to think this is a pisstake

[intelligenceitself]

Have started work in a residential home for people with MH issues and LD's. All staff are required to do "sleep ins" where you do a long day, say 10 till 10, then stay over till 10 the next morning. That's bad enough but for the second half you get paid £25 quid. I'm a single parent with 3 dogs and I can't do 24 hour shifts. Is this normal in care homes?! I can't move in to my workplace! I've got my own home to deal with and

intelligence, as I said up-thread my mum had a similar change of contracted working hours enforced upon her. She went through hell and back and threatened legal action, eventually her local council employer capitulated and offered her early retirement (she was older than you obviously!).

She might nonetheless have some advice to offer so I'll ask her tomorrow and will pm you with what she says if she has anything of help to suggest.

I think she was prepared to do the sleep ins but didn't know that she would be expected to work all day before them?

sorry if I'm misunderstanding

and intelligenceitself ..keep up the yoga

Andrew, if OP is not mistaken, then her employer is being unreasonable in asking her to work significantly beyond the contract. With no other information we have to assume OP is competent.

If employers were perfectly logical and never made mistakes, there would be no need for the massive employment caseload going through courts and tribunals every year.

Thanks so much for the support. Yes I'm willing to do sleep ins, waking nights but not 24 hour shifts, especially as it's not counted towards total working hours. I have to stay sane, so I can look after my home responsibilities and my service users.
Andrew, I know what I signed. I read it all through properly

I don't know where you live, but in many places, they are crying out for experienced carers, so if your current work doesn't want you, there may well be a nursing home or home for people with LD that does, hope you get it sorted as it is not reasonable to work 24 hours when you have responsibilities (dogs or children!) and not everywhere will make you do so (I have a friend who used to do nights, so have all day with the children then do two nights a week, although it was tiring for her).

Didn't you know the hours before you took the job fgs?

The joke of it is tomorrow morning I'll get to work at 10 and won't finish till 4 pm Saturday. Then they asked me to come in on Sunday because they'll be short staffed. I think I'll need my own support worker soon

10 am that is

From what I can gather, the OP's contract on taking the job said she would have to work, say, 12 hour shifts. Either day or night shifts. She agreed to this.
Once she was in the job and had been working for a while they turned round to her and said "actually, can you work 24 hour shifts." Perhaps the same number of hours over a fortnight, but the 24 hour shift would make it impossible for her.
OP, I would advise getting hold of a copy of the contract you received upon starting the job and double check it. If absolutely nothing that suggests a 24 hour shift is to be expected, then speak to ACAS.

Of course if OP is right about what she signed then employers must back down and good luck to her

There remains a question about her attitude. In the ordinary course there will be occasions when she wants to swap shifts for child-related reasons. I fear that she will think that she is entitled to expect people without children to accommodate her and change their arrangements, and she is not. If her child-care breaks down - and with the working pattern which she agrees she accepted there must be some child care involved, formal or informal, paid or unpaid - she cannot insist that her childless colleagues give up their TV and club nights, or whatever else they are doing - she may hope they will, and they might, with a swap - but it is up to her to have back-up in place and her colleagues are not that back-up.

If you don't agree: imagine if the problem arises over a Saturday day-shift and the childless colleague says "No - niece/nephew getting married - not missing it - sorry" or simply "No - doing something else" and declines to say what.

And I still think and only DBF seems to disagree that if it is a question of the job or the dogs then the dogs must go!