I don’t want to go to work today.

[EmpressOfTheSofa]

I’m stuck.

I love my job most of the time. I’ve only been there for six months, and it was meant to be a sideways move to do fewer hours/less stress than my previous role. Haha.

But this is my second week in a row of working a six day week. Today is day one of an eight day run of working. I am not coping well at all, I’m on my feet all day so when I get home I have nothing left. The house is a disaster zone, DH wfh and does most of the housework and childcare but he’s shit at cleaning so on my day off I end up blitzing.

My team are fucking useless, mainly, will never work extra hours even when it’s to save me from 16 hours unpaid overtime, call me constantly when I do get time off. Head office are horrendous micro managers, I got audited recently and only got 85% because there was an extra price label on a shelf (not incorrect, just duplicated) and two items were in the wrong order on the shelf (four things the same but diff flavours, middle two were the wrong way round).

I’m stressed all the time. I need to change something. I’ve just called and told the team I’ll be in late because I can’t get my head round getting up this morning, I am literally still in bed and need to leave in ten minutes.

I left ‘early’ last week on hour 54 instead of staying until hour 56 and one of the team reported me to my area manager (he gave her short shrift, thankfully, but that is the attitude they have towards me).

I’ve lost all love for the place and the role.

WIBU to jack it in and get a min wage job for less stress? Or will the stress follow me? I earn £28k for context, not mega bucks.

In fairness, it's not really their job to come in at the last minute and cover for sickness.

Rotas are done in advance for good reason - so people can plan their lives around it. I certainly wouldn't be very happy if someone called me into work on my day off because someone else called in sick.

But saying that, why aren't the full-timers rota'd to work full time? Surely they should be working full weeks every week, unless they're on A/L or similar?

So both full timers work between 30-40 hours a week as needed. I plan rotas a month in advance. Every single time it’s published, without fail, I get a flurry of messages from the whole team ‘I can’t do that day; I need to leave at 3 that day, I’m away that week and forgot to tell you’. It’s exhausting.

This week when someone called in sick I was originally going to have to do 7 days. I asked one of the full timers to swap with me so that I was doing the shorter day and she was doing the open/close and she refused as she had plans. Which is fine. But the plans were seeing her friends. I actually got my area manager to come and work that day instead. So I did get one day off this week. But then the next day (yesterday) when I did manage to leave early she bitched and moaned about me ‘skiving’. She is constantly asking me when I’m going to promote her, by the way. Yeah…no.

Perhaps I just expect too much?

I am also aware that I am struggling with very black and white thinking at the moment so everything is either all good or bad.

You do seem to be taking this very personally. If I have plans to see friends, they will be made in advance and I wouldn't want to cancel them at short notice.

The staff aren't your friends, they are also not your enemies. Ignore any talk about skiving, can you ask them to try to sort any swaps amongst themselves in the first instance?

Is it not possible to get some teens and students down for casual work that can be called up at the weekend if someone calls in sick ?

Perhaps I just expect too much?

I think you do.

I've been in retail management before and it absolutely sucks but I do think there are a few things you could do to improve things.

Firstly, full timers should always be working full-time - not having their hours chopped and changed about.

When I did the rotas, I always asked people their preferences and tried to accommodate them where I could. Would it perhaps be easier to put people on set day or rotating shifts so they everyone knows where they stand?

Shifts that constantly change every week are a real PITA for staff as well as for you.

It also doesn't matter why your staff member didn't want to changed her shift. She could be planning to sit at home watching Bargain Hunt in her pants - it's not up to her to change her shifts at the last minute to accommodate sickness,

Leave. You will get a better job, I promise.

Full timers in retail should be making plans around they're work hours. That's the way it works, not you having to spend days creating a rota to suit them. Create a 4 week rolling rota, including weekends, and explain that that will be the hours they are now working. Do the same for yourself. If someone calls in sick, then you need to be short staffed. Getting extra cover in isn't productive or realistic. People will need to work a little harder.

That's the nature of retail management.

This is totally crap for you! I’m not sure if it’s got anything to do with being bipolar, I think you just have a totally shitty team around and above you.

Do you have 5 minutes when you are all together? Could you sit them all down and say you’ve had enough of their attitude towards you? That you are not skivving if you are out the back doing essential admin or as you are paid on a salary, that if you want to leave after doing your hours, then that is fine.

Mainly though, I would look for another job. If you need to go sick in this one, then do. Management will have to cover and perhaps they’ll see how bad things have got.

Full timers in retail should be making plans around they're work hours. That's the way it works, not you having to spend days creating a rota to suit them

Ideally yes, but if your shifts are never the same two weeks running, how are you supposed to make plans?

Like you go on to say, shifts should ideally be set days or on a rolling basis so people can plan things properly, but with retail that rarely works as you also need to plan for sales, busy periods and quiet periods.

It's not easy on managers or staff.

It's sounds horrendous op and be calling in sick for a few days. You cannot go on like this.

Norovirus is at least 48 hours and then you are back feeling fine and stops awkward questions.

Book some leave too. Get a new job.

In the mean time YOU ARE THE BOSS

ignore the bitching and do your own job in your own hours that you have planned.

SAY no to helping on the shop floor. You are the boss and they don't tell you what to do!

Maybe ask one of them the help you with the office work so they can see what you are doing.

You should have enough cover if someone's calls in sick to run on a skeleton staff.

If she shuts up shop then she loses her job that is her fault not yours as she is in breach of contract.

Do not go in on your day off. It is it not in your contact to cover all sick leave as needed.

