To think we shouldn't have to work the day before Christmas Eve?

[blinddoorshyt]

I work in a bathroom shop.
We are closed over Christmas and were lead to believe we broke up on the 22nd
Turns out now we don't
On the 23rd we have to travel to Manchester (3 hours each way ) to have a buffet and games with the company owner.
We have to listen to a presentation on how the company's done this year.
If we don't go we will have a day deducted from our salary.
It's the day before Christmas Eve and we have to drive to Manchester to have picky food with the owner and play Christmas games.
Aibu to think it's ridiculous?
And we have been repeatedly told if we don't go we won't get paid and it will halt any progression in the company !

Why?
(Presumably you need to work to earn your living).

It's late notice but not badly so

I would query the legality of not paying travel expenses since it's not your normal place of work - have they arranged transport? I think that's your only leg to stand on - quite reasonable to state that you can't afford it especially as it's an unexpected expense that you haven't budgeted for

But 3 hrs travel each way for a company event ( transpennine distress? ) isn't extreme at all

OP, have you decided what you’re going to do yet?

And what if OP is struggling to make ends meet? And then has to pay for 6 hours worth of travelling on a day that she'd been led to believe was part of the Christmas shut down?

What an unpleasant way to talk to someone. The op has been told she has to do a 6hr round trip the day before Christmas eve paid for herself. That is the problem.

If she had to sit in the office answering the phone I'm sure that would have been fine.

Regarding people working in NHS it can't only be me that's noticed that there's generally skeleton staffing levels at Christmas.
So not all the workers work Christmas day. Have done my bit in care work and in my experience there's some flex. Same for DH who is police officer.

In OPs xase it is unnecessary and ridiculous to expect them to do this at this point in the year. I can only guess it's less about wanting teams to get together and more about utilising a dead period when nobody is buying bathrooms.

I’m staggered at the number of people who are telling the op to suck it up because they have worked every Christmas since Jesus was born and drive 6 hours to work 8 days a week.

I do agree that it is a normal working day for many people, however having to schlep across the country, spending more money than she is earning is unreasonable.

I’ve worked retail jobs where I’ve had to travel for hours for training (Brighton to Nottingham), but, the travel and accommodation was paid for and it was in the middle of the year at a pre agreed time.

I would take the day unpaid.

The NHS can’t afford it all bank hols double time

I think it's a slippery slope to treat selling bathrooms as important as healthcare.

Any job that isn't life or death SHOULD be treated as just a job, and employers would benefit from treating them as such.

In fact, when I ran a business, I hated the rogue staff who were incredibly passionate and self-important about their work. They were terrible workers as they had no sense of proportion about what they were doing, and therefore terrible at delivering against company objectives as a result.

The ones who treated it as just a job had their heads screwed on and were very productive.

So stuff your wailing. OP isn't a healthcare provider. This is just a job, and they're acting terribly for morale.

Unless they’re paying travel expenses, it’s not worth it. Are your colleagues going? If so, could you share the petrol expense? If not, your day’s wages will be swallowed up by expenses. IMO they haven’t thought this through for more remote employees.

Am I missing something OP-
the 23rd Dec is a normal working day- why would you expect it randomly off? Everyone works that (bar teachers / shift workers etc).

What am I missing?

You are missing that OP lives 15 min from her work on a normal day.
This year she is expected to do a six hour round trip, expenses not paid, to do a corporate wankfest team building day when she had been led to believe that her employer's business shuts down over the festive week

Exactly. Which is why despite all the complaining, lots of health care professionals do not actually work all of every Christmas

I think you might have got more helpful responses if you had titled your post something along the lines of ‘having to travel 6 hours unpaid’ as having to work the day before Christmas Eve in itself is clearly not unreasonable.

It is very poor to expect you to have such a long day ( when travel time is included) and also not cover out of pocket expenses.

The only options I can see are to try to share car travel with others to reduce the costs or take the day off unpaid.

On the rare occasions that I’ve had to take a day off unpaid I have always been surprised how little difference it made to my take home pay.

No I don't have extra travel paid for 🙄 🙄🙄...it's the NHS...of course they don't pay for your travel 🤣and it's more than an hour away in unsocial hours :ie leaving house at 0530am to get to work for 700am. Anyhoo. . ..op has to travel on an official working day....to eat a buffet and socialise....and get paid for it!!!!! and then spend an actual Xmas with her family.

If you work for the nhs and have to travel to another hospital to cover a shift that isn't your usual place of work then you are entitled to travel expenses. I know plenty of people who work in the nhs and this is the norm. You need to inform your manager.

The op has a 6hr round trip which is absolutely unreasonable.

Only read first page of comments but everyone is missing the point - OP was told 20th was the last day. That’s the issue, not the fact that the 23rd would normally be a working day.

Firstly, if you have to take the close-down days from your holiday allowance anyway, then presumably this would include the 23rd, had they gone ahead with the original plan. Point this out and request that your absence on the 23rd be classed as a holiday day rather than a pay dock. This is surely reasonable seeing as they went back on their earlier communication to you which is really unprofessional and inconsiderate of them. Say you’ve made arrangements.

Secondly, if the travel time takes you over your working hours then it is again unreasonable of them to expect you to accept at short notice and so they should give you the option to work from the shop or home. You’re available (e.g. 9-5pm but not before of after) and it’s not your fault they haven’t provided adequate warning.

No no no! Put your foot down.

Tbh, I don't think it's irrelevant.

We're a social species, and Christmas is a huge part of our culture. There are new productions of a Christmas Carol every single year, because the message of seasonal goodwill and God bless us every one resonates and still has relevance.

The illegal parts are one thing, but possibly people would even (unfairly) suck it up if it were a different time of year.

But asking people to sacrifice personal time for company business when people have a) been told to expect otherwise and b) will be more likely to have personal plans, is far from irrelevant.

Well, assuming you usually finish work around 5pm, I'd offer my apologies and say you already have travel plans for the evening of that day, to travel to family for Christmas. You're leaving at 6pm and it's all booked. They may be able to tell you what to do in your work hours, but they can't force you to do unpaid overtime/travel outside of work hours, especially the day before Christmas Eve.

I certainly wouldn't be leaving home at 6am either, more so if not getting paid mileage.

Life is short. Please tell me. Go on. Be a sport....

Expecting you to pay £55 for the train and travel outside of working hours is wrong in my book. A cheeky 10am-2pm and we'll cover your fare yes. Or can you share a lift with colleagues?

Many employers can "force" you to work or travel outside of your normal hours - it's a rare contract that doesn't have an "exceptional circumstances " or "as business requires" clause in there - you sign it, you sign up for it

Given how rarely this has been called on in the op case, they are reasonable to expect it ( expenses aside )

Partially true. It becomes problematic for employers when some employees are on minimum wage however, which seems quite likely for the more junior employees in a bathroom shop.