Greetings colleagues,
I got suspended from my full-time permanent position two weeks ago and I'm expecting to remain in limbo for a couple of months minimum as that seems to tbe the usual form at our place.
I've been offered an interview for a temporary job on a fixed term contract until the end of September and the question is; should I be offered this position, does my Tesco contract allow me to moonlight while suspended?
I'm fully aware of the requirement to remain available while suspended.
I was never given a copy of my contract and have been locked out of my MyTesco account since the day I was suspended, hence the need to ask this question here.
Many thanks, in advance.
Tesco doesn't have any contractual clauses that prevents you from taking a 2nd job (I worked at Tesco one day a week while working as a senior SAP consultant for the home office) . They do however have one clause which might put you in breach of it, that clause being conflict of interest, if your working for a direct competitor and they find out, they'll ask you to choose between them or the competition.
Quote from: NightAndDay on 14-08-21, 02:39PM
Tesco doesn't have any contractual clauses that prevents you from taking a 2nd job (I worked at Tesco one day a week while working as a senior SAP consultant for the home office) . They do however have one clause which might put you in breach of it, that clause being conflict of interest, if your working for a direct competitor and they find out, they'll ask you to choose between them or the competition.
Many thanks for that NightAndDay. That's pretty much what I thought the situation might be.
My possible second job is with Pepsi Max/Britvic so I don't consider them a direct competitor.
Precedent has been set anyway as one of our drivers does Sainsburys in the day and Tesco in the evening.
Once again, many thanks for taking the time to reply. :thumbup:
An ex-colleague of mine worked for Tesco and the Co-op at the same time, he got found out though and had to resign from the Co-op. However, what's in the contract and them finding out are 2 different things, if nobody knows you have a 2nd job at a competitor, then nothing will be done.
And yes, working for Britvic wouldn't be a conflict of interest.
Tesco cant do anything about you working elsewhere while suspended or for that matter not suspended, also being suspended for a couple of months is not really acceptable unless there is a genuine reason such as a witness who needs to be interviewed being unavailable or it being a very complex or sensitive issue and the investigating manager needs to seek advice or assistance from people further up in the company. You would be well within your rights if you so wish to question a suspension of around two months and to ask why its taking so long.
While suspended, they wouldn't care most likely, even if they did, it would be easy enough to hide the fact while you're not there, while not suspended, it is a conflict of interest if you work for a competitor and if they find out they will bring up the breach of contract (again only if they find out.)
The only problem that could arise is being summoned to Tesco while at your new job, being suspended on full pay means you are supposed to be available for meetings in your work hours.
Quote from: NightAndDay on 14-08-21, 02:39PM
They do however have one clause which might put you in breach of it, that clause being conflict of interest, if your working for a direct competitor and they find out, they'll ask you to choose between them or the competition.
This is something I asked about a while back, and was told that as long as the position your in and the position your applying for isn't higher up where changes can be made / marketing etc, then your fine to work for them...
As I was curious about Morrisons and tesco while a GA and had heard about that too, but they said it was fine as long as I wasn't preaching anything bad about the other, Morrisons had no issue with me working for tesco either at the time, but that job didn't last anyhow.
There is absolutely no problem with working somewhere else while suspended in some situations you can work somewhere else while sick too the law is a very murky water on the subject.
However you've stated that you've never had a Tesco contract, how long have you worked at Tesco?
One must always be wary about what one is 'told' unless one has a reliable witness. Generally what one is told is worth less than the paper it is not written on.
Just a reminder.
Technically speaking, working for a competitor in any capacity is a conflict of interest, it is however dependent on the manager if they really want to do anything about it (I only know of one manager that made the guy quit his Co-op job, the manager no longer works for the company as he was dodgy (cooking the books) he got a job at Booker as an Area Manager before Tesco acquired it though.) Suffice to say he was the biggest jobsworth going and everyone hated him (he was asked to resign when the new AM found out about his dodgy dealings).
As for working elsewhere while off sick from Tesco, it's allowed if there is no conflict of interest and if the job duties are materially different that it wouldn't exacerbate whatever ailment they're suffering from (working in an office job for example whike off sick being dot com).
Quote from: horatiocain on 15-08-21, 11:34AM
There is absolutely no problem with working somewhere else while suspended in some situations you can work somewhere else while sick too the law is a very murky water on the subject.
However you've stated that you've never had a Tesco contract, how long have you worked at Tesco?
