Supermarkets employing more people but not giving out hours.

[Lilmaubetden]

My son got a job working at a small supermarket. It’s a big chain, but of smaller stores.

During the interview he was promised 24 hours! But when he got the contract, he was given 8 hours a week. But they assured him that there would be more.

There hasn’t been more. In fact, there’s been less. They change his hours the night before without telling him, e.g. on the Monday afternoon he left work after doing 4 hours and was next due in on Thursday for his next 4 hours…but sometime that evening they swapped his shift to the following morning 6-10am. They did not tell him.

They rang him the next morning to ask where he was and then told him that he’d be put down as unauthorised absence for his second shift. Luckily he had screen shot his rota, so they put him down as authorised instead.

They won’t give him any additional hours. They say they haven’t got them. Yet they keep employing more people? Why?

AIBU thinking that this is a disgusting way to treat your staff. DS is 19 and desperately trying to save for uni.

Honestly, it’s because it’s hard to sack people.

If he works hard, has a good attitude and reliable he’ll soon start to get all the shifts.

A family friend had two daughters working at Tescos. One found it hilarious to put stupid items as replacements and the other works hard. The lazy one complained that she was only getting minimal shifts. The other one was doing more than the full timers.

The reliable ones always will get the preference. He needs to stick at it to prove it.

He works four hours. He is on the tills for the shift duration. He has one friend there, a lady in her early 60’s. He chats to the customers and always dresses professionally.

You have assumed incorrectly that he is messing about. It is a small store and usually there are about 12 staff on at any one time including the manager. I have been in as he’s working and he’s always sat on the till busy. He’s worked there for a few months now so plenty of time to show his work ethos.

They're taking on people part-time now so they'll have fully trained people ready for the peak sales months.

Whats the excuse for changing his shifts with no notice without telling him. And then putting him down as unauthorised. Is he expected to time travel?

It's probably that they have more experienced or more efficient workers who they are offering the shifts to before they offer them to your son.

but sometime that evening they swapped his shift to the following morning 6-10am. They did not tell him

So what would have happened if he had an NHS appointment on the Tuesday morning. Because usually if someone cancels one at very short notice or doesnt turn up they are vilified on here for wasting NHS time. These employers are responsible for some of the no shows.

I understand that, but I wish they’d have been upfront with him at interview. He had two offers, this place and Specsavers. He opted for this one as they told him that he’d be able to do 24 hours and bid for more, and the pay was slightly better. He was interviewed by a regional manager who isn’t actually based at the store.

Thisis why people cant plan ahead when it comes to appointments

I was disgusted when he told me. He had screenshot his rota and sent it to me on the Monday morning, so I knew when he was working. So he went straight in and argued his case. They wouldn’t let him work though. Just said ‘oh, we’ll put it down as authorised then’.

Standard complete incompetence.

I've had this with my (non supermarket) employer. It does not matter how many times I have previously sent an image of the rota I was issued that showed I didn't need to be in that day, they always leap to the conclusion that I'm not in because I'm skiving. They never EVER double-check the rota they issued before they call me to demand to know where I am. Then I send a photo, and they say sorry, and then we repeat the whole process a month or so later.

What did it say on the job advert?

It is quite shoddy if it was advertised as 24 hours but then he was only contracted for 8.

I don’t know if I’m honest. DS applied. He wouldn’t have gone for it had it specified 8 though.

If they were upfront, they'd get fewer takers.

"We're employing you now for one shift a week, because we want to have a full pool of employees to draw on during peak period without having to pay people overtime" isn't a winner for people who want immediate stability of income.

When I worked for a major retailer, there was no issue with sacking people. It was done fairly regularly. All new staff were on temp contracts too which gave them even less protection.

Ex manager of mine said i had to cancel a dentist appointment. It was treatment for an abscess. Because it clashed with a training day in another town I cancelled it and then the training day was cancelled. This was 2003 i wouldnt do it now. Instead i would start mentioning words like sepsis and compensation.

Hmm, well, maybe a lesson for him to check the wording on job adverts in future.

Could he have misunderstood them in the interview? - Additional hours are sometimes hard for teens to get their heads around. They might have said it in a slightly vague way and he has taken it to mean 24 hours a week.

He needs to check adverts carefully and specifically ask the question about contracted hours at interview.

He definitely asked how much he’d be able to work and they definitely told him that regardless of contracted hours he’d get around 24 hours a week and that there were always hours for those who wanted them. He was delighted.

It’s prob to save on Er NI and pension
both have a threshold, below which the Er doesn’t have to contribute therefore more beneficial to have more staff each working less hours

That is pretty shoddy - but really the lesson is that if he wants 24 hours a week he needs a contract that says 24 hours a week. If it's not in the contract then it's not guaranteed.

This is retail for you and I sympathise

My son is now 17 and he began working for Waitrose last year aged 16. I've had to get involved twice to sort stuff out as , being young, he just struggled to advocate for himself and I had no choice unless I wanted to stand by and watch them not follow their own policies and treat him badly. (Although the last thing I wanted to do was wade in!)

He's a lot more settled now and been there nearly a year but they don't treat their young staff (and older ones!) shoddily

Your son should just stick with it for now but it's not acceptable to chop and change his shifts and they need telling that. And nothing to stop him jumping ship if he finds something more appealing

Well then maybe he should secretly record his job interviews on his phone in future. Y" know...............to save being doubted.

My employer when it (rarely) advertises for vacancies - it only offers 12-16 hours a week. Which isn’t enough for many people wanting p/t work - they want 1.5-2 times more.

Going by the last interview I had for a retail position, the job ad would have said "24 hours per week", but during the application and interview process, they would have said they only guaranteed 8 hours a week. Interviewer would have heavily implied that 24 hours would be standard, but not guaranteed it. I interviewed for an advertised full time position, and I was told they guaranteed 8 hours.

Fewer hours = fewer rights, less holiday pay.

Also more staff available for any extra shifts/sickness cover/peak season. And if you are trying to make a living you will be so desperate for additional hours that you will gladly take undesirable shifts and put up with all sorts of nonsense. It’s an awful way of treating people.

It isnt MnS by any chance is it?

My son is also saving for Uni and can't get the hours he wants due to them employing loads and sharing out hours, so lots of people have a little bit.