Law queries

I have been working for my employer for around two years. I have regularly been working 55 hours a week but have never been paid any overtime. I have been told that I should not be working so many hours and that my employer has been breaking the law by making me work so much. I feel that I should be compensated for this with overtime pay but my employer says I have no right to this. I am sure this must be wrong.

Unfortunately the fact that your employer was employing you for more than the maximum number of hours laid down in the working time regulations (48 hours a week) does not give you the right to be paid for the additional hours. If there is nothing in your contract that covers overtime pay you cannot claim the right to receive it. A recent ruling by the Employment Appeal Tribunal confirms that the fact that your employer has broken the law does not give rise to a separate right to be paid for the hours you have worked.

* More information: Forbouys v Rich EAT/144/01