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An employee is a key holder in case of any break-ins and emergencies at work. Now they are called out at all hours of the night. What can they do?

Q My daughter has been working for the same company for the past three years. Two years ago she was told her duties included being a key holder and being on call 24/7 in case of break-ins and general problems with the building. She was not offered extra money for this and has been on permanent call ever since. This has placed a huge strain on her personal and social life. Following a midnight call out and a five-hour wait for security she told her boss she would not do it in future. She has since been told that although it is not part of her job description she must continue to do it as it is covered by a line that says “all reasonable ad hoc duties.” Can this be right?

A “All reasonable ad hoc duties” is a great catch-all phrase. The word reasonable is, of course, open to interpretation, but it is clear your daughter is finding the demands placed on her quite unreasonable. Being on call does put your own life on hold. Few people are permanently on call – it is more normal to have a rota system. It sounds like your daughter has been on permanent call for two years, which implies she is the sole key holder. That does seem very harsh, but it is something she agreed to. By doing this she in effect accepted a change in her contract. Unless you formally object, when terms and conditions are changed you are deemed to have agreed to any changes to your contract.

However, that does not mean there is no way out. Employment lawyer Fiona Martin, from Martin Searle Solicitors, says: “Even though this person agreed to take on the additional duty of key holder, if the length and frequency of the call outs are such that this is causing a negative impact on her life, she can address the situation by raising a formal grievance. Under the Working Time Regulations (WTR), employees have the right to a rest period of 11 uninterrupted hours per day, and a weekly rest period of 24 uninterrupted hours.

“She should also calculate her working hours over a 17-week period and include these extra on-call hours. If the average is more than 48 hours a week this would be an offence under the WTR, unless she has agreed in writing to opt out of the 48-hour maximum.”

The next step is for your daughter to put her grievance in writing to her employer. She will need to set out when this role started to place a strain on her personal and social life, the hours she was required to carry out in the work place, and details of any informal complaints she has already made and how these were dealt with. If she feels there has been a breach of the WTR she should provide a breakdown of hours worked. As she is not being paid for the extra hours she should look at the effect this has on her hourly rate and if as a result it now falls below minimum wage levels. Current rates are £5.73 an hour for workers aged 22 years and above.

If she is paid monthly then she needs to average her hours over a month, and if paid less frequently then for whatever period that is. All the facts need to be there and the grounds for this grievance clearly explained. She also needs to clarify the outcome she hopes to achieve. Does she want to be paid for the extra hours or have key holding duties removed or shared?

The prospect of initiating a formal grievance can be daunting. Good preparation and detailed factual information are essential. There is comprehensive advice and guidance on the Acas (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) website. The legal issues involved with being on call are complex. What is acceptable can be affected by factors such as the nature of the work, whether you live in accommodation owned by your company, or if you have to be available in a place determined by the employer. If your daughter is in a trade union they should be able to provide further support and someone to accompany her to the grievance hearing.