Sacked nurse wins tribunal appeal

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www.theguardian.com/money/2021/jun/23/nhs-nurse-sacked-over-weekend-working-wins-landmark-case?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

A breath of fresh air. Why are employers still expecting primary parents/carers to just make their children magically disappear and be available to work whenever they decide

Currently appealing my own employer who wont budge an inch on changing just 1 day of my monthly rota. 1 day!

Hmmm, I want to be happy about this, I can't help but feel the crux of her argument is the employer wanting to change her terms and making that non negotiable after her flexible working request had already been agreed.

I don't like that the caring responsibilities and her being a woman are what the ruling is about because as much as people are 'not allowed' to discriminate when employing staff, in the real world you don't really find out who got the job you went for and the exact reason you didn't get it, even if you ask the employer could cite a different reason and I just worry, as a single parent that Mothers would be seen as not reliable and if their unreliability is protected then won't that fuck us over at recruitment stage? As much as it shouldn't be allowed to I think that may end up happening in some cases.

Also this is hardly progressive IMO:

Whilst things might have progressed somewhat in that men do now bear a greater proportion of childcaring responsibilities than they did decades ago, the position is still far from equal.

“The assumptions made and relied upon [by the appellant] … are still very much supported by the evidence presented to us of current disparities between men and women in relation to the burden of childcare.”

What does this do to equality in the workplace when the ruling is that inequality in the home is to be maneuvered around by employers? It surely pushes women back to the position of bringing in their pin money around the kids as and when and men are in a position to be earners?

Nursing is a 365 days a year job. So now all her colleagues have to take up the slack as she won't work weekends? She has a husband - why doesn't he do childcare?

This does nothing for women in the workplace and will cause resentment with her childless colleagues. Wrong decision imo.

@Inthemuckheap

Nursing is a 365 days a year job. So now all her colleagues have to take up the slack as she won't work weekends? She has a husband - why doesn't he do childcare?

This does nothing for women in the workplace and will cause resentment with her childless colleagues. Wrong decision imo.

She had a long standing agreement that she worked two set days a week as those were the only days she could obtain childcare for her disabled children.

She worked in that team for over 10 years and was presumably very experienced.

I know in that situation I would rather pick up the slack within the rest of the team to cover 'the maximum one weekend day per month' than have to cover 2 days worth of hours every single week forever more because my employer decided they couldn't be reasonable or flexible any more.

Interestingly this was the same judge as for Maya Forstater's appeal I think.

Also interesting that the only male in the whole team was also the highest paid member of the team. In a female dominated profession.

That's an interesting take on it.

I think if she took a job knowing it was Mon -fri and then they changed it, what is she to do other than fight them.

I think employers need to be flexible (to a point) - or it just forces primary carers into any old job they can fit around childcare, career progression down the drain, pay likely cut.

I think employers need to be flexible (to a point) - or it just forces primary carers into any old job they can fit around childcare, career progression down the drain, pay likely cut

Aka the good old fashioned 'gender' (sex) pay gap. Where women as a class sacrifice their careers to ensure the needs of the family can be met.

I think employers need to be flexible (to a point) - or it just forces primary carers into any old job they can fit around childcare, career progression down the drain, pay likely cut.

That's the exact reason I worry about us being less desirable applicants, by making us officially carers first before we are employees.

@Anotheruser02

I think employers need to be flexible (to a point) - or it just forces primary carers into any old job they can fit around childcare, career progression down the drain, pay likely cut.

That's the exact reason I worry about us being less desirable applicants, by making us officially carers first before we are employees.

I think in this particular situation it wasn't that she applied for then job and then demanded to be treated differently once she achieved it, she had worked there for quite a few years before having children.

Due to disabilities if those children she agreed way in advanced of weekend working being suggested that she would have a set working pattern of two fixed days per week to accommodate her unique situation in the team as a carer for children with disabilities, only to renegade on that a few years down the line and sack her when she couldn't agree to do weekend working.

As a band 5 nurse working only two days a week financially it probably also made little sense for her to agree to work weekends if paying for childcare was a requirement for her to be able to do so e.g. if her husband also works a shift pattern that includes weekends.

Fair enough if she had been employed in that basis but it's basically forcing her out of work to implement it after many years of service and yes it would disproportionately impact on women with caring responsibilities.

Sorry cross post with @xwhyzed who said it better

I left my career in the NHS because my contract said I had to be available 24/7, 7 days a week. The random shift pattern was often given with less than 2 weeks notice. Once you have a DC it becomes impossible unless you have family on hand to provide childcare. So I welcome this judgement myself. Some people want weekdays, some want weekends. Some want nights, others days. Why on earth can't they have set days? I wanted to work weekends and would have made it less necessary for others to. Then they complain they gave no nurses. This is why. You are forced out once you have DC and it's gone on for years.

@Mugsen

I left my career in the NHS because my contract said I had to be available 24/7, 7 days a week. The random shift pattern was often given with less than 2 weeks notice. Once you have a DC it becomes impossible unless you have family on hand to provide childcare. So I welcome this judgement myself. Some people want weekdays, some want weekends. Some want nights, others days. Why on earth can't they have set days? I wanted to work weekends and would have made it less necessary for others to. Then they complain they gave no nurses. This is why. You are forced out once you have DC and it's gone on for years.

What a waste, that's such a shame