Am I in the wrong regarding rota or my company?

[Angelaanaconda10]

I work for a home care company and I know they are often short staffed.
I only recently started and was told it would always be alternate weekends only and that the rota would be done a week in advance.

I received this week’s rota a week ago and since I worked last weekend I had this weekend off.

I was phoned yesterday by the company to explain that they had put a couple of calls on me for Sunday evening which was a bit frustrating but at least I had some notice, didn’t have any for today though.

Anyway last night I did a bar shift to earn extra money and got in at 5am. I woke up to calls at 8am from my job asking why I had not attended 7am morning calls. I looked at my rota and saw that at 5pm last night the company had added calls on for 7am-11am this morning.

I have had to throw some clothes on unshowered and get a taxi to get there, the clients have been informed but I feel really unfair on them.

I feel awful for not checking last night but I think it’s bad practice of the company to add calls so last minute and not notify, and it goes against what they were saying re rota and scheduling. My boyfriend says if they keep doing that to look for another company.

I would screen shot rota or take a dated photo so you can proof you were not on rota 24 hours ago or whatever, changing rota without checking is unacceptable as others have said it is not right
no one can be expected to check more than once daily and should never have to check on their day off
you should have told clients that you had come in on your day off at short notice
you should tell boss you are not working on your days off again

Care companies are notorious for doing stuff like this and making it your responsibility. If you need someone to do something different, it is your responsibility to check if they can. End of. I would be looking elsewhere if I were you.

Maybe agreeing last minute to work on your weekend off made them think you’re a soft touch!

I’d email so it’s in writing, clarifying that you can only work every other weekend, and as agreed at interview you need 7 days notice of your rota. Tell them that any rota changes or requests for overtime need to be confirmed with you either by phone or email, and tell them you won’t check your rota on your time off.

I tried to explain the scheduling issues to one client but he said something about ‘blaming other people’ . I know it does sound like that but it is their fault.

Indeed I really shouldn’t be a soft touch, I think it’s because I’ve recently started and want to show I’m flexible etc. But they will hear from me Monday.

Another thing is they put you to finish at 10pm and in again at 7am and I’ve a 40 minute journey each way, it doesn’t give me enough rest in between to sleep so I will have to ask them about that too.

@Angelaanaconda10

I tried to explain the scheduling issues to one client but he said something about ‘blaming other people’ . I know it does sound like that but it is their fault.

Indeed I really shouldn’t be a soft touch, I think it’s because I’ve recently started and want to show I’m flexible etc. But they will hear from me Monday.

Another thing is they put you to finish at 10pm and in again at 7am and I’ve a 40 minute journey each way, it doesn’t give me enough rest in between to sleep so I will have to ask them about that too.

With the company I worked for years ago, the client would have also been given a rota letting them know which carer to expect. If your name was not on their rota it should be clear that you were not scheduled to be there. TBH the company I worked for were so disorganised that most clients realised that any lateness,or non appearance was due to admin error.

Unfortunately this is very common in care work.

It's underpaid, understaffed and the working conditions are typically more. There's a reason why care homes (and other care facilities) have such a high level of staff turnover.

I’m not sure what sort of information they’re given as they never seem to know which carer will be coming, they ask if it will be me or the other carers etc on the next visit.

Or sometimes they’ll put down 15 minutes for a call where I need to shower and dress the person, or 45 minutes for someone who takes 10 minutes, a 7:45 call for somebody who doesn’t get up until 10am etc.

Unfortunately care work is notorious for this. My friend left 3-4 companies for reasons just like this. Very unreasonable of them though.

WTD dictates that you legally need at least 11 hours between each shift.
This is really shoddy. No wonder they have no staff

It’s such a shame, the clients, some younger and some older are all vulnerable and deserve better.

I live 40 minutes away by bus, buses aren’t great in the evening and if I finish at 10 and then have to be in again at 7, I’ve ended up paying for ubers several times just to be able to get more than 6 hours’ sleep.
I will tell them about the 11 hour requirement.

@emlouwat

WTD dictates that you legally need at least 11 hours between each shift. This is really shoddy. No wonder they have no staff

Many care homes pressure their employees to opt out of the WTD.

Check your contract OP. You may have signed to opt-out without realising it.

@icedcoffees
The opt out only relates to the 48 hour working week. You can’t opt out of the rest breaks as it’s a health and safety issue.

[quote ChazsBrilliantAttitude]@icedcoffees
The opt out only relates to the 48 hour working week. You can’t opt out of the rest breaks as it’s a health and safety issue.[/quote]
Hmm, it's not quite that straightforward.

You can opt out of the rest breaks as long as you're provided with compensatory rest elsewhere.

So 9-10 hours between shifts is okay as long as you're then given extra time off before or afterwards. I've done it - and it was for a big supermarket who presumably knew the law.

I finished at 9pm and started back 6am.

www.tuc.org.uk/sites/default/files/TUC_KYR_Working%20Time%2C%20Breaks%20and%20Holidays_ART_Low%20res.pdf

This explains it in a bit more detail.

"Can I opt out of my breaks/days off?

You must get your entitlement to breaks, so you can’t opt out of taking them. But when you take them can be changed through a collective agreement.

• If there is a recognised trade union where you work, this will be part
of the normal negotiating process.
• If you don’t have a union at work, your employer can still negotiate a written agreement with any workplace reps who have been elected."

It's no wonder they are understaffed if they treat their staff like this.

You need to be able to plan your life outside of work, they should be giving you plenty of notice of your shifts.

Good luck on Monday

I would look up the CQC report on the care service you work for and report these issues to them. The care service is vastly underfunded. Where I live several service providers will not cover outlying areas and in the end the council had to have it's own in house agency. If you apply for another position check the CQC report or ask about it in interview.

I worked in a private care centre and local councils wouldn't always fund respite care. If you have, as someone I know does, a home care service attached to your nursing home you have the flexibility to rota additional staff onto your home care service. Staff are properly trained and supervised. Here we also have an issue of the time it can take in holiday season on single lane roads, when you're stuck behind towing caravans at 40 mph. Additional traffic lights, bus stops put in the middle of the single carriage way, road works.

It doesn't help when you get the press talking about the son of a celebrity being given a place at a £350k school and elderly or vulnerable people living alone don't have a carer to get them out of bed washed or dressed. I do know the disability of this person will require more than on staff member and constant supervision.

OP, I compel you to try and find a job as a HCA in a hospital, you will be treated far better, get a good pension, decent pay (in comparison to domiciliary care), pay rises and a far more reliable rota. You’ll also be able to join a Union recognised by your employer.

Their shift booking processes need clarifying , in terms of rota, rest break and notice of late changes. It is not reasonable to expect you to randomly check their system and turn up as and when. I doubt the clients are informed as to how it works nor is it their problem if they are paying for a service. If your calls are 40 minutes from home, minimum, do you receive above mw for your time especially after your travel costs?

iced coffee
You are right there are limited exemptions but I was working on the assumption that there was no formal negotiation process nor union representation given the sector and the way the company was operating. Also if they are trying to get staff to work 7 days a week then it is hard to see when the compensatory rest is offered.