If they are calling your personal phone do not answer it. If they need to contact management during a shift they need a number to call if you are not available if another manger

Ask for rota request for the next four weeks before you do the rota and then it is final. Say they can have one per week for four weeks excluding Saturdays / Sundays or whatever the business need is they book leave.

Tbh, I don't think you're coming across very well. This environment is clearly very stressful for you but it also doesn't sound like you are very pleasant towards the staff who work for you. Sounds like it might be best all round for you to find somewhere that suits you better.

I was a retail manager for 20 years and built thousands of rotas in that time. A 4 week rolling rota is easy to do, basing it on everyone working every other weekend and having the same days off - eg Sue works Mon-Sun week 1, with Thurs off for the Sat and Tues off for the Sun. Week 2 does Mon-Fri. Week 3 does Mon-Sat, with Weds off for the sat, week 4 does Mon- Fri.

I would love to be able to do this but HO muck about with what hours I’m allowed all the time. I’ll literally get a call on a Monday telling me to shed 40 hours from the week.

Oh gosh, leave this place. The problems with it are too many and too big for you to solve yourself. And until you do leave, switch your phone off or make yourself uncontactable for at least some of your rest time - I presume you’re not officially on call and being paid to be on call? Start reinforcing boundaries like everyone else is doing.

Gosh no wonder the staff are not keen to sign up to extra hours at short notice, when they never know from week to week what hours they will be working.

It's the toxic environment that's the problem OP - not you. Unfortunately as the lowest management staff member you're getting it in the neck, but it's the system they hate, not you.

Do you have any office skills- if so get yourself an admin role, this is un salvageable.

I would love to be able to do this but HO muck about with what hours I’m allowed all the time. I’ll literally get a call on a Monday telling me to shed 40 hours from the week

Surely it's illegal to dock peoples hours and pay like that?

I used to work for a supermarket and they often asked people if they wanted to go home early on quiet shifts to save money, but it was always voluntary and they made it very clear that they couldn't make you go home if it took you under your contracted hours for the week.

OP
"So both full timers work between 30-40 hours a week as needed. I plan rotas a month in advance. Every single time it’s published, without fail, I get a flurry of messages from the whole team ‘I can’t do that day; I need to leave at 3 that day, I’m away that week and forgot to tell you’. It’s exhausting"

How many hours are in their contract?
How many of the staff re past their probationary period? What happens to any tips you get?

At my daughters crappy coffee shop job the staff who were still in their probationary period weren't eligible to get tips so all the tips went to the manager 🤦🏻‍♀️

I'm guessing the staff are on a little over minimum wage, if that. Staffing and company issues are not their issue. They aren't going to care. You are trying to pass the problems down to them but you are the manager. If you don't have enough staff then they will see it as your problem not theirs.

They’re all on zero hours contracts. Above minimum wage (just). I give them all the tips, and they can eat and drink as much as they like throughout the day.

It is much better than my last place where I was often working back to back 16 hour shifts, 60 hour weeks for £25k. Retail and hospitality is just shit. I need a change.

My team are fucking useless, mainly, will never work extra hours even when it’s to save me from 16 hours unpaid overtime

More fool you for taking on all this unpaid overtime. They don't have to take on work they don't want to do because you feel obliged to. Take a leaf out of their book and start saying no.

Zero hour contracts is the issue here

You are stuck in the middle

HO want the flexibility of deciding how many hours they need each week and the staff want the the flexibility of deciding how many hours they want to do each week and it's all within contract.

This will not get better. It's not a surprise they won't do extra hour when management keep cutting theirs.

Resign and get a new job

Yeah no wonder they don’t wanna “go the extra mile” if they’re zero hours Jesus

Surely with zero hrs contracts there's no contractual obligations re hours either way? If someone has plans, doesn't matter if its just lunch with a friend, they have no contractual obligation to work. Just as you are well within your rights to cut right back on their hours if the business dictates. If the business wants more commitment from their employees - they have to pay minimum contracted hours.

The hourly paid staff on zero hours contracts are entirely in their right to refuse extra hours to cover for staff sickness.

If zero hours is the model, then there needs to be some capacity built into the number of staff who can be called on to cover for staff sickness, absence, holidays etc etc.

Who decides how many staff you can have?

If you don't have enough staff to cover a shift, you should be closing early rather than blaming your team on these insecure work patterns or working crazy hours yourself.

This should be a rare occurrence as you should then be looking to increase staffing levels or move staff onto more regular contracts that actually fit around opening hours and work requirements and plan for how to handle inevitable holidays and sickness.

Who is your Manager and what do they say about this? In your shoes, I would be making this their problem and not mine or my team's.

I know they don’t have to help. But I do feel like a bit of a mug right now.

I bend over backwards and do extra hours to cover them so they can leave early or have an extra day off. Im really flexible for them, and I don’t actually think I’ve ever refused a request to change days or have a day off. And it’s the same people who never reciprocate. I have one lady who is amazing and always steps in when she can but the rest are all very young and work comes second to their lives. Which is fine, but I just wish they’d give me a bit of a break at times.

One in particular, I’ve moved things around so she had four days off in a row for something (she’d used all her holiday) but she’s the one who wouldn’t swap with me so I could have a two hour shorter day out of a six day week. I just feel like I’m the only one being flexible.

They're not full-timers if they're on zero hour contracts - that's a huge and unfair misrepresentation on your part.

Someone on zero hours can choose when they work and when they don't - that's the beauty of it.

Of course they're not going to come in on their days off!