Sick of being asked for extra hours. Anyone else?

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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?

Boundaries and more boundaries
Have a separate cell you give worksheets number of
Don’t respond
Don’t say yes.
It’s a shit way to treat staff.

YANBU at all, since they have treated you so badly, and I assume you don't need the extra money? I would now say no to everything, it's not your fault they are short staffed, it's theirs. They can learn not to treat staff that way. And if they keep calling turn your phone off if you can.

You say the work is "great" and it is lovely to hear someone being enthusiastic about a role which is woefully undervalued. However, you will lose that enthusiasm - and all that you do for your vulnerable clients - if you burn out.

Please prioritise your health and well being by telling your manager what you require and sticking to it. This is more important then ever with a bug infested winter season lurking.

Mute them and enjoy the time off that you tell them you need.

💐

I had this with a company I worked for several years ago. I eventually bought a cheap mobile and used only that for work. If I wanted extra shifts I kept it on and if I didn't I turned it off.

We also had to work every other weekend but as an incentive, if you took extra shifts worked the weekend you weren't scheduled for they paid £12 an hour.

These places massively take the piss and the seniors often don't want to go and cover shifts when they are short staffed

Oh just seen you have a work phone too. Turn it off and put it in a drawer when you're off.

Get a work phone separate to your normal one. Explain to them that you will no longer be answering on your days off.

They cannot insist you keep the phone on outside working times.

I work in a supermarket and I’ve been asked if I would be willing to extend an 8 hour shift by 3 hours because someone had called in sick. I have a medical condition that means I can’t stand up for long periods of time, if I had stayed the extra 3 hours I wouldn’t have been able to get out of bed the next day to get to work.

I said no. But the problem with the supermarket that I work in is if you don’t have kids they aren’t afraid to use bullying tactics or punish you by not asking/giving you overtime. It’s very rare that I have a day off and don’t get a phone call asking me to come in.

Despite the extra Ni everyone has to pay for care it's not going to get better. From next month when all workers have to be double vaxxed the situation will only get worse, some have been very vocal that they will leave.
You have to be firm and say no and also ensure that they are doing their part in terms of ongoing training, not being put in unsafe situations and whistle blowing when needed.

Do wonder why a couple of people think you are being unreasonable.

I run a home care service for a charity. You should not be being treated like this, even if the agency has staffing problems. Of course we sometimes need to ask someone to pick up a shift if we have unexpected sickness but it should not be a continuing thing. If they can't cover the calls without putting pressure on people then they should be handing back some of the cases.
Your pay rates are very low, we are awaiting this year's pay review but our lowest base rates are between £10 and £12 with enhancements for weekends and evenings, those are the going rates around here.
Could you have a talk with the registered manager of your service and explain you will be leaving if this pressure continues? I suspect you could get a much better job very easily with another provider. The providers who are not for profit and a couple of upmarket ones that are rated Outstanding (national franchise) are better rated for pay and conditions and I'm sure you would be welcome with open arms.

I used to get this a lot in a previous job, retail though so obviously they couldn't guilt trip me quite as much!

They'd regularly put me on a late then early. I started amending the rota on my way out to make sure I had the 11 hours rest. They stopped doing it after two instances of no one being there to open up. Obviously a risky strategy though!

Turn your work phone off when not working, as it’s a work phone I don’t think you need to use it outside of working hours. If they call your personal phone then set it to do not disturb or just ignore their calls.

I used to work in social care and this is one of the reasons I left. Constantly dreading the phone ringing and the emotional blackmail.

OP, have your thought about taking your skills to work as a HCA in a hospital? You will have much better terms and conditions as well as a good pension. And lots of NHS trusts are paying double time for all overtime until next year, which also attracts extra annual leave to go along with it.

You could be working three 12 hour shifts a week and have four days off if that was a pattern you wanted to do.

It isn’t legal to insist you keep your work phone on and answer it out of hours. Block them on your personal phone, and block them on your work phone most of the time.

Most of the time you aren’t at work that is. Or just don’t take it out with you. You don’t have to and they can’t make you.

DD used to have domiciliary care workers, who came to our house - while I did housework, admin, etc in the mornings and then afternoons, both of us would take her out somewhere. No agency would send one of their staff to look after her on their own, either was either one of them and me; or they insisted on two care workers, because it was too stressful for one person.

The care workers used to get calls from the agency constantly, asking them to do more shifts. I used to get annoyed, as if their attention was on the conversation on their phone, it obviously wasn't on DD - which was what social services was paying for. Take your eyes off her for a minute, and it could be a trip to A & E with her!

1. Keep saying no to extra hours. It will get easier after the first few times. They need you a lot more than you seem to realise.

1. Turn your work phone off when you are not available. Leave it at home when you go out.

1. Don’t work more hours than you want to. You need to rest in between shifts and you need a life outside work. It will make you a better carer if you only work the hours you want.

1. Look for a better job.

Are you part of a union?

If not consider joining up then ask for help. This is right up their street.

I would run for the hills and be looking for another job personally. Remember that you have a life outside of work and you need a work life balance. YANBU.

When you arent working, completely ignore their messages and calls. They will soon get the message.

Welcome to the care industry!
Under staffed, under funded and working staff to breaking point.
Turn your phone off. They will move on and harass the next employee.
Although from the other point of view it's really stressful trying to staff up with no agency cover or allowances and no staff pool. But that no your issue to manage or resolve so stand firm!

I would say you are not available for overtime. If they persist apply to a different company. I knew somebody who experienced this from a very well known supermarket chain.

Home care hasn't changed then! I did it over 10 years ago before I qualified as a nurse. It was exactly the same. I worked 6am-11pm with only an hours gap a lot of the Time. Horrendous amount of calls to do in that time. I once had 19 morning calls! If you refused overtime, they cut your hours. Its hard to say no but you have to put your foot down at some point. They may cut you for a while but there are plenty of places out there that will take you on.

The joy of a zero hours contract is that they are supposed to give you 24 hours notice for extra hours.
You have to sign a waiver to work more than 48 hours in a week.
There should be 11 hours between ending and starting a shift.
Be assertive and remind them of your rights.