to want my employees to work in the run up to christmas?

[popgoestheweezel]

Myself & dh own a gift shop and website. We have 2 full time members of staff, 5 part timers (2 of those have other part time jobs) and 2 college students. They have their set hours year round, which we are extremely flexible about, but they are expected to work more hours in this very busy but short period.
However, this year, for the first time (and we have been doing this for 15 years) I am faced with several days where not enough people have agreed to work and we will be short staffed. I have informed them that we don't have enough people and asked them to help us out but there are lots of excuses and some downright refusals.
dh and I each work upwards of 60 hours a week throughout oct nov and dec and although we have two children (6&8) we know that this is par for the course in retail and it's fine except when you come to pay the wages every month and think to yourself 'why are we paying all these staff (generously, for the industry and level of skill) yet they refuse to work when they are genuinely required and we have to do all the worst shifts ourselves?'

"When did it become normal to expect business needs to take priority over employees being able to have a normal life? ...Christmas is for enjoying spending time with your family and friends, not being at the beck and call of an employer." Er... probably when the UK hit deep recession and people feared not being able to pay the mortgage? Enjoying Christmas with family and friends tends to cost money, not to mention putting food on the table for your kids and providing a roof over their heads.

I'd get rid of the newbie if she's still on probation.

Most people are frantically busy in the weeks up to christmas so you cant really expect them tochange their plans at short notice. You have to plan well ahead - many people might grab the chance to earn extra money just before xmas, but only if the have enough notice to arrange xhildcare etc. You prob have to go down the temps route for now. Or offer your staff lots of extra money and perks plus time off in lieu when things quieten down.

Read 3 pages... Has anyone mentioned tax credits? When you have part timers, they may be unwilling to do extra hours because it can cause them a nightmare sorting out tax credit changes as a result.

The students will have a-level exams in Jan.

I'm a bit shocked at all this advice to just dismiss. Yes your staff are being a bit crap but you have to take some responsiblity as you have managed them badly. Or you will have this problem next year!

clam but that only explains why people might want to do extra hours, not why they should be forced to if they don't want to. I can totally understand that people who are broke will want to earn a bit extra, but these people clearly don't need to earn extra at the moment or have chosen to prioritise their other jobs (perhaps more of a chance of progression there or something). If someone doesn't want to do more hours than their contract obliges them to then they can't be forced to. The fact that the managers didn't get organised and hire temps in time doesn't change that.