anything like the privaleges this person is getting are in there. If not, then why? Question the higher-ups, if you get no where, then keep going higher.

Answer 2

Hi, I'm in HR. First of all you don't know the whole story so you can't know if it's fair or not. Even if it's unfair, it's not illegal to implement one position as a flex-time position. The employee may be disabled in some way that you can't see, and it's no one's business to make that public. They don't have to offer you reasons or even the real reasons for that matter if they are personal. The employee may also be paid less than others in a similar position for the fewer in-office hours. The point is that you can't know all the circumstance because you aren't involved. So don't jump to conclusions and assume it's all unfair, and they are being paid the same to have leisure time at home. A company will make arrangements like this when faced with budget cuts, keeping that person out of the office which costs more, offering flex time to lower salary, or accommodating a disability, or simply because the position warrants a different schedule.

Answer 3

If it is true that this person isn't paid overtime, and the rest of you are, then there is nothing inappropriate going on here. If you work long hours, you are getting paid for it. That is considered BETTER than flex-time. But if it is true that no one gets paid overtime, then you have a pretty good argument. I'd start by filing a grievance within the company before I resorted to legal action, however, or else it is going to look like you're just looking for free money. Some evidence that supports an alternative reason for why you think the other person gets this treatment would help, too, as would keeping a log of specific incidences of unfair treatment. The more people you get on board with you, the better. Good luck!

Answer 4

Although it seems unfair, employers are free to set conditions of employment for individual employees as they see fit, as long as they are not discriminating against anyone on grounds of race, religion, sex, etc. For instance if the only white employee was allowed time off in lieu, then that may be discrimination against the black employees.
I agree though that this sort of thing is divisive and not good practice. You could make a formal complaint to your employer based on the fact that no one else is given TOIL in place of overtime. Although I hesitate to ferment unrest, has anyone considered an overtime ban?

Answer 5

No, they are not obligated in any way to offer this type of flexibility to anyone. Time off in lieu is a way for the company to legally not have to pay the employee overtime. Being allowed to telecommute, and choose his own work hours is solely up to the employer at their discretion.

Answer 6

Sounds very much like POSITIVE discrimination to me to the benefit of the one individual!

You should all have contracts of employment and job descriptions! DO YOU?

Maybe the employer knows something about the employee. Maybe their are 'Very Special' personal Circumstance'? You know, spouse dying of cancer, children with special needs and no proper support available! You need to decide if you think your personal right as you see them outweigh another persons personal/private needs!

Will it be legalism or compassion? So if you want to push ahead try not to crush another human being in the process! Good Luck!

Answer 7

i'm going to tell you a basic fact of employment. arselicks get what they want. you get no thanks for doing a good job. i work my socks off, not because i want thanks or extra but because i like working. the legal limit for carrying any weight by hand is 25 kilos, i load heavy duty bins to the neck with rubble thats 90 kilos and i like making the other labourers look bad one i like the other i hate, the one i hate is an alcoholic and gets paid more than me by doing 10 times less work, staggering about slurring his words. but i dont care i feel good. sod those who get more than you, keep your head down dont make waves do your 9 to 5 and no more!. i come in 20 minutes early everyday after travelling across town do i start work 20 minutes early? bollocks i do. i grab me a coffee and then start at 8. i do more work in an hour than the other 2 in a whole day without breaking a sweat even though i know im going to be first tossed out.

Answer 8

Discrimination is discrimination. in many companies, thier efforts to teach they do no longer discriminate motives extra discrimination. Take working example a place the place ninety 5 or extra % of the managers are woman, even whilst many adult males have extra skills.

Answer 9

It's worth having a look at your terms and conditions of employment. I would say that the other member of staff has something else going on there life which you do not have the right to question

Answer 10

This employee probably negotiated all these things when he was first interviewed and offered the job. Why not ask if you can go on to a similar package and then the boss will tell if your job qualifies and if not why not.