“I am Working Longer Hours Than What’s In The Contract.” HR Advices

By Elizabeth Benu,

“My employment contract dictates that my working hours are from 8:00 am till 5:00 pm but my boss swamps me with extra work which is not in my job description. Most times I end up leaving the office at 7:00 pm. I am scared that  if I talk to him about it, I may lose my job. The point is, I do not understand why the contract terms were changed without my knowledge or consent. I feel that my rights are not being respected and that the many working hours are affecting my personal life. Please advice on what to do,” reads an email from David Kimani.

Paul Kiarie, a HR officer at Ashut Engineering says that a boss is not supposed to change the contract without an employee’s knowledge.

He further says that there are laws and rights that dictate the working hours of an employee and if they are violated you can sue your boss.

However, one can lose the job even if the complaint is successful since the boss may not want to take you back.

“Companies have times when they review contracts and renegotiate the terms of contract. I would advice employees to wait until that time. It depends with a company but it would be the best time to convince your boss and straighten out the matters,” Mr. Kiarie advices.

You probably think that by leaving late from work you can compensate by coming late for work and still work the hours as stipulated in the contract. Mr. Kiarie says that it is not one sided.

“It is better if you clear with your employer to confirm if your job description allows you to do that. If you are in a position where there is no one else holding up for you when you come late then it would be hard to do that. If your job allows you and you have cleared with your employer then you can do it,” he adds.

You may be scared that asking your boss to reduce your workload may have implications on your career but it all depends on the extra duty and its relationship to your career.

If you are working as an accountant and you have an extra duty of preparing cash sale invoices and you want it removed, it may affect you because it is related to your career. But say as the same accountant you are serving tea as your extra duty, you will not be losing on anything.

Mr Kiarie advises that you need to evaluate carefully on the duty and see if it helps in your career or not.

In an interesting article written by John Townsend, he argues that it has been said that more does not necessarily mean better and as you wait for your contract to be renegotiated, he  suggests of  ways in which a worker can ease the stress that comes along with working for long hours.

He advices that one need to reduce the commute time(one can live closer to work), try to get at least one recovery day a week which is essential to cope with the grind of long hours and to constantly seek to improve the efficiency of your work practices.

“Every hour you save will hopefully be an hour you can claim for yourself,” Townsend says.

Have you found yourself in a similar situation?

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