If you have ever been sent home from work without pay, you might be wondering if this is legal.
The answer is a bit complicated and will vary depending on the employment contract that you have. It is recommended that you check your employment contract with an employment lawyer who can offer you free legal advice initially.
Guaranteed Hours
If your employment contract states that you are entitled to a set number of hours, you should be paid for these hours. This is your right regardless of whether you have actually worked for those hours.
This is due to the fact that employers have the obligation to provide work just as employees have the obligation to complete the work provided.
If your contract stipulates that you are contracted to work for 35 hours, you are entitled to payment for those 35 hours.
If your employer sends you home and you have only worked 30 of these hours, you are still entitled to payment for the full 35 hours.
Contracts With An Express Provision
There are some employment contracts that have an express provision. This allows the employer to place you on shorter working time and not have to pay you for the time that you are not working.
In these cases, you will generally need to be notified that your hours are being cut and what the duration of this will be. If your employer has not provided notice, you should still be entitled to payment for your full hours.
The amount of time for the notification will vary depending on your employment contract. However, this period will generally be more than 24 hours and if you are unexpectedly sent home on the day, you should still be entitled to full payment.
Zero Hours Contracts
If you have a zero-hours contract, you will not be entitled to payment for the hours that you have not worked.
This is due to the fact that your contract does not stipulate the number of hours that you are entitled to. If you have been sent home from work while on one of these contracts, you will not be entitled to pay.
If you have been sent home from work, you could be entitled to pay regardless of the fact that you have not worked.
This will depend on what type of employment contract you have. Of course, if you have an issue at work with your employer, call our team for free legal advice.
If you decide to take one of our free initial consultations, please note that it will be with a qualified, experienced employment law expert.
Disclaimer: The contents of this article are for information purposes only and should not be relied upon as formal legal advice. We cannot accept responsibility for any loss as a result of acts or omissions taken in respect of this article. Specific legal advice should be sort tailored to the individual circumstances in all cases.
For any information relating to our services please give us a call and we will be very happy to help.