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?

My contract is for set hours, it's not flexible.

Except the OP a has clearly said she doesn’t want to work these shifts not that she has a recognised mental health condition. She acknowledges that her reasons sound ridiculous and asks what ‘genuine’ reason she could make up.

It’s easy to brandish about the ‘my mental health’ saying, sadly all it does is make life more difficult for those with genuine mental health concerns.

I've worked in food retail, the same place for a long time. It's part tof the job working various hours unfortunately. So if I was given all unsociable shifts I'd speak up and my boss would change it. Management are what I'd call reasonable though. You have to do your share of the shifts you don't want but not do those shifts all the time.

Can't you agree to do some? But not all.

No the problem is mental health has become a buzz word that people are exploiting to get out of doing things they don't want to do.

I don't have MH issues outside work. Certain managers and customers cause the MH

If customers are giving you MH issues then maybe retail isn't for you. And yes, I say that as a retail worker with over 20 years experience.

All you have to do is ask to work on a different department and transfer, I don't see what's so difficult about it? If staff are leaving because of this terrible manager you must have vacancies?

I have anxiety and get panic attacks - take Sertraline 100mg. A couple of PAs turned into asthma attacks. My colleagues who are a fantastic bunch of people, shame on the management who I don't have one single manager that listens to our concerns, work and public.

They all 100% understand why I want to leave. I am multiskilled in all areas bar bakery and when I go there will be no one as multiskilled as myself. Plus some colleagues are unable to do certain tasks due to shoulder, back issues. Out of the all colleagues when off, I am the one that is missed.

If I do to keep my current hours or a slight tweak - not as dramatic as going from 7-3 to 2-10, I want to leave as I detest the store manager so much and certain customers are so rude and abusive. SM refuses to ban them as more concerned over money these customers give to the store than our welfare, Other SMs were not bothered about losing £50 a week from a customer but more concerned over us. Anyway, they could get that money recouped by customers treating themselves to an item of clothing etc. The atmosphere when he's not there is a lot more positive. When he's there, a mortuary has a better atmosphere!

Then you have a job issue, not a MH issue. And I suspect you mean it's affecting your emotional wellbeing/happiness and not your mental health.

So leave. you want to anyway.

We don't get vacancies as he poaches staff from other stores he has managed and work is spread out thinly between who's left and we are suffering from burnout.

Before anyone asks why not work for these Locals? No way as the latest I have to finish is 11:30pm and its only a max of 24 hours and I work 34.

Well if you are multi skilled ask to move departments? Surely if you are as important as you say department managers will be biting your hand off to have you? You are making more of this than you have to, you don't know for certain what your new hours will be or haven't even asked about changing roles. You can't expect a large store to run around one colleague and no one is indispensable no matter how multi skilled they are unfortunately.

Have you an Area Manager you can contact? The number of people leaving is factual, not an opinion.

Someone can give a wonderful interview, have a good reference, and turn out to be a nightmare, or just not read the room, as it were.

Sympathies OP, I think supermarket jobs are becoming harder and harder work with worse conditions.

I don't think you can insist on earlier shifts although you can of course request them but it sounds like you'd need to do a different role for the earlier shifts since mark downs logically take place later in the day.

I'd be looking for another job I think, maybe you will find something that suits you a lot better. Good luck.

It would be the best thing for me to leave. Beginning of this month had a meal out with 27 others for a retirement do. Colleague in question said she could have done two more years but the store manager’s behaviour made her retire early. Able to claim work pension. She said the last two months of her 35 years service were the worst. Even during Covid lockdowns were more bearable!

A mix of current and past colleagues. The ones that are of working age at different companies are looking better than those who currently work at the supermarket. That says a lot

Again, you seem to have just decided that ops mental health is being used as an excuse instead of being valid. Which is a very harmful and outdated way of thinking.

I guess it depends on what is in your current contract and whether your contract itself is being changed . I think a lot of places are moving more to 'as and when' working which is not possible for a lot of people . Eg for a single parent with young children . Obviously in this position you wouldn't apply if it was clear that you were expected to work all hours - but if applying for a mid day shift and working conditions were then changed, I would think it entirely reasonable to be kept on the original shift .

As OP has said herself and previous poster have commented on also, the OP does not have a mental health problem. They have no issues outside of work, the OP just does not like their job. This is nothing to do with mental health, so yes OP is just using this is an excuse to try and get out of doing something they don't want to do which is wrong and quite frankly insulting to those that genuinely do struggle.

Did you read OPs posts?

She said she doesn't have a MH issue outside work - i.e, she isn't suffering from a mental illness, she has a job issue which makes her unhappy or she feels effects her emotional wellbeing.

Which an enormous amount of the working population experiences. Most people find work stressful and inconvenient to our happiness and emotional wellbeing.

Very few people have fulfilling jobs working to their personal preference of hours, working patterns, pay, duties, responsibilities which don't cause them any stress or interfere with what they'd really prefer to do, or that they'd continue to do if they had other options.

That's life. It's called 'work' and not 'something that you love that never causes you inconvenience or stress ever and you get paid for it'

That wouldn't be 'work'. The clue is in the name.

The OP already said she wants to leave because she doesn't enjoy the sector she works in so especially doesn't want unsocial hours in a job she already doesn't want to work in so we can really put aside the idea that OP is suffering from a MH condition that her employers need to make adjustments for..

She isn't.

If being in a job which is stressful, annoying, or pissing employees off meant ' effecting MH so employers have to make adjustments', the country would collapse.

Thank you! Exactly what I was trying to point out 👏

You worded it much better than I could have though 😂

From one of ops most recent comments -‘I have anxiety and get panic attacks.’ It’s insulting that you’re minimising her experience.

She said she has anxiety and gets panic attacks, both of which can be absolutely debilitating.