Jo overtime driver mins dismissal claim
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LORRY driver who refused do overtime on a Saturday s unfairly sacked, an 1n ;trial Tribunal at Brighton ed. The amount of compenion he will receive will be nounced later.
luey St Claire, driver for ntractors Taylor Jarvis ant) Ltd, of Meadow Road lustrial Estate, Worthing, luld not work on the first turday in November. He had )mised to take his wife, who d recently had a baby, ppping.
-'our days earlier the comny's transport manager had ced for volunteers for overle work on the Saturday. ily three out of the five vers volunteered.
Mr St Claire told managing .ector, Simon Power, that he .eady had "a prior engagemt" for that day.
Mr Power told the men he eded them all to work on the turday. On the Friday night warned them that if the Ties did not run he would 11 the lorries and sack all the ivers. Four of the drivers reed to work. When Mr St Claire repeated that he would not work, Mr Power told him that unless he did, he could consider himself under a week's notice.
Mr Power told the Tribunal it was a condition of the drivers' employment that they worked the hours they were directed. But, he preferred to use "a silk glove" to get the volunteers rather than the "I insist" to force them to work the overtime.
He admitted that Mr St Claire did not have a written contract including this condition on overtime, and that he could not prove Mr St Claire had been told of this condition when he was employed.
David Jarman, representing. Mr St Claire, submitted that the company had failed to prove that overtime was compulsory as a condition of employment and that the company had failed to follow the code of practice governing dismissal.
Mr St Claire, a married man with three children under the age of five, of Dominion Road, Worthing, is still unemployed. After the hearing Mr Power said he would have to consider selling the lorries unless the overtime system could be restructured.