that this is not fair & taking advantage?

[bogofeternalstench]

My husband started a new job 3 weeks ago after searching for 3 months. It's part time, mon-fri. Today he's just been told that he's got to work this Saturday and Sunday. And still every day next week. Weekend working was not mentioned in his interview and has not been mentioned before until today.

We had plans which we'll now have to cancel and because I drive him to work (due to buses being less than useless) I now have to get up early on my two days off to take him. I'm so pissed off.

He doesn't want to argue about it because he's worried they'll sack him but aibu to think that this is shoddy treatment? They're taking advantage of people, knowing that because it's so difficult to find work, their staff don't have any choice but to put up with it.

Is it possible he agreed to 5 shifts 9-1 over a 7 day period? I know a lot of places with shift work have people working a rotating set of days. I think he needs to read what his contract says about overtime/weekend working and if it doesn't say he's obliged to work a certain number of weekends, he needs to raise it with his manager/superior on Monday.

Try Ingenie for insurance although he has to be under 25.
My DD is only 17 and insurance isn't anywhere near that amount!

Insurance for young men is FAR higher than it is for girls, unfortunately!

You're all asking very pertinent and sensible questions about the wording of his contract but unfortunately I can't answer any of them as I'm still at work and he isn't home yet! :D
But I do agree that the contract should be our first port of call so we can check what he signed up to before he talks to them tomorrow. Forewarned is forearmed after all.

Thanks for all your comments btw. It's helpful and reassuring to know that I'm not the only one thinking this isn't/shouldn't be standard practice.

Oh, and regarding the rest breaks regulations. The link says you must have either 24 hours break in 7 days or 48 hours in 14 days, so as long as they're not planning to make him work next weekend as well then it's legal. Another question for tomorrow...

If he has worked Monday - Friday this week and they are expecting him to do next week as well then it is against the law.

No it isn't. He can be compensated at another time.

Just make sure you both check the wording of that contract thoroughly, it saves problems in the long run. It is sounding increasingly like a zero hour contract to me but I could be wrong [sceptical] Good luck and it would be nice to know what happens!