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Ross1308 · Newbie Joined: 25 Sep 2009 Posts: 1 Career Advice: +0/-0

Sorry i havnt introduced my self will do as soon as ive posted this, Anyway my name is Ross, im 17 years old and live in the UK im currently working for BT (British Telecom) in a call centre in Wales. Ive only been there for 2 weeks today and i need to leave, not for bad reasons for good anyway heres the story so be prepared for a read Laughing

So i went for an interview with BT for a position in Billing and Enquiries and got the Job, i was chuffed as i had been out of work for about 6 - 7 months, From the day ive been there ive loved it, the training is rigorous but its great, This job with BT is With an Agency though (Manpower) and is expected to last for a long time im on £6.75 an hour and work Monday to Friday 8 - 4, so not to bad really.

I also went for a job with Admiral Insurance as a Teleclaims Advisor which is Full Time with admiral (no agencies) and unexpectadly the day before my BT Start date they rang and offered me a job so i was even more chuffed, i thought to myself now what to do so accepted the job and agreed to start on the 5th of October anyway the time is nearning now and i have decided to go to admiral insurance but wait thered more. ! Laughing

I have my driving test booked for the 29th which is tuesday coming and im in a situation where i dont know what to do, BT wont let me have anytime off during training and i cant cancel my test now and dont particulary want to, so what do i do.

Ask BT Monday is it possible for me to have the 2 and a half hours off for my test and then come back to work, which if they say no i will say, well unfortunatly i cant cancel the test now and i have spent alot of money preparing for it and i am not prepared to waste £150 on the test and lessons booked now, so for that reason im afraid i will be leaving you, OR if they say yes i say great and have the time off then finish friday anyway : / which i think would be messing them around a bit to much considering ive only been there 2 weeks

other option is

Say to them, In the beginning i was looking for full time work and a job has become available for me which is much more suitable for me to travel back and forth to and has better career options for me, for this reason i will be leaving you at BT, i hope you understand and thank you for employing me.

can't think of any other way round it really : /
Hope you can understand what ive wrote and shed some light on the situation

any help is appreciated
Thanks
Ross Llewellyn.

Pauloz · Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2009 12:45 am Post subject:

Ross1308

I take it you booked your driving test prior to accepting the job? If so, you're in the right.

What's involved here is some applied self interest. BT, one way or another, is now out of the picture. It's good that you're trying to do the right thing, but that £150 figures out as what, nearly four days pay after tax. You can't throw it away, then have to pay it again later anyway. £300 would be a rather expensive license.

They should just be able to dock that two and a half hours, and leave it at that. That takes about 3 seconds work, and happens regularly in every workplace on Earth. No big deal, and they shouldn't be trying to make one out of it.

It's advisable to remember that not everyone is strictly pure about their behavior on the job, and you are at least trying to do the right thing by them. Many people would just take a bogus sick day, and wouldn't lose out financially or otherwise. I don't think it's unreasonable that you should be allowed to do the test, particularly having made the commitment prior to being employed with them.

We can't give legal advice, but you'd probably have grounds at least for a dispute, if they refused to allow you to attend your appointment. They had no claims on your time prior to the date of your acceptance of the job offer, as far as I can see. Importantly, you stand to lose out materially, if you can't attend the test. You do have some talking points here.

I don't see why you should be effectively penalized for acting correctly. From your intentions, you'd have been back doing the work for the rest of the day, too, which is another important point in call centres.

Don't sweat this. You're in the right, and you really don't have a lot of choices in this matter. Go ahead, and check out your rights for a dispute if they have a problem with it.

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