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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

WIBU to ask my boss this?

22 replies

MulledWineWasMothersMilk · 15/11/2011 10:00

I started my job in retail in August. I had 2 weeks off for surgery recently and already feel really guilty for taking that time off so early in the job. I am very grateful to be working, especially in a place with mostly nice people. I work shifts, and am only contracted to 8 hours a week but have always done between 16 and 27, between 8am and 8pm.

When I finish in the evenings, dp comes to meet me as it's quite a rough area and you get a lot of funny people there in the day but especially at night. Me and dp were attacked last year on our way home and it's something that I still struggle with because I didn't cope with it very well at the time.

Anyway, dp won't be able to come to meet me in the evenings any longer so I would have to make my way home alone on the bus. After 7pm my buses are only once an hour and we have waited that long before. I have found myself very uncomfortable and stressed in this situation. There are lots of drug users and drunks about from this time.

I'm very worried about this. There isn't anybody else who could meet me, I can't afford to take a taxi and I don't drive. I don't really want to be waiting about in this place on my own for an hour 3 times a week and would find it very stressful.

WIBU to ask my boss to change the hours I am available to work and finish at 5 or 6 the latest, or am I not allowed to do this? He and some other staff regularly stay there till 11pm!

OP posts:

Tee2072 · 15/11/2011 10:02

You can always ask. He doesn't have to agree, though.

NinkyNonker · 15/11/2011 10:03

Do you have a staff room? You could always sit and have a cuppa and a read.

Shakey1500 · 15/11/2011 10:05

You can ask, it's not a totally unreasonable request but whether it'll be accomodated is another matter. I'm assuming your contract states that you must be available to work between those hours. Your boss will have to take into consideration as well that if he accomodates your request, he will have to do the same for other requests to work preferential hours. So in all probability it will be refused for those reasons, not because they don't understand the predicament.

Any chance of getting a lift with someone? Sharing a taxi? Someone to wait at the bus stop etc? Failing that it's either work on your confidence on this matter and meeting it head on or leaving your job.

grovel · 15/11/2011 10:06

It's fine to ask. Don't imply any entitlement though.

worraliberty · 15/11/2011 10:06

Of course you're allowed to ask

He doesn't have to grant you those hours though

PrincessScrumpy · 15/11/2011 10:07

Can someone walk you to the bus? My friend's company did this after she was mugged in London. They also bought her a security alarm to carry.

porcamiseria · 15/11/2011 10:13

Its a tough one, as Retial unlike offices has very fixed hours. I think you can always ask BUT make it very clear that you know it moght not be possble, and that you have a Plan B

and Plan B....
wait in staff room for initial half hour
do some self defence classes
get a bike, get a cheap one and get good lights and PPE for it

unfortunately this is your problem, not your bosses

MyRealName · 15/11/2011 10:18

Are your contract hours for particular days/shifts or is it just 8 hours over the week?

You should ask nicely, and tell him the truth why. If the late nights are overtime hours, you don't have to work them, but I would expect to lose that overtime rather than it be rearranged. Really, just talk to him about it, he might come up with a solution- if someone else on the shift is getting the same bus so you can go with them maybe?

I would try to be as flexible as possible because I assume you want the extra hours which he could be giving to someone else, but your fears are valid and to be taken into consideration. Hopefully he you are a valuable member of staff and he is a reasonable boss so you can work it out between you.

Could you get a security alarm, or even do a self defense course to improve your confidence?

Original poster

MulledWineWasMothersMilk · 15/11/2011 10:33

On my application I wrote that I'd be available to work shifts between 8 and 8 every day, with 30 hours over 5 days a week. They offered me an 8 hours contract but said I'd be working between 16 and 27 which is great. I think they have low contracts so they don't have to pay us much holiday or sick pay. I have often done extra shifts, working 13 days in a row with no overtime.

Thing is, I only wrote I could work that late because DP could meet me. I know he's been very kind to some other staff members with children, and rearranged their hours so they could have a day off without losing pay. Also, my interview with him was for another branch but he asked if I'd like to work for him instead because I live nearer, so he's a nice guy. I don't want to get a reputation for asking things all the time (heard about my surgery within 6 weeks of starting so felt really cheeky showing the letter).

OP posts:

cumbria81 · 15/11/2011 10:36

can you cycle?

BuckBuckMcFate · 15/11/2011 10:40

If you feel it's too far to cycle all the way home could you get a folding bike? I've got one that I've got on the bus with in the past. You could cycle to an area that you feel safe in.

