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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think you shouldn’t be allowed to have your shift cut short whilst working it?

34 replies

TeaAndBrie · 04/04/2023 17:52

My DD16 has a job. Zero hours contract. So understandably they’re under no obligation to give her shifts and she’s under no obligation to take them.
however, a couple of times she has been midway through a shift and has been sent home early as they’re quiet and don’t need her anymore.
is this allowed under employment law does anyone know?
I can’t see anything in her contract about this once a shift has started.
shift times are allocated and on an app so they pick what they want to work.
Her friend did an hour of a 7 hour shift and was then told to go home as she wasn’t needed.

OP posts:
tired17 · 04/04/2023 18:13

Not sure of the legalities of it but it has happened to both my DD'S. They did get wise to it after a while and would be very busy/invisible when the manager would come round looking for someone to go home.

Alternatively they would say they couldn't go home because they had a lift home arranged for the end of their shift.

GCWorkNightmare · 04/04/2023 18:14

On a zero hours contract it’s legal.

RiktheButler · 04/04/2023 18:15

Sounds like hospitality - perfectly normal and often quite essential

britnay · 04/04/2023 18:17

What sort of job is it? Perhaps they need to get better at finding jobs to do?
Cleaning
Filling up stock
Stock taking
Repair work
Training

mynameiscalypso · 04/04/2023 18:20

Presumably she gets paid for the hours she did do? My brother used to work in restaurants and this was quite usual.

bellsandwhistles333 · 04/04/2023 18:24

Same as my 17 year old Sd at macdonalds... I gave her tips to always look busy and productive! But it's going to happen sometimes

TeenDivided · 04/04/2023 18:26

If that is acceptable, is it equally acceptable to accept a 7hr shift and then decide for yourself to go home part way through? Thought not. You wouldn't be offered hours again.

Zero hours contracts have their place, but practices like this seem weighted to the employer too much.

Original poster
TeaAndBrie · 05/04/2023 08:29

Thanks everyone, sounds like this is common practice then and accepted. She works in a children’s play area, think bowling/climbing/trampolines etc.
she would get paid for the hours she does work, however as it’s the other side of town it either involves two buses each way or for me to take her. On minimum wage she would need to work at least two hours to make more than the bus fare

OP posts:
Original poster
TeaAndBrie · 05/04/2023 08:30

TeenDivided · 04/04/2023 18:26

If that is acceptable, is it equally acceptable to accept a 7hr shift and then decide for yourself to go home part way through? Thought not. You wouldn't be offered hours again.

Zero hours contracts have their place, but practices like this seem weighted to the employer too much.

I completely agree with this too. Zero hours are supposed to be flexible contracts but it definitely seems that employers hold most of the power where she works.

OP posts:
sashagabadon · 05/04/2023 08:32

I think this is actually quite common practice in some industries. See also cutting whole shift just beforehand.
clearly legal if morally wrong. I think people have to vote with their feet and if it happens to you more than once look for a job elsewhere.

snitzelvoncrumb · 05/04/2023 08:39

I worked in a nursery and was sent home if quiet. On a contract like that you need to find another job and be less available for the one cutting your hours.

JMSA · 05/04/2023 08:45

In my view, it is completely and utterly out of order. That shift should be honoured once started.

Wishiwasatailor · 05/04/2023 08:48

This used to be quite common in nursing. You could turn up for a shift and then get told it wasn’t busy enough and be sent home. You were usually paid a minimum of 3 hours if this happened. Obviously doesn’t happen anymore because it’s always short staffed

workistoomuch · 05/04/2023 09:00

How have we got to a place where this is legal. People could have planned to work somewhere else and got 7 hours pay instead of 1. I think its awful.

ScottBakula · 05/04/2023 09:02

It certainly a thing in hospitality, I worked at a student bar and particularly during the vacation time shifts were cut short / cut altogether.
It was normally done on a voluntary basis as there could be 8 / 10 staff on so the manager would ask all of us if anyone wanted to go home early. If nobody / not enough wanted to then they would pick a name. Or with one particular manager he'd say go home or do >> insert really crappy job << this. Hands would shoot up !

ditavonteesed · 05/04/2023 09:06

Dd works in a bar and it happens pretty much every shift.

MrsMischiefOnTour · 05/04/2023 09:08

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loononastick · 05/04/2023 09:08

It's a dreadful practice. Why bother getting ready and travelling to work to do an hour? Why do employers think this is okay? Why do people suck this up?!

I'd be looking for another job with set hours.

Inca22 · 05/04/2023 10:36

My 17yo experienced this in his first job. So disheartening to see him leave the house at 5.30am and for them to try and send him home after a couple of hours. Felt pleased he saw this practice not working for him and he left 6 months after. I don't understand why people should be left standing if managers can't plan properly. Lucky he didn't need the money and so he could choose to leave - lots of others can't.

Londongal123 · 05/04/2023 10:41

TeaAndBrie · 05/04/2023 08:29

Thanks everyone, sounds like this is common practice then and accepted. She works in a children’s play area, think bowling/climbing/trampolines etc.
she would get paid for the hours she does work, however as it’s the other side of town it either involves two buses each way or for me to take her. On minimum wage she would need to work at least two hours to make more than the bus fare

Like others have said, perfectly normal. I encouraged my kids to stay close when working that way they weren’t so reliant on bus fairs and me taking them/picking them up.

Dixiechickonhols · 05/04/2023 10:56

Mine works at McDonald’s pt zero hours and they do that sometimes. They seem to ask rather than tell and some inc my dc will take it - she’s 2 mins walk away. It only tends to be last couple of hours of a late shift.
It’s awful if they have travelled a long way or paid bus fares to get there.
It doesn’t seem well known that they can do this.
It doesn’t work other way eg dd can’t say I’m going to finish at 8pm not 10pm - if she is scheduled 4-10pm she’s expected to work it. It pays well over minimum wage for her age though.

MumOf2workOptions · 05/04/2023 10:58

A colleagues daughter had this with a restaurant and in the end she quit because it was just getting ridiculous, this same restaurant are always advertising!!! I'm not surprised!!! It's a crazy way to treat people.

Dixiechickonhols · 05/04/2023 11:01

loononastick · 05/04/2023 09:08

It's a dreadful practice. Why bother getting ready and travelling to work to do an hour? Why do employers think this is okay? Why do people suck this up?!

I'd be looking for another job with set hours.

All the fast food/coffee shop around here are same. All zero hours. It has advantage that they can turn shifts down in exam time etc.
The after school club with set hours pays £5 an hour to 16 yr olds whereas it’s £8.50 for DD. So even if she loses 2 hours a month by being sent home early on she’s much better off than the £5 an hour some friends get.

IamKlaus · 05/04/2023 11:03

Does the UK even have any employment laws? It's a joke.

Comii9 · 05/04/2023 11:15

RiktheButler · 04/04/2023 18:15

Sounds like hospitality - perfectly normal and often quite essential

I don't know how zero hours works. I think its immoral at the very least. You can't just use employees like this it isn't fair nor very nice.

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