Q: How are my hours worked out? My pay slip gives an hourly rate and number of hours worked which bear little relation to the number of hours that I spend working.

A: The hours are meaningless if you are employed on a full-time contract or one for a fraction of the week. They may appear because whoever calculates your pay has a system that is based upon hours worked for some employees, but not others, such as teachers. If you are employed on an hourly-paid contract, as some regular supply teachers can be, or a mixture of different contracts, then the “hours” may be relevant. If you are on an hourly-paid contract, decide whether you want to provide additional unpaid work for your employer.