SarahBumBarer · 15/11/2011 10:48

So you had 2 weeks of for surgery and you got paid what? I expect a maximum of 8 hour pay per week that you were off?

THEY chose to put you on an 8 hours contract because that worked out best for them from a commercial perspective. They have to take the rough with the smooth over that I'm afraid and that means that you are perfectly entitled to choose your hours over and above those 8 hours. If they had put you on a 30 hour contract my response would be different but they had to the choice and them's the breaks.

And your boss did not ask you to work in his location because he is a great guy who only wanted what is best for you - he wanted what is best for him and the business and it so happened that this worked out best for you too.

Stop being so apologetic YANBU.

Bluesue26 · 15/11/2011 10:59

They give people 8 hour contracts so that if things are slow at certain points in the year then they only legally have to offer you 8 hours per week. You are not entitled to choose your hours, with retail you are expected to fit in with the businesses requirements.
Ask your boss. He might be ok with it :)

squeakytoy · 15/11/2011 11:00

Do other colleagues finish at the same time as you, who could drop you at the bus stop or nearer to home perhaps?

MyNameIsInigoMontoya · 15/11/2011 11:07

Rather than going straight in with asking about changing your hours, if he is a nice bloke why not sit down and generally discuss with him your concerns about getting home, with a change of hours as just one of the possible options?

He may be quite happy with shorter hours, but alternatively he may have other suggestions such as lift-sharing with someone else, or even paying for a taxi for you - some workplaces will do that if there is a potential safety issue (like when I worked in a nightclub many years ago).

Proudnscary · 15/11/2011 11:11

I would talk to colleagues first beforehand - see if anyone else uses same transport or could walk you etc.

It's not really your boss's problem, but of course I fully appreciate how you feel.

If one of my staff asked me this I'd feel put on the spot and awkward - I would probably say yes, because it's hard to say no but feeling slightly emotionally blackmailed afterwards!

I always say if one of my team asks for special hours or terms of some sort 'I would love to accomodate you but I have to think of the rest of the team and this could set a precedent that would ulitmately cause production problems' ie if everyone was asking for new hours etc, it could affect workflow.

Proudnscary · 15/11/2011 11:12

Terrible spelling/grammar there, sorry - in a rush!

squeakytoy · 15/11/2011 11:16

I can see the point in a nightclub providing employers with transport home, but not a retail store, at 8pm at night, when there are still buses running.

I cant honestly see how there would be more drunks and druggies around at 8pm than at 6pm..... 8pm is still relatively early in the evening when there are a lot of ordinary folk still shopping, coming home from work etc.

I can sympathise though, that if you were attacked in the past, this will have enhanced your worries and made it more stressful, and perhaps with the extra hours that you work, you could use the money to pay for driving lessons which would give you freedom and feel safer.

Lambzig · 15/11/2011 12:27

I think definitely talk to him about the problem, and discuss a range of options as solutions, definitely not just ask to change hours as that could be seen as very negative. You dont sound like you are going in there will a sense of entitlement, so that shouldnt be a problem. It sounds like he values you (if he interviewed you elsewhere and nabbed you for his store).

You shouldnt worry about the time off for surgery as its not as if you could help it.

Certainly the company I work for regards how its staff get to and from work as part of their health and safety problem and works with people to find solutions if travel gets difficult. Hopefully yours will do the same.

MaryPoppinsMagic · 15/11/2011 12:57

I used to have to walk to a very dodgy car park 7 months pregnant in the snow last year, my work wouldn't change my hours.

They did however give me a 'rape' alarm, carrying this gave me a sense of security as I knew I could set it off if something happened to me.

I also used to walk with my phone in my hand in my pocket with my finger on number 2 which I had set 999 as the speed dial.

If they won't change your hours there are some steps which you can take to make you feel safer

ImperialBlether · 15/11/2011 13:12

Why can't your husband come to meet you any more? Is he still at work or will he be at home? If he's at home with children, could you get him to come back out to pick you up or ask a neighbour to mind the children?

marriedinwhite · 15/11/2011 13:22

Have a chat with him. Tell him you need the hours and you want to work them but are concerned about getting home now that your dh can't collect you. He may be able to juggle things a bit so that two of you are leaving together; he may know someone else who could give you a lift, he may even be able to alter your hours a bit. You don't know unless you ask but couch in terms that convey the fact that you want to be helpful and flexible not that you want to but can't.

If it's a no, as others have said - time the walk to the bus stop - it would be better to work half an hour later even if you aren't paid for it, than hang about at the bus stop - will give you no amount of cred.

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