To be cross that I have been told I must work 7 days a week for the whole of January?

[Yawnarama]

I normally work 4 days per week; Saturdays and Sundays, plus two days during the week. This cuts down the cost of childcare for us as we only need it on the 2 weekdays I work.

Due to staff holidays and a couple of longterm sicknesses, I have been told by my supervisor that I must work 7 days a week for whole of January. Apart from the fact that I don't wish to do it as I'll be exhausted, I have absolutely zero childcare to enable me to do this. I might be able to get my parents' to cover the odd day but that's about it. My supervisor wouldn't listen to reason at all and her suggestion what that my DH (who earns far more than me) took unpaid parental leave to cover the month so that I can work.

I am generally very flexible. I work extra hours after my shifts if necessary, and will try to cover the odd day at short notice if at all possible, but I think this is very very unfair.

I know about the working time directive law, but if I don't do as I'm told then I can imagine my work time won't be very pleasant. The supervisor is very prickly anyway and has a lot of mood swings.

Feel between a rock and a hard place tbh.

Oh that sounds terrible. You might be better posting in legal and some of the HR specialist might be able to give you some good advice.

No day off in January is VVVVU

They sound like idiots. That is not acceptable and no reasonable employer should be asking this. They should be spreading holidays out if it leaves you so heavily understaffed.

Personally I would compromise at 5 or 5.5 days but you are well within your rights to refuse if you are contracted to 4 days.

Get legal advice - call ACAS 08457 47 47 47

Just out of interest is your supervisor working 7 days for the whole of Jan?

Tricky! I think you have to say no. What your supervisor does next is not your problem really - it's not reasonable for you to work the whole of January without a day off. She has messed up if she is that short of people to work the shifts.

Sounds massively unreasonable to me. I don't imagine you're in a union are you? Can you speak to any work representative, or even go above your supervisor?

What will happen if you say no? I'm pretty sure you are well within your rights to continue working 4 days a week.

No, because she is one of those with a holiday booked. For 3 weeks!!

I am happy to compromise and maybe with a little juggling I would be able to do 5 days per week, as my DH could take a couple of the extra days as holiday and my parents could help the other days. In fact I did suggest this but it wasn't good enough.

Presumably you have a contract that stipulates your hours? Anything above that is overtime to be discussed, not something you are obliged to do.

I do the same - work 2 long shifts and some weekends on a rota. As I'm a part-timer I'm sometimes asked to do extra if someone is ill or away. I am always willing to try and arrange it but that's dependent on being able to arrange childcare. What you are being asked is completely unreasonably and likely to be illegal. Say no. Your supervisor will be well aware she doesn't have any right to ask you to do this, the only way is to browbeat you into it. I'm sure there are lots of people who she could hire on a temporary contract to cover her staffing difficulties.

Not in a union unfortunately. If I say no I think she will give me a very hard time at work and probably try to get rid of me in due course

Thats just stupid - she can't expect you to do that. Say no.

You do not legally have to do anything over your contracted hours. No one can force this!! It is neither ur fault holidays that can't be covered have been granted, or that staff are sick.

If she does give you a hard time due to this that is bullying and not acceptable - is your company large enough to have a HR department?

Ask for the schedule in writing just in case you need to challenge it and she denies it.
Have you a contract?

Leaving aside the contractual issue, this is in breach of the Working Time Regs - you're entitled to a 24 hour break in any 7 day working period.

I would speak to your HR dept immediately. If you don't dare to tell your supervisor that you cannot work 31 consecutive days because of her likely reaction, it smacks of bullying on her part. Or do you have a union representative?

Actually u don't have to. They can ask. U can refuse. They cannot force u too. Repost in employment or legal. U need flowery to answer or some of the others. I'm lower down hr type positions, but do know an employer cannot force this and it's not a nasty big process.

They need time covered but cannot reasonably 'force' one employee to do so if they demonstrably cannot. Don't be scared. There are def those on here who can help.

ACAS and UNION pronto - they cant force you to work 28 days straight

I've got a contract stipulating my hours but it does say extra hours at busy times to help meet the needs of the business, which I do do really. I am meant to finish at 4.30 on weekdays and some evenings don't get away until 7 if we are short staffed and have clients booked in.

That's completely unreasonable of them and I don't think it's even legal - I think even before the working time directive there was a limit to how many days you could work without a day off. You will be shattered and unable to do your job properly anyway - could you claim that it would make you unsafe (as it would!). Do you have a union? What's your HR department like if you have one - I imagine they'd be on your side if only because it's their job to protect the company.

It makes it worse that this isn't just because of unforeseen circs - they've allowed staff hols. In places I've worked, if this happened and temps/locums were not an acceptable solution, the next stage would have been to see who could reschedule their hols (with cancellation fees paid by the company).

Oh dear what a rotten situation. Is she the most senior manager? Is there anybody higher that you could go to? Her request is of course 100% unreasonable, no question about it. Do you have a contract? What about the other employees that aren't on holiday? 31 days on the trot is against the law anyway, what a twat she sounds :(

So basically your supervisor is saying they are an incompetent who can't manage their staff - there is no way that one member of staff who works p/t should have to work every day in January (quite apart from the fact it's illegal) to cover annual leave for the rest of the team. OK, the long-term sicknesses may have been hard to foresee but that's not your problem, they should be looking at employing temps if it's that bad.

Do you have an HR dept or someone above the supervisor to complain to? Otherwise definitely seek legal advice.

As for the 'your DH can take unpaid leave' ...Your supervisor must be related to the woman at the Job Centre who told me when I enquired about school-hours jobs that I should take any (min-wage) job and my CFO DH could take time off in the Summer holidays to cover childcare!

She's not the most senior manager, but lets just say she knows which bums to kiss and which not to kiss, so she is very highly thought of by all senior staff.

Not sure what she's asked the other employees to do, I'll ask around when I am next at work

Sorry x posts. What she is asking isn't just overtime though, it's complete and utterly unreasonable for anybody to have to work 31 days on the trot. I would say no way 5 days is plenty. It's emotional blackmail to think that she will make life difficult if you don't and I would certainly be keeping a diary of events.

Oh sorry, x-posted. You need to go over her head. She cannot demand you do this. If her supervisor knows she is likely to make things difficult for you for this reason, they will be able to keep a close eye on her

I thought there was a limit on the number of hours you are expected to do. I don't think she can make you go in for seven days. Go to the next person above her in authority. She is obviously mad totally unreasonable.