New career working Christmas as single parent

How to get flexible working Dirty Mother Pukka with Anna Whitehouse. As The Flexible Working Bill passes through Parliament - to become law in 2024 - Anna sits down with lawyer Daniel Wise to wade through what it means for you. And how to successfully get flex - without losing your job or mind.
So hopefully the OP will be able to request Flexible working under the new law

@Houseplanter I used to do a similar job and totally agree with your comments.

‘do management take individual circumstances into account?’

hmm well only to a certain extent. If someone worked the last 2 and requests this year off then I would (and did) authorise it even thought that person had no young dc (other colleagues thought this was relevant and they didn’t deserve 25th off - I didn’t)

who on earth is in a position to say that staff member a is more deserving than b. It gets very complicated if people routinely claim having dc as a special circumstance. So if a has the day off 4 years running due to having dc, would I then decide b can’t and therefore doesn’t get to see their nephews or elderly parents?

I genuinely think that barring one off events, everyone who applies to work in a 24/7 service needs to be available to work pretty much all of them. And being available on May Day for example is in no way a compromise for requesting half of December and January off!

and don’t get me started on last minute sickness - people don’t think it will be noticed but it really is.

I would advise against 12 hours shifts which include Christmas working etc when you have young children and no family support. No one is going to want to work their own ‘turn’ at Christmas and somebody else’s as well (the majority of your colleagues will have their own children ). A service which is closed for bank holidays etc is probably the way to go for now and willl save you a lot of stress. Outpatients? Gp practice? Congratulations on completing your nursing degree and juggling five children without the support of the other parent. That is an amazing achievement .

If there truly is no family members or friends that you can ask, how about looking into paid babysitting services closer to the time, just in case you have to work one of those Christmas shifts?

I'm sure if you ask early enough through a babysitting agency, there will be someone who wants extra money and you can get the kids used to them before hand

I've been a nurse for years and usually people can request Christmas or new years off but its not a given and everyone has their own reasons for wanting them off so I would try and have a back up plan

My next door neighbour has just given up nursing and gone to work in a building society because she has 3 children and the night shifts alone just don’t work for her and she has a husband at home but he also works out of hours.

Flexible working is not the law. The right to request flexible working is available to everyone, and the employer must consider it. But somewhere like a hospital ward isn’t going to be able to offer it without then having to ask others to do more night shifts and more holiday occasions, so it is an easy no.

I was a single mum (with twins now adults) working for the NHS, with much the same problems as you. I had no childcare over Christmas or any other time and during their primary years i ended up working in Outpatients where the clinics didn't run over the festive season.

I do believe that flexible working is now law (you may have to check out mother pukka website as she's been instrumental in getting it passed) but check it out and see if it's something that the Hospital may consider, it can't be just a no these days, and they have to take into account the bigger picture.

It's really tough trying to dual parent and nursing and the NHS never see the bigger picture sadly. Update us on how you get on.

As a manager of a 24/7 service I used to make sure the rota was fair in that everyone took turns to have Christmas and new year off. I never felt it right that I decided whose need was more important than others. There is a chance someone will swap but not likely.

Could you apply for a role in a service that isn't 24/7? Out patients? Day surgery?

You can request it. What will you do if they say no?

Can your Ex DH’s ‘twice a year’ include Christmas every other year. You could plan your work around it.

Any family who can help ?

No one will mind you having a Christmas off as long as it isnt every year and you take your turn in other years.

I can't imagine people being unsympathetic to your situation. But it really depends where you end up working. There is no way you'll get off all the bank holiday shifts, so I would talk to your family in advance.

I would bring it up early, it won't be long before the Christmas request rotation gets pinned up.

There will be an ass on every ward about a new starter requesting Christmas off, ignore them!