Fired for not working the weekend

[ThinkAboutItTomorrow]

My workplace is changing beyond recognition and it makes me so sad.
A colleague wants to fire someone because she said no to working the weekend. This would be unpaid overtime on top of an intense week. For many it's the norm.
It's not a shift job, it's an office. Official 37.5 hour week, mon - fri 9-5.30. The team probably average 50-60 hour weeks with some regularly working through the night.
PreDD I did similar(not so much all night but crazy travel and long hours) and now I'm managing 50 hour week averages but I always knew it was my choice. And felt that if I said no the company would be ok with that eg We had people say they didn't want promotion because they just had kids and wanted to coast for a while. Fine, their choice.
Now though I am told saying no to working through the weekend is against our values and he wants to fire her.

Help me get perspective, AIBU to think that's not my values and I don't want to be part of it? I don't like the colleague who is saying this so I maybe bei g biased

[BishopBrennansArse]

It is incredibly unreasonable to launch on someone that they are required to work the weekend at 8pm on a Friday.

I hope your company get their arses sued. Badly.

[mumeeee]

It is illegal to insist staff work their days off even if they are on probation. It doesn't matter if they have signed out of working time directive. It is not compulsory for the person to do the extra hours
She might have something on that she can't change.
Your company actually sound awful and I wouldn't work somewhere like that.

[EssexMummy123]

I've worked in some IT companies where that is the norm, the long hours and working through the night - because of course the work quality is great at 4am in the morning for the second night running. But these kinds of company do get a reputation particularly with websites like glass door, you can earn a high salary without having to work more than 40 hours a week.

[ThinkAboutItTomorrow]

No, I don't know why. I am assuming there is a good reason, eg her parents are visiting etc. in which case I of course won't be annoyed. But if it was more just a don't want to i am annoyed she dropped the others in it.

[ThinkAboutItTomorrow]

No, I don't know why. I am assuming there is a good reason, eg her parents are visiting etc. in which case I of course won't be annoyed. But if it was more just a don't want to i am annoyed she dropped the others in it.

[DisappointedOne]

It is illegal to insist staff work their days off even if they are on probation. It doesn't matter if they have signed out of working time directive.

Just to be pedantic, it's unlawful rather than illegal, and you can be required to work through standard rest breaks/days off in exceptional circumstances (staff should be given the rest break they've missed as soon as possible afterwards though).

[MargoReadbetter]

She didn't drop the others in it. Your boss is dropping everyone in it. But that's ok as the bonus will pay for rehab later on.

[whatsthatcomingoverthehill]

You haven't once mentioned whether she is actually any good at the work. I despise this culture where people are judged by facetime rather than skill and efficiency.

[ThinkAboutItTomorrow]

They would pay her off if it came to it, not the first time. But I think she'd leave quietly

Of course they wouldn't site refusal to work the weekend as the reason. They aren't stupid. They have a couple of other things that they could lean on which is enough to fail probation.

[ThinkAboutItTomorrow]

Thing is she's ok at her job but not brilliant. If she was brilliant it would be easier.

[MargoReadbetter]

I'm assuming you were brilliant while still on probation? You're already justifying to yourself why you'll just suck up the status quo and let this woman go.

[ThinkAboutItTomorrow]

No I'm not justifying it. I wrote her mid year review and rated her on Monday, before all this happened. I rated her just below average but put it down to the learning curve and said I expected her to develop.

[LibrariesGaveUsPower]

Yes DisappointedOne. Agreed. I just meant I often see people saying they opted out of working hours and actually that is one specific bit.

I wonder if compensatory rest will be offered Not at my firm it wasn't

[DoreenLethal]

If they managed the company better then they would not have a staff shortage. Fail to plan...plan to fail

[MargoReadbetter]

Mid-year review and she's stil on probation? How long is the probation period and is this just a means of getting people to work more than they should in the hopes they'll be permanent after that?

I think as an employer your company has a duty of care. Not getting your 20 year olds to drop down dead would be a start. I don't need to tell you there've been cases in big firms.

[sanfairyanne]

what a sad way to spend the only life you get

[Pumpkinpositive]

I think as an employer your company has a duty of care. Not getting your 20 year olds to drop down dead would be a start. I don't need to tell you there've been cases in big firms.

As I read this thread, I was actually think of that poor young lad who died (last year, I think?) in London, an intern in investment banking.

Supposedly he'd gone three days without sleep, working round the clock at his firm. Died at home from an epileptic fit, although it couldn't be definitively linked to his crazy 72-hours-on-the-trot shift.

[ThinkAboutItTomorrow]

6 months probation. Industry standard and no ones failed yet so usually a formality

[wowfudge]

Sounds like hell rather than work if you ask me. Totally ridiculous to expect all those extra hours and weekends. A lot of the employees will simply be less effective not more productive.

What is the industry?

[ThinkAboutItTomorrow]

'Fail to plan, plan to fail' hmm. Thing is we are growing by +40% year on year so not failing at all. And it's that which is causing the staff shortage. It's very hard to plan resources at that growth, especially when it's unpredictable.

It's consulting, not big 4 but up against them. We always said we'd compete with McKinsey but not like them but now it feels like we're just a smaller, even more messed up version.

I think we do need to protect people from exploitation. And it's exactly this that terrifies me. If the message is work all hours or go then it's ripe for exploitation. Actually scratch that, it is exploitation.

[notquiteruralbliss]

I think it is the PM who is the problem, not the junior who declined to work the weekend when given on notice. I have spent most of the last 25 years running projects for City firms and there is no way I would have asked staff to work the weekend at 8pm on a Friday unless I / we had properly screwed up and had a hard external deadline. I have had to to schedule some weekend working at key points in projects but always with notice. And I never planned projects on the expectation that we would work anything other than 8h days. The culture at OPs consultancy sounds awful.

[PuppyMonkey]

Sounds like this colleague would be well out of it, if she got fired from such a shite job. Thank goodness you still have time to post on MN this weekend op, when she's dropped you in it so badly and all.

[TeacupDrama]

even if you opt on of 48 hour working time directive you can opt back into it at any time I believe, it can not be a legal requirement of work the law over rules and contract

just like a landlord making it a requirement of getting your deposit bakc that you re-paint not enforceable

[ThinkAboutItTomorrow]

I think the PM would count it as a screw up and emergency, and in fairness it's not his fault but a supplier. The fault is in saying to the client we will fix it over the weekend instead of fessing up to the problem and agreeing an extension.

If i could help i would, but i'm not involved so would slow them down (i did offer). And i am working between mumsnetting.....

[ThinkAboutItTomorrow]

Actually as it has happened no client feedback has come in and i heard earlier they aren't actually working. So my hope is things will have calmed down come monday and we can discuss like reasonable adults.