To want to use my KIT days to catch up on mandatory training and ease back in?

[okjay89]

I work in retail, currently booked in kit days over the next 2 months, had my first one today. We have to do lots of mandatory training and get really hounded at to do them. I’ve always been very strict with doing them on work time only (there is no obligation to do them at home) as they’re really lengthy and I don’t want to work without getting paid, I don’t think anyone would!

So, today I had my first KIT day. Met with manager who just kind of asked me if I was confident to jump straight on the shop floor again… I said not really as I’d been out of the game for months, I’d like to shadow someone for a bit as a lot has changed. I work in specialist retail and my product knowledge is on the floor at the minute!

I asked if he would be okay with me familiarising myself today and catching up on mandatory training and having a look around the products etc… to bring myself up to speed. He wasn’t happy at all, and said that he’d expected me to be a working member of the team as he’d told someone else not to come in as I’d be ‘here to cover’. He said re training I could find time to do it once I’d returned fully. So he’s expecting me to just come back and do it in my own time.. He’s newish and he’s not the best manager but it’s annoyed me a bit.

cut a lot story short, was thrown back on the shop floor, nobody I knew was working and it was just shit. Now I’m dreading the next one. Just feel like a tool because I’ve no idea of most things customers are asking.

should I tell HR or will that make me even more unpopular? I feel like he doesn’t like me because I’ve been on Mat leave and want easing back in.. just the vibe I get..

Your kit says are yours I thought, to use as you choose. You should sit down and discuss them with your manager.

I do think you sound like you were making excuses up not to work on the floor.

What you would do on kit days should probably have been agreed in advance.
If your mandatory training is out of date, it would have made sense for you to complete this first. But I don't think your manager has acted unlawfully asking you to work on the shop floor, if that is your usual role. Kit days are, in effect a phased return to work and it sounds like you both had different ideas as to what that would entail.
Your manager thought that you would get straight back in to your role.
It sounds like you thought you would do mandatory training and shadow a colleague/ not be counted in the staff numbers.
Talk to him again and if it isn't going to work for you., kit days aren't mandatory.

An employer doesn’t need to give kit days so surely they’re up to your boss to direct as they see fit. So long as they find time for your mandatory training at some time isn’t what you do really up to them? Nice if they work with you on it, but not all will, especially if they’re short staffed.

A colleague came in for her first KIT day. She brought the baby, who was 'looked after' by several willing hands while her manager (very senior) had a chat with her. She had lunch with other staff, and left. 2 hours tops. Manager came to me afterwards, raging, because HR said we had to pay her for the full day. Not really how KIT days are meant to be used, LOL.
Probably best if you contact your manager with your proposal as to how to use your KIT days. Seems sensible to me, and I'll bet nobody else is expected to do mandatory training in their own time. Discrimination right there... You could after all skip the KIT days and do your mandatory training once you return to work.

Thank you everyone. when kit days were organised he said we’d sort it all out on my first kit day, first red flag there as it definitely should’ve been pre agreed what my kit days would entail.

I'm definitely not making excuses to not be on the shop floor, why would I- it’s my job! however, I do expect not to be thrown onto the shop floor blind after 9 months off work. When literally everything has changed, products, staff, some of the computer systems… I do think it would’ve been wiser to give me a bit of training, let me completely my e-learning so I could actually do my job properly.. I’m going to email him before my next one discussing my KIT days as today has left me feeling deflated. If he’s still not budging can I just cancel my days? Because I don’t see the point as they’re not being used to help me ease back in/catch up which I thought was the point. I’ll just return when my mat leave ends if this is the case 🤷🏽‍♀️ it’s actually made me want to look for a new job so maybe I’ll just use the remainder of my mat leave doing that instead!

This feels such an exaggeration. You so badly didn’t want to be back on the shop floor that you’re now thinking Of leaving your job?! That’s quite extreme. If you were so intent on doing your training on this kit day wouldn’t you have raised that with your manager when it was arranged

I think you need to relax. If they're serious about training then they'll let you know when it needs doing.
If a customer asks a question and you don't know the answer just say "sorry it's my first day back after mat leave and that's a new product, my collegue over here will be able to answer" and then listen to what your collegue says so you know next time.
It's retail not surgery!

I'd agree that they are to do mandatory training and get back up to speed.
I feel maybe if you'd been a bit more vague in your OP and not specified retail you would have got different replies.

I have found employers keen for you to use KIT days for training and catching up on Comms so that you hit the ground running on your formal return and so you aren't a 'liability' going forward.

@SpudsAndCarrots😂😂😂 the “it’s retail not surgery!” Is so silly because why does it matter if I work in retail or if I was a brain surgeon? I still need training to do my job and I’m still entitled to take time to do so. Also my health and safety training is out of date by 6 Months and we’re technically not allowed to work without it. So.. they won’t tell me when it needs doing!

I actually left my ‘professional’ job to work in retail and apart from being less responsibility it isn’t any easier. Ignorant comment and I’d love to see you have a crack at my job, probably isn’t as easy as you think!

I can well imagine though this is the kind of environment where she does this and then gets lambasted at a later date for poor sales / customer service. Specialist retail could mean for example technology products requiring knowledge of the specs and everything could have really changed in 9 months. It's not great for customers to go to a physical shop to get assistance only to hear 'i don't know'.

