To tell them to F*** off and quit before the Christmas break?

Legally they can’t sack you for refusing to work on a Saturday without pay. A judge would have a field day with that. I’m sure the charity’s PR team would be horrified to know you were all there by force too.

H op why would you go in tomorrow if your going to quit just don’t turn up then if they sack you go for unfair dismissal they might not follow the employment law but they have to so go for it. No one can dictate that you work on a non working day especially if it’s not in your contract definitely fuck them off.

YABU because unless your boyfriend can financially support you or you have enough savings then you will struggle if you don't get a new job soon.

If you can afford 2-3 months without pay, then do it.

See this is why I've never had a 'career', I do not suffer shit like this well.

I just wouldn't go, ask yourself what ARE they going to do?

You say they are threatening to sack you, do you have that written anywhere? can you record this 'disciplinary meeting' where they will? get them to say it, get them to admit they fired you just because you wouldn't cancel plans and work for free on your day off, because surely that will be an easy 'unfair dismissal' claim.

Don’t quit.
Call ACAS.
If you’re required to attend as part of your role, it is paid hours and you should receive money for it. Otherwise they are in breach of the National Minimum Wage.
You’re probably owed a tonne in back payments if they’re as bad as you say. You are entitled to be paid for the hours you work.

if you are not being paid for this extra time then you may be earning below minimum wage. They can’t make you attend and not pay you.

I’d resign tonight and stick in an ACAS claim against them for non payment of wages. Get hold of all and any communications about the event and others like it, show all the time you have been expected to work above your contractual hours for no pay and work out how many times this has taken you below minimum wage.

im assuming your contract will reference ‘hours necessary to do the job’ but this doesn’t apply where NMW applies.

Good luck OP!

That sounds HORRIBLE!
Report them to ACAS and DHSC.
Is any of this on email or physically evident?

Also for your next move, may I suggest a nursery attached to a uni or hospital? They’re usually not run by a chain and driven hard by profit x

tell them you don’t work for free and you already have plans. If they fire you, let them deal with the consequences at a tribunal

I completely agree. They can't put everyone on a disciplinary.

I would be inclined to not go; let them sack you then take them to a tribunal for unfair/wrongful dismissal. From what you describe it’s unlike That they would go through proper procedures.

This!
They can't fire you for not working (for free) on your day off. Just don't go.
Look for another job, but give less of a fuck what they try and make you do.

Voted yabu ONLY because i dont think its the right way to do it, and i dont mean you need to be fair and professional yada yada yada. They don’t deserve it and you should absolutely leave BUT you dont know what future holds for you, I wouldn’t burn the bridge regardless, besides 3 years is a long time, you might need references etc, if they want they will screw you over anyway so i would just suck it up, put your resignation in and enjoy your christmas knowing this nightmare will be over in a few weeks.

No doubt there will be a brigade on MN defending nursery owners no matter what - it's probably the owners themselves cause nobody else would otherwise 😂 But I think you definitely are not BU, OP, I fully agree with everything you've said.

This is perfect 👆
Just say you're ill and advise the others to do the same thing. I'd look at getting a new job now. You could leave and join an agency?

Quit...

I used to work in a nursery years ago and same... very little wage, short staffed unless inspectors were coming. I reported them then quit.

There are lots of care jobs but are you happy to work evenings/weekends/nights? To have shift patterns that change each week. To have shifts that are cancelled at short notice. To have to work over next Christmas? If not it cuts the number of them that are suitable for you down a lot.

I agree with a lot of the comments. If you aren't concerned about working elsewhere then call their bluff and don't go. But don't resign. If they escalate tell them that you don't think it would be legal to be sacked for not attending a non-work activity but you can look into it if they like.

If they realise that you are not overly bothered about being sacked then they might stop throwing it around as a threat. Assuming that you are a decent worker it makes their life more difficult to lose you.

On a practical level do you have savings / is your partner happy to support you for a while?

If none of you turn up, they can’t sack you all.

I know how you feel, I had this in the past but to a whole dysfunctional level with management who picked on staff including me, I decided not to go in the next day and left, best decision I had made. Got another job fine, in fact I never went back to working in a nursery, I went into nannying instead which is better pay and much better working conditions. Some of these nursery chains treat their staff like crap and pay such a pittance. Definitely leave tonight!

You should all not turn up … what they going to do sack you all … show an united front

Yes go. And if you get the opportunity, I would find a way of slagging off the cheeky f and naming them.publicly and giving them a bad name so long as you dont jeopardise your own job chances......maybe wait until.you've got yiur reference and are in a new job.

This!

You've been there over two years so you have full rights.

As people have said, keep records of everything. If the discipline thing was said rather than written, keep a record of who said it, and when.

Unlikely you will want to bother with a tribunal but if they do discipline you formally then make sure that you calmly tell them that you work your contracted hours and any other work or elated activity is at your discretion.

If you are confident about getting another job, resign on 5 Jan.

Don't go tomorrow, just say you have plans. Don't resign though, see what they do and if they sack you take them to tribunal.
you could always run it past ACAS that this is what you are doing, for max impact all staff should refuse to do it, be interesting if they try and sack you all

If you've worked there for 3 years, you have employment rights - why don't you take a different approach? Don't go, explaining it's your non working day, let them discipline you and resign on that basis, and claim constructive dismissal at the employment tribunal. That's teach them a better lesson than you quitting...

Absolutely don't go. Email in and say "really sorry I am unable to come in on Saturday, as it's my day off I will be spending it with family (or whatever).
So you have it written down. They may even reply in email "you have to come in or there will be trouble... blah blah"

Get what they are doing in writing. As a patent, I would want to know.

Panorama should do an exposé...