I've recently started a new job working as an area supervisor for a large company that provides cleaning/catering and other services to lots of different companies across the UK. I work alongside the area manager for one specific retail store and we cover a region which has around 50 stores. As well as completing managers checks, audits etc, we have to cover any of the cleaners sickness and holidays. When I applied for the role the advert online stated it was full time hours which included 1 weekend day. In the interview I double checked this and was told it was 40 hours a week and would include either a Saturday or Sunday. I naively assumed they meant it was 40 hours a week spread over 5 days, but it has now become apparent that all supervisors work 6 days a week including the whole weekend. At no point was I made aware that it was 6 days and had I been told this I honestly wouldn't have taken the job. Although I can't prove this, I do believe they kept this to themselves as they must have known that not many people would want to work 6 days a week, especially for a salary of 19k. I actually turned down other jobs to take this one.
My manager is in the same boat as she was told that she would be working 5 days a week with every weekend off, but she will now have to cover when I take holidays or if I'm off sick. She also has to regularly check her phone whilst she's off to make sure that all cleans have been completed. She is not earning much more than I am (we get on great, she only started working for the company a week before I did). The issue is that if a clean is missed then the company receives a fine of £300, so there is absolutely no wriggle room to push a clean back a day or so if there are no cleaners available and we're off. We have to cover it somehow, even if it means cancelling all our plans the day of or walking out of a family lunch etc. They don't care if it affects our personal lives as long as the clean gets done. My manager spoke to someone higher up in the company about this and was told that we could just work out our hours between us and that I don't have to work 6 days a week as long as the work is completed. Our problems with this are:
- We agreed that my days off would be a Sunday/Monday and hers a Saturday/Sunday. On Saturday I had 6 cleans (4 cleaners on holiday and 2 phoned in sick the morning of) which would have taken me over 13 hours to complete so she came out on her day off to help.
- If one of us is on holiday it means the other has to work 7 days a week or more depending on how long the person is on holiday for. Exactly the same with sickness.
- The cleans can be completed any time of the day and because the cleaners only work part time and earn minimum wage they tend to work it around another job or their families etc. The company policy specifically states that all cleaners have to report any sickness absence 1 hour before their due to start their shift. Most of the cleaners start work between 6-9am so they will normally ring first thing to let us know that they won't be coming into work. Other cleaners work between 4-7pm. This means that a cleaner could ring us at 3pm (we both leave the house at 7am) to say their ill and we would have to cover it.
- Going back to the hours. I've been told that I can work 5 days a week but will need to be on call on a Sunday just incase a clean comes in. I won't be paid any extra for this. Although they've not said it, the same rule applies to a Monday. For example - next Monday my manager has to drive somewhere which is a 6 hour round trip so won't be able to complete any cleans. There is no one else to cover so I will have to cover them if any come in. I won't know until the night before/morning of as most of the cleaners don't phone in until a couple of hours before their shift starts. I won't be able to make any plans on my days off and this will likely be an ongoing issue.
- If I have to work 40 hours a week over 6 days then my shifts should be shorter otherwise I'll be earning less than minimum wage. This isn't possible - last week I worked my full hours over 5 days (not our choice, there was so many cleans to cover).
- We've both also received a really dodgy contract which has all the usual points listed - holidays, hours, salary, place of work etc except it doesn't give specifics. For example - it saids "your working hours are listed above" but their not. The same goes for the salary and everything else. I've signed it along with the regional manager but it almost seems pointless?!
There are plenty of other red flags including the fact that I've been to over 30 stores in the last few weeks and every cleaner has told me that they've requested cleaning materials multiple times over the last year but never received them. They physically can't clean without the equipment but if the store complains that the standards aren't up to scratch, it's the cleaner who gets in trouble. This is a 80 million pound company so I can't see what's the issue with providing proper cleaning equipment and PPE.
We are both still in our probationary period so don't want to kick up a fuss until we've at least found another job. We've both said we'll see how it goes over the next few weeks but if it becomes unbearable then we'll start job hunting. It honestly feels like they lied to us to get us through the door and now we're stuck. Please tell me this isn't normal?