Once your set up on the system as a member of staff even if just a temp for a couple of weeks a contract is automatically generated, what is more likely the issue here is the op has not been furnished with a copy of the contract, therefore yet again someone has not done there job correctly.
Technically speaking, if you are being paid whilst on suspension then you should still be available for work during your normal working hours as per your contract because your employer can cancel the suspension at any time. If the second job is outside of those working hours then you are allowed to take up other employment that doesn't result in a conflict of interest.
Many thanks to everyone for taking the time to reply. Some great information in here.
The interview today could not have gone better and I see the fact they told me I would be informed tomorrow whether I have been successful or not as a good sign.
In answer to the other questions posed here:
For sure, it would not create a conflict of interests, no doubt about that.
I'm well aware of the requirement to be available for meetings and there is only one day a week where this potentially new job clashed with my Tesco hours so I will take my chances on that one. There are many ways to get a meeting stalled, postponed etc so that won't be a tough one to deal with.
I've been at Tesco since May 2020. I started on a twelve week temp contract and was made permanent in August 2020.
Yes penguin - you are bang on about someone not having done their job right in not giving me a copy of my contract, but I'm not concerned because it's just yet another thing I can use against them.
I would like to post the full details of this situation on here but I'm under instruction not to talk about the case with colleagues and while I don't think that is legally binding or enforceable, I don't want to risk jeapordising my case.
I am in the middle of writing a twelve point greivance against the manager who got me suspended, which I will produce at an opportune moment.
The other guy who I had the altercation with was not suspended and the union are all over this. I think I will win any tribunal on this point alaone and if I quit and claim constructive dismissal, that one point could also be enough to win that claim.
I was approached to be union rep just three weeks ago and certain managers got very worried when I produced my manifesto as it included making them answerable to the union for poor job performance. The altercation I was suspended for would have been very easy to resove formally, however the general consensus is I was suspended to prevent me running for union rep in the September elections.
I'm in fighting mood over this and will take it as far as I possibly can, even if it gets resolved in my favour. I will put in another grievance for loss of earnings, i.e. overtime lost while under suspension.
Thanks again for all the replies. It's really appreciated.
You've been with the company over 2 months with no statement of particulars which is already a breach of employment law also suspension even paid must be as short as possible under policy and law.
Could you point us to where you got this info from regarding employment law it would be handy to have at hand.
Many thanks.
Since April 2020 the law has become a lot stricter about issuing written contracts of employment. You now have to give employees a contract of employment by the end of their first day of working for you. It used to be within two months of them starting. Check citizens advice.
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/work/rights-at-work/basic-rights-and-contracts/contracts-of-employment/ (https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/work/rights-at-work/basic-rights-and-contracts/contracts-of-employment/)
Quotewas approached to be union rep just three weeks ago and certain managers got very worried when I produced my manifesto as it included making them answerable to the union for poor job performance. The altercation I was suspended for would have been very easy to resove formally, however the general consensus is I was suspended to prevent me running for union rep in the September elections.
At risk of going off topic how can a union rep bring in a such a rule ?
Quote from: baldeagle on 17-08-21, 04:45PM
Since April 2020 the law has become a lot stricter about issuing written contracts of employment. You now have to give employees a contract of employment by the end of their first day of working for you. It used to be within two months of them starting. Check citizens advice.
Oh right thanks for the info.
I think that is all covered by the paperwork you sign during induction. It starts with your employee number being your national insurance number and then you generate a new contract once you have a proper employee number.
Quote from: baldeagle on 17-08-21, 04:45PM
Since April 2020 the law has become a lot stricter about issuing written contracts of employment. You now have to give employees a contract of employment by the end of their first day of working for you. It used to be within two months of them starting. Check citizens advice.
I have never been given one - I started in March 2020...
They should ask if you want a copy when you sign your contract.
The 1996 ERA made a statement of particulars a requirement within 2 months of employment, this for Tesco is a single sheet showing you your hours and your pay until this point your offer letter is your contract of employment.
Since last year they've tightened the reigns a little and from your first day they're required to provide a considerable amount of information but the full statement is due within 2 months.
All rules regarding said employment are available online via the ourtesco website, if a policy isn't on there it isn't valid, if they don't give you access to the website the policies are all invalid, until they provide you with either copies of policies or grant you access to the website.
