Not a 'Team Player!'

[Teaandcake]

Ok, just want to vent really.

I work in retail for a small set up, only 5 employees. The other 4 work full time and I work 2 days a week, 8 hours on a Tuesday and alternate Saturdays and Sundays. I have one DS who is 22 months.

My manager called me at home last week and asked if I could change to Sundays only (with immediate effect) at the weekend as it would make the rotas a little easier to work out if all the staff had set days off.

I agreed, no big deal but I did query the fact that I would lose 4 hours per month (Sunday trading laws allow only 6 hours opening). She said I could work for 2 hours every other Thursday evening (late night opening) to make up the hours. This would also spread the burden of the late shift among the other staff as there has to be at least 2 members of staff in (the manager cannot do the late due to childcare issues - fair enough) I was kind of put on the spot and agreed (provisionally) that if I could arrange childcare that it would be a possibility (DH works long hours and can't guarantee being home before I have to leave).

Having thought about the whole thing I decided it simply wasn't worth while financially to go to work on a Thursday evening in rush hour traffic to earn the princely sum of £13.49 (gross) which would leave me with approx £5 after tax, NI and fuel costs.

I cannot change my working day midweek to Thursday either as my MIL cares for DS on Tuesdays and is unavailable both Wednesdays and Thursdays. I have nobody else to ask anyway.

This news had gone down like a lead balloon among everyone at work, I am not considered a 'team player' for this. I feel dreadful. I have tried to accomodate my employer and colleages whenever I can with shift swaps a v short notice, in fact, I rarely say no to anything which helps them out If I can manage to find childcare. This appears to have been forgotten.

Blimey, appologies for being so long, I do feel better for getting it off my chest though!

[JustKeepSwimming]

So currently you work:
Tues - 8 hours
Sat/Sun - alternately 8/6 hours

Current childcare;
Tues - MIL
Sat/Sun - DH?

They want you to change to:
Tues - 8 hours
Thurs - 2 hours (late)
Sun - 6 hours

Childcare:
Tues - MIL
Thurs - no-one
Sun - DH?

Firstly, the manager rang you at home to discuss this which i think isn't on - she should have waited until you were in work and had a meeting to discuss properly.

Also when they took you on (don't know if you are last in) your days were agreed then - do you have some kind of contract to show this? - so they must have suited the business then.

The manager has childcare issues - she should understand yours - though often other women are the worst for being sympathetic.

You only agreed to the change on the basis of getting childcare. You can't, so you can't change.

You can change to the Sunday - no probs presumably with this? Might even make life easier with the same day on/off each weekend.

Can you just take the cut in pay of losing 2 hours? Not that you should have to.

Going in for just 2 hours on Thurs seems like madness to me. Basically the other are pissed off because you won't cover the late shift?
Maybe the business should not open for late night Thursdays then?
They all agreed to their working conditions separate to you.

Is the job worth the stress? Can you give up/go somewhere else?

Not sure i've helped but......good luck!

[Teaandcake]

JKS, thank you for your reply. You've given me some perspective here, by the end of yesterday I was convinced that it was me being totally unreasonable.

Closing on Thurs evenings is not possible, we are within a complex which dictates our opening hours.

I worked for this company full time prior to having DS and negotiated a part time contract on my return from mat leave.

I see now that I didn't make it clear in the OP that there is a possibility of DS being cared for by my sister and BIL on Thursdays although my sister now doesn't get home until around 6.30pm, I would have to have DS there by about 5.00pm I have previously left him with them when I have covered the Thurday late as a favour in the past. My DH then collects him from there on his way home. My colleages seem to think this is the answer and therefore I should be on the rota.

Incidentally, the 3 members of staff who have to cover the late have no dependents, two have adult children (they are both of the opinion that they had to make sacrifices to work when their kids were small and I should just get on with it) and one is a teenager.

I can afford the pay cut but I mentioned it to the manager as a matter of principle. Perhaps I shouldn't have bothered.

[boccadellaverita]

Have you looked at the Direct Gov website? There is a lot of information there about contracts, flexible working and so on.

Employers are (broadly speaking) free within reason to change the terms on which people are employed and, as far as I know, part-timers aren't immune from that. I don't think it is unreasonable for your employer to ask you to change your working arrangements if that is what the business needs, but I think you need to be clear about where you stand if you can't make the changes they request and you also need to check the legality of (in effect) requiring you to take a pay cut.

But, equally, I don't think any employee can refuse to consider a different working pattern because it doesn't fit with their current childcare arrangement. As I understand it, employers are entitled to expect that employees will make every reasonable effort to make themselves available for work and that may include finding other childcare. The employer then has to accept that (eg) nurseries are not open late into the evening.

Hope this helps. Flowerybeanbag is the best person to advise on this.

[Littlefish]

Could you negotiate to work every Saturday instead of every Sunday. That way, your hours would not drop, but it would still be easier for them to do their rotas.

Shows a bit of compromise on both sides.

[Teaandcake]

Bocca thanks for your input, you are very knowledgable!

If I were to employ formal childcare for 2 hours (5-7pm when DH could collct him, this would have to be a childminder as nurseries around here close 5.30-6pm) it would cost around £4 per hour. Would my employer really expect me to work at a financial loss because it is better for the needs of the business? Or do they not have to take any interest in my personal circumstances?

My employer is not particularly putting pressure on me to do this its the staff.

Littlefish, most of the staff prefer to work Saturdays and I'm OK with working Sundays. I am fitting around everyone else's preferences for weekend working anyway.

[boccadellaverita]

teacake - My knowledge is now dated because it's several years since I worked in this field. What's really changed since 'my day' is that things like the right to request flexible working have now been incorporated into the law. That's why I think flowerybeanbag is the person to listen to on this (and note the disclaimer at the top of the page too).

The nub of this (I think) is that you have certain rights around flexible working and your employer has certain rights around ensuring that the business can run smoothly and there is adequate staff cover in place at all times when it's needed. With any luck, you can negotiate an arrangement with which both you and your manager are happy. If you can't agree, a solicitor, CAB or union rep (are you in a union?) should be able to advise you on what the law now says about how to resolve any conflict between what you want and what the employer wants.

My point earlier about childcare (and I'm speaking generally because I used to hear this quite often) is that employees do sometimes say things like 'I can only work mornings because my mum looks after the children and she can't have them in the afternoons'. If that doesn't fit with what the business needs, they may ask the employee to make some other childcare arrangement. That's where the arguments about what is fair and reasonable to expect in the circumstances will come in: is it reasonable to expect an employer to juggle working patterns around someone's free childcare? is it reasonable to expect an employee to increase their childcare costs, etc?

As I said, I can't advise you because I'm not qualified to do so and my knowledge may well be out of date. If your employer does insist that you should pay for a childminder to work those hours, or if you have any other worries, you should seek professional advice.

Finally - your colleagues should not be putting pressure on you or on your manager. Your contract is none of their business and if they have a grievance they should pursue it privately!

[Teaandcake]

Thank you again Bocca, you've certainly given me a few new things to think about.

I am a member of USDAW and will contact them asap, I guess its why I pay the subscription!

[boccadellaverita]

You're welcome! I can supply the questions, I just can't supply the answers!