@mixedcereali did approach this with my manager with what I was expecting and was told we’d sort it all out on my first KIT day, as stated in my previous post 😊 he’s the one who’s ignored that, not me.

and yes, that’s correct I totally would leave my job if they didn’t value me enough to ensure that I felt supported when returning to work after 9 months off! Which seems to be the case. There’s plenty of jobs out there!

At my work you get paid for the whole day no matter how long you go in for. Most people use KIT days to have a coffee with manager, catch up with the team. Literally KEEP IN TOUCH. I think your manager was unreasonable to expect a “full days” work out of you, it’s meant to be light touch!

@Monjthank you! This is exactly what my predicament is. My retail job is specialist and the products we sell require a huge amount of knowledge to promote. My manager would definitely flame me if I was to admit to a customer that I didn’t know what the heck I was talking about!

Honesty is the best policy, ask to be trained. You more likely to be a problem if you do not say anything.

@okjay89 i am completely with you here ! If you’re supposed to be on the shop floor working - why call it a KIT day and not just your return to work day? Every company does things differently but sounds like your new manager has got it wrong here - I presume they have employed someone to cover you whilst you’re on Mat leave ? So I don’t understand why they have then decided to count you as a full member of staff when you could have been supernumerary and getting up to speed with all the changes and just getting used to a day back in the workplace without a baby attached to you. The whole point of KIT days in my mind is to enable the transition period back to work so when you do start back at work you don’t feel like you’re being dropped in it. My first few weeks back at work the brain fog was real and I needed people to be patient with me. Could have been a hybrid day of some mandatory training and some shop floor work whilst supervised but manager had their plans - either way they’re going to have to give you time off to do the training so makes sense for it to be during KIT days

also v disingenuous of your new manager to state we will discuss what you’ll be doing on your KIT days on the KIT day only to actually be expecting you to be doing a full days work. If that’s what they expected they should have been up front about it. It may be that it just so happens that they were short that day but it’s not your job to plug gaps!

If it was me I would definitely speak to manager first and explain why not happy and ensure that upcoming KITS days are agreed between you both. I can’t believe people are suggesting you’re workshy or ridiculous for this making you want to consider another job. Know your worth hun and if people are taking the piss and you can get paid the same or more elsewhere whilst being treated at a standard you respect then Absolutley you should look to move.

Wow, some people have been really rude here. I’m sorry OP.

It sounds like your manager is treating KIT days as just return to work. The whole point of them is so you feel up to speed when you go back! If they won’t let you do training and shadowing, don’t go in for the KIT days.

100% you should be able to use those days to do your mandatory training etc.

He sounds like a shit manager who doesn’t know what he’s doing. He should know you aren’t up to scratch with all of the new info etc and it makes total sense to do your training first - as he would do if you were a new employee.

Message or email him and say you don’t feel comfortable being on the shop floor until you’ve carried out the training and are a bit more up to speed on things.

But I wouldn’t bother with the KIT days if he’s not willing to budge.

Can you say to your manager “I either catch up on my training or I’m talking to customers without knowing stuff. Which do you want me to do?” Some people have no empathy….when they understand something themselves they can’t imagine that others don’t understand it, even if they thought about it logically they would know there was no time when you could have learnt it. Make it clear what your situation is.
Good luck, there’s nothing like idiot management.

Your manager doesn’t seem to have any comprehension of what a KIT day actually is! I work in teaching, and women on maternity leave don’t come in in their KIT days and get thrown in front of a class for 8 hours 😂 They would absolutely chat to their department, catch up on safeguarding training, discuss their timetables for their return, look at their class lists, etc. And probably have lunch and coffee, etc!

I think you should email him to set out your expectations for future days and if he doesn’t seem to be listening, just refuse to do them.

Just cancel the KIT days and return to work once Mat leave is over. It is not your job to reach him how to be a manager and he sounds like he isn’t the best at it.

YABVU. It’s Mat leave. Not years and years. And re. Surgery, no retraining given there on return. It’s just back to it. People are expected to be able to function as they did before their leave. Not unreasonably. I’m sure you’ll pick up new computer systems etc as you go. Kit days are not for your determination of how they work. It is not unreasonable however and would sound lovely if the business could support it. If not, then you’re back to it. Definitely not worth getting worked up over. After a day you’ll feel like you’ve been there forever again.

I agree it’s supposed to ease you back into work and think a fair few posters are being harsh. I would suggest you either give another go of asking to do your training etc and if that’s a no, then use them the two weeks before you go back fully, so 2 days each week, so you are eased back in, in a different way.

I’m doing KIT days at the moment. They are absolutely not for being thrown back into your full time job randomly for a day! They are to catch up on what you’ve missed, do training, log back into systems, clear your inbox, etc. Whole point is that when you return AFTER Mat leave, you can jump straight back in as the KIT days have prepared you for it.

email your manager and say he must have misunderstood and going forward your kit days need to be used for training and shadowing.

This is just factually incorrect, surgeons and doctors can access funding to be supernumerary for a period of time even on their formal return to work and a surgeon certainly wouldn't have an operating list on a KIT day!
Don't be disingenuous, it's not a race to the bottom.

Your manager has missed the point of KIT days, as have many on here. They're not for jumping straight back in and filling gaps in the rota!

I would start an email thread with your boss, so there's a paper trail laying out your expectations of your KIT days, to benefit both your company and you, so there's a paper trail. You felt that last time jumping straight back in didng give you a chance to x, y, z...

But before all that I'd email HR to ask what the company's policy is regarding KIT days. What and who are they for, what should they look like? What should they achieve? You can use that as a framework for your email thread, or the basis to leave and get another job.