Quote from: penguin on 17-08-21, 06:34PM
Quotewas approached to be union rep just three weeks ago and certain managers got very worried when I produced my manifesto as it included making them answerable to the union for poor job performance. The altercation I was suspended for would have been very easy to resove formally, however the general consensus is I was suspended to prevent me running for union rep in the September elections.
At risk of going off topic how can a union rep bring in a such a rule ?
I'm not completely sure I can, but it certainly got them worried when I said I would. I was bluffing to see what reaction I would get, however what is to stop anyone from pulling managers up and challenging them on job performance?
Quote from: horatiocain on 18-08-21, 08:43PM
The 1996 ERA made a statement of particulars a requirement within 2 months of employment, this for Tesco is a single sheet showing you your hours and your pay until this point your offer letter is your contract of employment.
Since last year they've tightened the reigns a little and from your first day they're required to provide a considerable amount of information but the full statement is due within 2 months.
All rules regarding said employment are available online via the ourtesco website, if a policy isn't on there it isn't valid, if they don't give you access to the website the policies are all invalid, until they provide you with either copies of policies or grant you access to the website.
They locked me out of my OurTesco account the day I was suspended.
Today I was offered the job with Britvic, and I'll be starting real soon.
I am certain there will be silence from Tesco regarding my suspension until after the union elections in September. That's fine - the longer it goes on, the more my position strengthens.
The remit of a unions function is to provide some semblence of checks and balances to ensure managers are acting in accordance with the law and policy and that they're behaviours exhibit fairness.
Union reps don't manage managers, those with poor performance are dealt with by senior managers, saying that however the conduct of a manager having to result in union action is more often than not in itself indicative of poor performance on the offending managers part.
Unions are there more to protect and legally enforce than they are to punish, they can punish indirectly though, if a managers misconduct ends up losing Tescos thousands of pounds in court, that would have to be treated more seriously by the disciplining senior managers than if it didn't happen.
Death_Alley_Driver you should not be locked out of Our Tesco while under investigatory suspension, you should still be able to reset your account and gain access to it during the period of your suspension.
Penguin does make a good point, I would contact your people partner, a lot of what you've been through is by what's been stated here illegal and very out of process, did the people partner get involved in the suspension process?
Quote from: Death_Alley_Driver on 19-08-21, 03:35PM
Quote from: horatiocain on 18-08-21, 08:43PM
The 1996 ERA made a statement of particulars a requirement within 2 months of employment, this for Tesco is a single sheet showing you your hours and your pay until this point your offer letter is your contract of employment.
Since last year they've tightened the reigns a little and from your first day they're required to provide a considerable amount of information but the full statement is due within 2 months.
All rules regarding said employment are available online via the ourtesco website, if a policy isn't on there it isn't valid, if they don't give you access to the website the policies are all invalid, until they provide you with either copies of policies or grant you access to the website.
They locked me out of my OurTesco account the day I was suspended.
Today I was offered the job with Britvic, and I'll be starting real soon.
I am certain there will be silence from Tesco regarding my suspension until after the union elections in September. That's fine - the longer it goes on, the more my position strengthens.
Do you understand what a rep is?
You have no authority to do anything the only benefit you get from being one is you can have an area organiser in to rep you when you get into trouble, You wont be making any manifestos or making anyone accountable to anyone let alone the union.
What will happen is you will be ignored.
Regardless of the lack of understanding about union rep activities, the manager has still acted way out of process, the stickler is that he was suspended in relation to union activities (regardless of the misunderstanding on what activities they can do), that's a big no-no in employment law (union activities are protected activities) and will land the manager in a big pile of doo-doo.
Tescos stance is that they're in a partnership with the Union, we all know the reality is that managers hate union reps because they limit their powers of running a shop like North Korea, but if a managers reasoning for suspension is related to anything to do with the Union, not only would the people partner have to read the manager the riot act, the people partner will have to defend their anti-union activities to the union themselves.
Where does it say he was suspended in relation to union activities? It's just speculation isn't it?
He may well not have been, but from what it sounds like, it seems likely, we'd need more info.
The O.P said in this topic he was suspended following an "altercation" with another member of staff, although he thinks that it was really done in relation to him wanting to become a rep.
Cant see it to be fair, Union reps are unimportant have no authority to do anything other than advise the people they rep the main role is to make sure Tesco stick to their own rules and the rule of law but even if they dont they can not do anything other than advice.
It is a thankless but important task
Fun conspiracy tho.