To turn down extra shifts / days at work during the busiest period?

[Lemoncheesecake007]

Boss has asked me today if I can cover more days at work during our busy period that starts middle of Sep and goes through to Nov. I currently work mon - wed. DS is in nursery for 2 days and with grandparent for the other. Sometimes my mum or MIL take on extra days if I cover sickness of holidays so I can be flexible if needed.

I just don’t want to accept any more days, I’ve got quite a bit on the coming months and I haven’t been well and have a (minor to be fair) operation coming up.

I don’t want to seem unhelpful especially as we are a small team of 5 people. But also do not want to make myself run to ground taking on extra days

I said I’d speak to grandparents tonight but deep down I don’t want to take anymore on

Regretfully decline

Don’t do it if you don’t want to.

i was recently offered more hours out of the blue which I turned down. Turns out I’ve had a huge amount of extra work added to my caseload anyway 🙄

Just say no.

Don't then 🤷‍♂️

I should say without the drip feed sorry that I did agree that during busy times I might be able to take on extra days and will do if I can. Last year I was able to but this year things have changed a bit for me

Your boss is not being unreasonable to ask. But you are also not being unreasonable to decline. If it’s busy, and you can’t/don’t want to work more hours, he will need to hire additional people/temps or put in extra hours himself if necessary. It’s not your problem to solve.

You are not unreasonable to say no, I would be more wary if I would like to increase my hours in the future though, that might make me more accommodating.