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.

I just feel like I’m the only one being flexible.

They don't need to be flexible for you. You're their manager - it's your job to make sure you do the rotas properly and organise the shifts so that there's enough cover and enough leeway if someone calls in sick or needs a day off.

I'm not saying it's not hugely stressful for you but you're placing the blame on the wrong people. You don't have enough staff and the working conditions are rubbish - that's why you're struggling, not because Susan won't let you mess her about with her rota.

That’s really not how zero hours work, they can’t choose when they work!

And I always make sure the full timers get at least 30 hours even on really skinny weeks, even if that means not using the weekenders (who are always happy to have the weekend off).

Zero hour contracts are shit so I try to mitigate it. They are full time and are expected and expecting to work full time.

My own contract doesn’t actually have any hours attached, it’s just to the needs of the business. But my standard week is 45hrs.

Do you work in the wine industry by any chance as all this sounds very familiar...
No solutions just empathy if so (I'm now out)

Last weekend I had to go in literally in the middle of my Sunday lunch out with the family because someone went home sick and the supervisor said she wouldn't work on her own so was going to lock up and go home. She is now under a disciplinary for this and other issues but that’s the kind of attitude they all have

What should the supervisor have done if someone went home sick? What is your policy on lone working?
I would have thought she did the right thing, call you as the manager to come in, or close the shop. I'm not sure what she did wrong, it wasn't her decision to make so she called you at home.

That’s really not how zero hours work, they can’t choose when they work!

Yes - they can. That's the very definition of a zero hours contract. It's even on the government website.

And I always make sure the full timers get at least 30 hours even on really skinny weeks, even if that means not using the weekenders (who are always happy to have the weekend off).

But they're not full timers. A full-timer is someone who has full-time hours in their contract and who gets paid for those hours every single week (assuming they're not off sick).

Zero hour contracts are shit so I try to mitigate it. They are full time and are expected and expecting to work full time.

No, they're not 🙈

From the government website:

"Zero-hours contracts are also known as casual contracts. Zero-hours contracts are usually for ‘piece work’ or ‘on call’ work, for example for interpreters.
This means:
• they are on call to work when you need them
• you do not have to give them work
• they do not have to do work when asked"

You can expect them to work full-time all you like but that's not the law.

That’s really not how zero hours work, they can’t choose when they work!

That's exactly how zero hours contracts work!
They're not obliged to accept hours and you are not obliged to offer them.

This is exactly why I left retail management, it's absurd. Nothing on this earth could make me go back now, you don't realise how much damage it's doing to you until you get out and breathe and look at it from the outside.

For reference, I now earn 5k more than I did in retail management in a home based admin role. Last week I worked 34 hours, sat in my comfy office armchair, watching movies as I worked, able to go for a nice walk on my lunch break... I'm only in charge of myself and my own work load. Clock off bang on the dot 17:00 no exceptions or expectations I do more. Far better benefits, far more reasonable management, far more understanding about Work-Life balance. If I do go over my contracted hours I'm paid for it even though I'm salaried. It's heaven in comparison.

Leave while you can OP, there's so much better out there!

I think you’re massively unreasonable to expect people on zero hours contracts to give a damn about the business let alone pick up the slack when someone calls in sick. Zero hours means zero obligation from the company to give work and zero obligation from the employer to work. I think you could do with a HR refresh because you quite literally don’t understand the contracts of the people you are supervising.

Well perhaps they’re not actual zero hours contracts? It says something like ‘be available to work between such and such hours as needed, with rotas decided at least two weeks in advance’. No minimum hours. But they certainly wouldn’t be able to just decide not to work one day.

I don’t know. It’s all shit.

These are standard contracts for retail and hospitality though. It’s the same everywhere I’ve worked, for anyone who isn’t a manager.

This.

Well, I'm no lawyer, and not worked in retail for over 25 years, but I say we'll done to your staff for standing up for themselves.

What an unfair contract, expecting them the be available for work between certain hours, then telling them on a Monday that they have less hours that week.

I don't blame them for not jumping to help you out, when the company treat them like that.

I've worked in retail that stated exact hours and days in my contract - others had say 21 minimum hrs but the days were decided by the manager. But zero hrs - you can't dictate anything, same as the employee can't demand you provide hrs. I suggest you clarify with the store manger what their contract says re their hrs.

