Boss says I have to work tonight or will face disciplinary.

[Partygal]

Some of my colleagues are on here so have name changed.

I work in a 24 hours a day, 365 days a year job. Everyone has to take their turn at doing the shit shifts.

As I was off over Christmas last year, I willingly took my turn to work and did Christmas and Boxing Day. It suited me as I am going to a party tonight that I have been looking forward to a lot.

My colleague who was supposed to be working tonight sent me a text earlier today saying he can’t work tonight due to illness!!! (Yeah right!) He went on to say he was just giving me the heads up to block the manager’s number.

I thanked him and said no way was I working because I’ve done my time in work over Christmas.

Anyway my boss rang up as predicted - using someone else’s phone. She first asked why everyone seemed to have blocked her number, and asked if my colleague had already told me that he wasn’t going to work that night. I denied it.

She went on to say what I already knew that he won’t be at work tonight. I told her that I would not be covering. She says no one else she has managed to speak to, can get child care at such short notice and nor can she. According to her, “it has to be me.”

I still said no. She said she would try everyone else again, and threatened me with “consequences” if I turn my phone off. She has come back and has again said she can’t find anyone else to work. She says I will face a disciplinary if I don’t go in. I told her to go fuck herself. She has been texting repeatedly every since and has just told me that I will be fired for this.

Can she do this?

Completely different subject.... which apps do those of you who record conversations, use?

I have a Samsung and l can't get the ones I've tried to work

"what a shitty place where people Block their boss"

To be expected when that boss phones up swearing and bullying so aggressively.

the language from both employee and manager was unprofessional.
It's worth remembering that if hospitality or similar industry, the supervisor/manager may only receive a few pence an hour above what the OP earns - and probably sod all in terms of management training.

@EBearhug

You can't blame Brexit for any of this. OR the Tories/Boris Johnson.

"You can blame the Tories - quite a few rights were changed in 2014 (though some round tribunal costs have since been reversed.)"
Why aren't you blaming the Liberal Democrats too? There was a coalition government running the UK in 2014.

Is there anything written in your contract that says they reserve the right to call you in for emergency shift cover (within the legal working hours per week, obviously.) if not then she can’t do anything.

But for future reference, in these circs it would be best to be prepared with ‘oh I’m so sorry but I can’t, I’m ill and had I been scheduled to work today I’d have had to call in sick anyway.’

They can’t discipline you allegedly throwing a sickie on your day off.

With over 100 000 vacancies with the NHS due in part to immigrants not coming and other going home, there aren’t the staff in many occupations, caters etc so Brexit has played its part in this type of situation.

@MistyCloud

It's true that employers have the upper hand now and treat staff like 24 hour on-call robots. Going to get worse too, as our Dear Leader will do away with EU instigated workers rights as soon as legally possible. Unions are weakened, and the gig economy further erodes workers rights. Minimum wage Employees kowtow out of fear.
The Govt have said they will strengthen workers rights and they've just announced a much bigger rise to NMW than anticipated. Why not keep your own counsel and see what they actually do rather than doom-mongering? You sound like you're full of the joys of spring not.

Oh where is this NMW rise - links please

Living wage is to be increased, not NMW

Morning Op. Hope you had a good night.
When are you due to work next?
Maybe will blow over but also sounds shitty environment.
Is your boss likely to be around long? Has she a boss you can contact if becomes tense?
As I have said before. Polite emails way to go, copying her boss if need be or direct to her boss if becomes untenable.
Have an eye for the future...
Good luck.

ivy if there are 100,000 vacancies in the NHS then it’s certainly not because immigrants aren’t coming and others are going home. It’s because we either aren’t attracting enough British people to train for the jobs because the pay and conditions are too unattractive or because they are low paid jobs such as cleaners and porters where it pays equally well to work part time and/or stay on benefits.

We have plenty of people already in the UK with British citizenship and the right to work who for whatever reasons just don’t want those jobs or are too useless and feckless to do them properly. We don’t need more immigrants to take up the slack. We need to a kick up the backside of lazy British people and an overhauling of the way the NHS and the benefits system is run.

It’s the same with teaching. There is a teacher shortage due to the job conditions, not due to a lack of people with the capacity or potential to teach. Should we blame the teacher shortage on a lack of immigrants too?

AllideasAndNoAction

www.health.org.uk/news-and-comment/blogs/immigration-and-the-nhs-the-evidence

Living wage is to be increased, not NMW

Indeed. NOT NMW. How many employers actually pay living wage and not NMW?

It’s not compulsory to pay living wage so many companies stick with NMW

ivykaty44 of course the NMW is the more attractive option for employers!

Makes me laugh when employers say they value their staff when they pay the cheapest wages legally possible!

TwentyViginti Makes me laugh when employers list great rates of pay in the advert for the job at NMW and annual leave as a bonus, which is a legal requirement

@Penners99 the Tories rebranded minimum wage as living wage because there were campaigns pointing out the huge gap between minimum wage and the actual amount you need to live on.

the amount of minimum wage, now called living wage, is going up from £8.21 to £8.72 on 1st April 2020. .gov.uk site here - this is being widely reported as being a rise of 4 times the rate of inflation but this is only catching up from several years of tiny rises between 2011 and 2015.

meanwhile The Living Wage Foundation is still active and campaigning for a genuine living wage and has calculated that a real Living Wage ought to be £9.30ph outside London and £10.75 in London. about 6000 employers including about a third of the FTSE100 have committed to paying a minimum of at least this real living wage due to basic human decency (well probably PR too).

the government's increase in what it cynically and erroneously calls a living wage is going up as they committed it would reach £9ph by 2021 but by then thre real living wage will be still higher.

the difference in terminology is because this higher rate applies only to over 25s. under 25s are only entitled to a lower rate of minimum wage which isn't called a living wage, because landlords charge less rent and supermarkets charge less for food and gas and electricity rates are lower and nurseries charge you less for childcare if you are 24. oh hang on. no they don't.

Well well. You learn something new every day. Many thanks Ellues

Couldn't you have told her you was in a completely inappropriate place to get into work? I told my boss I was visiting relatives in a place 4 hours from where I was when I was called into work.

It's the colleague who should face disciplinary. Or be told he now has to work the next however many anti social days and it will look like the obvious lie it is if he tries to call in sick again. He's very obviously lied now.

@Partygal YANBU. Your boss sound awful.

As an aside, is it only the national LIVING wage that is going up?

Not the national MINIMUM wage? Is that not going up at all?