Sick of being asked for extra hours. Anyone else?

[Whathaveidonetodeservethis1]

I’ve worked for a home care company for a couple of months now, the work itself is great, however I’ve never been harassed as much to do overtime as I have in this job.

This week (and previous weeks) I’ve been put on rota to work 12 days in a row. I asked if I could have a day off in this time, and they reduced the hours a little on 1/2 days but still didn’t give me a full day off.

We work alternate weekends, if it’s your weekend in you’re supposed to have at least a day off in the week, yet this rarely happens for me.

I’m not meant to start until 3 today, as I finish at 9:30pm. I was called 3 times from 7am asking to cover this morning. I do say yes a lot of the time, but today I’m spending time with my partner, and I have shopping to do. The lady on the phone told me “The only person who can cover is you.”
That’s a lie, as management and team leaders are on back up to cover, plus it’s not cool to try and guilt me.

The other day I was asked to cover in the afternoon, which I did. They then asked me to cover the evening. I said no as I had had no break all day and plus I was in at 7 the next morning. Despite saying no, I checked my rota 30 minutes later and they had added the hours on regardless. I was expected to finish at 10:30pm then back in at 7am, which is surely illegal.

I got quite annoyed and told them it was unfair and ridiculous, and luckily the manager managed to reduce it a little.

I’m fed up of it, I really like the work but I can’t be on call 24/7. There’s one girl in the office who will ring you 6/7 times until you pick up, it’s harassment.

Has anyone else had this? I just need to be firm but I also find it hard to say no sometimes and I don’t want to leave vulnerable and elderly clients without a carer. What would you do?

Honestly, you can only spread yourself so thin for so long. Because it is incessant, I would insist on days off and block them when i am off the clock. You are entitled to down time and if they want you to do overtime they can ask when you are on duty, sounds like that’s nearly all the time anyway 😂😂 you need to set boundaries and they will hire more staff then!

But you’re not leaving elderly vulnerable clients, they are. Put your phone on silent.

They probably know I am the sort who will say yes.
I have colleagues who have told me that they say no every time and so they don’t ring them anymore.
I don’t mind doing it sometimes, but I do need to be firm.
When I had my interview I requested to have 2 days off in the week if working a full weekend but this hasn’t been granted.
I will try to be firmer and not feel guilty.

Yanbu. Check the working times directive and flag it under that context.

For the extra hours you didnt agree to, i had a boss do that once and i told him i dodnt consent to it and i wouldnt be there for that shift and scrubbed my name out.

I agree it’s not fair to be rung up on days off and at ridiculous hours, I worry that they’ll reduce my hours if I don’t oblige as it’s a zero hours contract, but they wouldn’t do 12 days straight so why should they expect me to.

Stop saying yes

They're not gonna reduce your ours if they need you 12 days in a row.

One benefit of zero hours is you can easily say no too

If it is 0 hours you are not obliged to accept the shifts requested. If they are short staffed they are unlikely to reduce your hours further.

It seems like it’s always made sure that the other care workers are getting their days off. There’s one colleague of mine who’s also having to do 12 days in a row and is still trying to get a day off.
I will just try to be more assertive or they will keep doing it.

They will always need you to cover shifts whether you do 12 days straight or 3 so they won't cut your hours.

You could also sign up to another care company so you can work between the two when they are taking the piss. As soon as they realise you have options they will stop.

That’s a good point, I do wonder if most other care companies will be the same as this, though. The staff turnover is high, many of the colleagues I’ve worked with have been there less than 6 months. Currently I’m the only full-time member in this area as the other carers have childcare to work around, some are students etc.

It is a minimum 11 hour break required between shifts. www.gov.uk/rest-breaks-work

My friends who work in the care industry have been having the same experience as you. My friends care so much about the people they look after that they keep saying yes to extended shifts and extra days, it's all due to a huge shortage in carers and increasing numbers of people requiring care in their homes.

I would just stop doing extra hours altogether 🤷‍♀️

There is a huge shortage of care workers in the industry because people are not willing to do the job on the derisory pay that is on offer. Care companies don’t want to pay care workers more because it would hit their profits, so therefore they expect people like you, on shitty wages, to pick up the slack. It would be a hard no, repeatedly, from me. It’s the only way the industry will increase pay for the people who work in it.

Do you have a union?

Yeah, 11 hour break in between seems far better. Often when I get in, I’ll have around 30 minutes before I have to go to bed, maybe an hour if I’m lucky, then back up at 6.

A couple of weeks ago they put me down for 55 hours one week, mornings until lates 6 days straight. I told them that it was far too much for me and that I had very little time to do anything else, and they said that they were really struggling for staff that week and could I do it.
Luckily they haven’t done that again since.
They do need to look at why they’re short staffed in the first place.

I earn £9.25 an hour, same on weekends, extra for bank holidays. We’re all on the same rate I believe, regardless of experience or qualifications as well as length of time with the company.
It’s true it’s an industry with massive staff shortages, and that more and more people require care mow

Now*

Find a better job for your own sanity and health , the more you get invested in your clients, the harder it becomes and the more your health will in turn suffer .

I would get a cheap phone and give them that number and turn it off when you’re not in work . Even change your own number so they can’t contact you at all .

We’re all provided with a work phone and number which the rota is on, and we need to have it on to check hours etc so they call that number sadly, as well as our personal one.

This was part of the reason I left my care job ,acouple of years ago .
I got fed up of the guilt trips to work especially on days off.my then boss didn't like it when I pointed out ,her certain favourite staff (her drinking friends ) ,always had their full days off ,didn't work bank Holidays and weekends .

Trying to bully staff to work more hours than they are comfortable doing is appalling practice imo.

I have a friend who is a carer in residential care. She's on a ZHC by choice and is employed as bank staff, and she has other sources of income so only really wants to do about 4 shifts a week, on average.

They are constantly ringing her and hassling her to do extra shifts, (including nights, which she has always refused to do). She was on holiday the week before last and got back at 10pm after a 9.5 hour journey. They rang her 8 times that day, to try and get her to cover shifts as soon as she got back, and the following morning, they rang her at 7am to ask her to come in and cover for someone for 12 hours.

I think her response may have included the word "fuck".

They can't get staff because they only pay £9.50ph, even for nights/weekends, and they're often running with below minimum staffing levels. They need to up the pay, but that would eat into their profits, so they prefer to hassle staff to come in instead.

It's bloody outrageous. Keep saying "No", OP!

This is the problem that DH had. He did it for about 3 months, then went to work in a Care Home. Shifts now predictable, apart from the odd text to see if someone can cover someone sick etc. Much better. More proffessional, in terms of they don't try and guilt trip, or put you on rota and then it's apparently your job to ring up and sort it out. Sounds a nightmare.