I worked in retail for over a decade and I've never once seen this.

People either work part-time, full-time or zero hours. You can't hire someone on a zero hours contract and tell them they must be available to work full-time hours.

The whole point of zero hours is that the business isn't paying for people to work when they're not needed, but equally the staff are free to turn down shifts if they don't want to work them.

If these people are full-time then you're required by law to give them full-time hours every week (or pay them for full-time if the work isn't available). This has the benefit of guaranteed staffing levels but the downside is you may end up paying staff who don't really need to be there some of the time.

You need to figure out what these contracts are. You can't tell someone they're required to meet the needs of the business but not give them a minimum, guaranteed number of hours each week.

Either they're zero hours, in which case they're under no obligation to work at all if they don't want to, or they're full-timers with minimum hours, in which case you need to enforce that snd go down the disciplinary route if they refuse to work or don't show up for their shifts.

But even if they are full-timers, you can't force them to come in last-minute on their days off.

And it's not the same in all retail - lots of companies have decent minimum hr contracts where everyone knows where they stand.

Although I think you are being unfair on your team, I also think that you should get out if the job is making you so unhappy.

You seem to have fallen into the corporate way of thinking that you must give up everything for the job, and it must be the most important thing in your life. Your staff haven't been sucked into this way of thinking.

Find a new job and refocus on what is important to you.

Good luck.

I have recently given notice at a job I LOVE for similar reasons. It is ok to say no and if the small "no"s and normal boundaries aren't being respected then it's on you to make a change.

It sounds very much like zero hours contracts. They can’t just decide to not work for one of the shifts they’ve been a rota given to them two weeks in advance. At the same time, you can’t be annoyed they haven’t picked up extra hours to cover sickness or whatever other reason if it wasn’t on their rota that was given to them in advance. You’re expecting some kind of “on call” service to cover circumstances that they are absolutely not responsible to cover. Sure, on zero hours contracts if you said, “we’re short staffed this Saturday would anyone like to pick up an extra shift?”, that would be ok but there is absolutely no responsibility on any of the staff to take you up on that unless they wish to.

It is categorically not normal in retail for everyone to be on zero hours.

They absolutely do not have to come in and do any hours, nor do you have to give them any. That’s how zero hours works.

If your employer wants to treat staff like shit, you should move on. I can’t understand why you’re doing all that unpaid overtime either.

I bend over backwards and do extra hours to cover them so they can leave early or have an extra day off

They have zero hours and you expect loyalty?

Teen DD has a 6 hour contract and is expected to work sometimes 40 hours a week - this isn’t what she signed up for! If she’s off sick she gets no pay - her holiday entitlement is based on 8 hours a week - If she doesn’t work she doesn’t get paid.
The other issue is those with 30 hour contracts get their hours first and everyone everyone else gets the left overs - and yes companies cut hours depending on the weeks

Maybe have a meeting with your staff and discuss the issue? What do they want etc?

In retail you have to out your foot down or the management will squeeze until pips fly out.

As a shop manager I had my counterpart
call in sick for the late shift on a day I was going to a wedding reception. I hadn't booked holiday as there was no need. My shift had been published a month earlier.

I rang the Area Manager and explained. She initially tried all the tricks to get me to stay. I said no, repeatedly until she realised it was a choice of her coming in or the shop being closed. Shit for her too, but less so as she was paid considerably more and that's just how it goes.

The holy fuss she made as I left was insane. She then got her friend to come in and buy a load of stuff so her figures were up. Sue, we had CCTV you muppet!

You really need to understand what the situation is.

People on zero hour contracts do not have to accept work just as the employer doesn't have to offer them. You need to read up on this then you will be more understanding of your staff. They are working for a 'little more' than minimum wage why would they care?? They should work when they are at work but you are not buying loyalty with a little more than minimum wage.

To fair it's not there responsibility to cover you or care if you are salaried.
You need to quit and find a better job

When head office phones and tells you to shed 40 hours in a week do you ever push back against that? Tell them it's not possible without reducing opening hours?

Honestly you're pissed at the wrong people - management are treating you all like shit. If they want loyalty from their staff they should be recruiting people on proper contracts and paying them accordingly.

If your contact doesn't state your hours, aren't you zero hours too?