Where do i stand?

[Druchii]

I'm on about my workplace and my job. Alright, it's nothing glamorous, i'm just a per delivery guy, or "Avisbud" in Norwegian. I work for a company called Aftenposten, which means "After post, or afternoon post". However despite it's name, most deliveries are made in the morning.

My contract states i work from 3.30am until 6.00am, Monday - Saturday.
I get paid extra if the papers are not delivered on time to the distribution point, namely, for every 15mins they are late, i get 30NOK (about £2.50).

Newspaper delivery is typically late 2 days a week, Friday and Saturday. Normally they're only 30mins late or so, which is manageable. (Though not ideal).

Today however, upon arriving at work at 3am (Like i always do, my round takes upto three hours, and i get paid for 2hrs 30 only.) I ended up waiting 3hours for the papers to arrive, which, is 6am. The time when i am meant to finish work.
I told my distribution leader (my boss, basically) that i refuse to deliver today due to the papers arriving AFTER my contracted hours. He agreed this was correct, and asked me to deliver them anyway (They have too, before they can get someone else in to deliver them instead).
To "solve" this situation, the main office offered me double money for the day, plus normal waiting money, or, they would not pay me anything, despite me standing in the cold for 3hours (It's about 1'C here).
However as i didn't manage to sleep last night, i apologised to them, and told them i would not work, even for double rate.

Now, where do i stand? I did not accept not being paid, but i still refused to work for double.
Should i still be paid my contracted hours, plus my waiting time? As i was still stood there waiting for the papers to arrive for my route to start. Or were they right to refuse my days pay?

I need advice on how to counter this situation as these employers are notoriously crafty.

Thanks in advance, and sorry for the long post.
Oh, and if they paid me normal + waitng time, today alone would be (420+(30*10)) = 720NOK.
The doubled rate of pay, and waiting time sums to (720+420) = 1140NOK.

[Raistlin]

Ummm.....

My gut tells me you should still get paid for the hours you did work (your contracted hours, plus your 'waiting' time) however, you're asking us about employments terms & conditions for a foreign country (foreign to us at any rate)..... If it's going to be that much of an issue you should probably take appropriate legal advice in Norway.

Hope you get it sorted, sounds like they're trying to screw you over :(

[Druchii]

Thanks Raistlin, that's all i wanted to know, what the average person would think on the subject.

Come Monday i have to go to their offices anyway, so we shall see then. :)

[LSainsbury]

I get paid extra if the papers are not delivered on time to the distribution point, namely, for every 15mins they are late, i get 30NOK (about £2.50).




You get paid extra if they are not delivered on time???? :erm:

[Ramrod]

You get paid extra if they are not delivered on time???? :erm:
He's not delivering them, he's waiting around for them at that point......so he can then deliver them

[Druchii]

He's not delivering them, he's waiting around for them at that point......so he can then deliver them
Correct.

The papers get delivered from the printing press to the distribution point, then i can start my paper route. I get disciplinary action if they delivered late by me (Normally waived if the papers were delivered after 3.30am to the distribution point)

[LSainsbury]

Ahh right - all clear now....

Hope you get it sorted.

[Charlie_Bubble]

I don't think anyone here can really give you solid advice that would stand up in a court of law, mainly because you are working in a foreign country and we have no knowledge of their laws and working practices. Do they have the equivalent of a citizens advice bureau there?

I can see it from both points of view really. Your point of view is made in your post, but from their side, they didn't intentionally make the papers late and I think their offer of waiting time money for the 3 hours you waited + double time to deliver the papers was a very fair offer. I think the most you could hope for is the 3 hours waiting time money. Let's face it, you didn't actually perform your main job of delivering the papers, so why should they pay you for a task you didn't do? They would have had to pull someone in from somewhere else to perform the task you didn't do, so why should they have to pay you for something you didn't do AND someone else (Probably on double time) to do your job?

Sorry if this isn't what you want to hear, but face up to the fact that when you get a job you are paid to work certain hours and perform certain tasks. Sometimes you may be required to do this outside your contracted hours, but this would normally be rewarded by additional money or additional time off in lieu. This was offered to you, but you opted to turn this offer down. Don't expect them to pay you for a task you didn't do.

[AntiSilence]

I don't think I could do a job that starts at 3.30am! It's the middle of the night for me, and still sleepy time!