What to say to explain I can’t do late nights

[Klonc]

In a previous thread I mentioned I work for Sainsburys and half of my time is code checking. Sainsburys want to move the times to code checking (reducing food on the date or a few days before) to after 3pm.

I refuse to do these hours which I believe that will be 2-10pm. First hour will be going round the sections and pull off anything with that day’s date, then at 3pm start reducing them! Going to refuse to work these hours as I fought for years to get early shifts and 7 months after getting them. When colleagues were leaving and they did an early shift- I asked “could I take over (name’s Monday shift)? “You are required to do the late night” was the response. I will be working even worse hours.

The store manager has never seen me doing a late night as he started in May.

Working late nights affects my mental health. Plus get a better colleague when working early shifts.

None of code checkers are happy with the new proposals.

The thing my reasons sound like excuses for my manager who has upset many colleagues with his behaviour including me. I refuse to work these stupid hours. Plus I want to leave retail.

So what genuine reasons should I give for refusing to change my hours to go with Sainsburys new code checking system?

Just leave?
No excuse needed then.

If that particular role needs to be the late hours, can you request to do a different role instead which would be different hours?

What does your contract say?
I manage a unit that has early and late shifts and everyone always wants the earliest so I have to be very careful with allocations unless I have people who have formally accepted lates only. The shifts get shared.
Do you have a formal FWA to do earlies only? You say you fought for them so what was the result?
Regardless of your reasons they may be able to say it’s part of your job to do all shifts.
We may ask for an OHS referral for someone who has a medical reason for not working some shifts but this may not be a policy of theirs.
Hopefully someone with knowledge of Sainsbury’s contracts can be more helpful.

Prices are reduced late in the day, and you don't want to work those hours so you either need a different role or you need to make your move out of retail now.

Can you switch to early shift check out?

What have you done about looking for a job in a new sector?

If you make up a reason like your looking to it won’t be a genuine reason surely?

unless your contract specifies no later shifts then - assuming you don’t have a medically documented reason it impacts your mental health - you don’t have much choice but to go with it or leave.

You need to check what it says in your contract, OP.

If it says that the role is flexible and that you work the hours required by the business, there is not a lot you can do other than quit.

If your contract states that you work particular hours, then you can hold them to that and tell them that you can only work the hours in your contract.

Show your manager your OP. In any event, you appear to only want to work with 'better colleagues', so a change of job completely seems to be your only option. Perhaps Waitrose??

This is a good point about medical documentation. If you have a doctor's note stating your mental health condition and that working late shifts will have an impact, then as an employer they will have to accommodate that under the Equality Act.

So it might be worth seeing your GP and asking them to put something in writing for you.

Based on your post it sounds like you took a role that requires working evenings, therefore you need to be available to work evenings.

Managing to only cover early shifts since May isn’t really relevant.

Why on earth would a manager want to read a Mumsnet thread?? This is the most hilarious advice I've ever read. I cannot imagine anything less professional.

Presumably someone has to work the late shifts, why shouldn't it be you? If you feel strongly about this, you need to find a different job which does not involve working late. You can't expect to work in an industry where it's a standard part of the job and cherry-pick the hours you prefer.

Because OP said she didn't know what to say to manager to ensure her shift wasn't changed
All she needs to do is show what she's written in her OP ( not the replies, I thought that would have been obvious!)

This. I don't think you need to go into depth about what you think of their new system.

You can submit a formal flexible working request?
You can ask if there's a different role you could move to?
You can quit.

Yes this would mean they'd have to look into a reasonable adjustment for you.

What a waste of a gp's time. The OP should leave; she's already said she wants to leave retail

It's not a waste of GP's time if OP has a medical condition that requires reasonable adjustments.

It makes sense that this role has later hours tbh.
Could you ask to change role?

If it's for mental health reasons you need to be getting yourself in contact with occupational health then. Discuss your requirements to stay well with them in order to carry on with your current role.

If being the word.
How and why does it affect OP mental health specifically?

I think if you work in a role that requires flexible working patterns you need to be prepared to do those flexible working patterns. Simply not liking the late shift is not good enough. If it genuinely affects your mental health, then this is not the job for you unfortunately.

I work in a 24 hrs a day, 365 days a year role, and everyone is expected to do some earlier, some lates, some weekends, so bank holidays. We’d be laughed out of the company if we said ‘I can’t work the unpopular shifts, I’ve managed to avoid them so far and don’t want to start now!’ For every person who gets a good shift time, some else is doing the bad shifts.

I work in care in the community. I have several colleagues who came from the same branch of a different major supermarket for similar reasons.
If you're seriously thinking of leaving.

Either you can't do late shifts or don't want to.

If you can't, make a medical case with GP support.

If you don't want to, simply write to your manager outlining your preferences stating you would need to resign if your request can't be accommodated.

Do not mention 'better' colleagues, that's a ridiculous reason.

Yes and if she does then presumably she's been in contact with a GP already to get a diagnosis and so they might be able to do it off the back of one of those econsult things. She might not even need the GP report. If she has a diagnosis and it's affecting her ability to work at certain times then HR might just accept her word for that. Depends on the company.

It's called reasonable adjustments. The employer will need to accommodate due to the Equality Act. Otherwise they are discriminating OP.

I think working in retail probably isn’t for you…

Also you seem more concerned about working with the better colleague and just throwing mental health in there to try justify it?

If you do go down the mental health route then you will need a referral to occupational health.

How does it actually impact your mental health? I have a many mental health diagnoses but I’ve still worked late shifts in the past - including at sainsburys!