AIBU to think these expectations of a charity shop manager are unfair?

[SorcererGaheris]

In the last year or so, the charity associated with the shop I volunteer in has become much more stringent on the issue of the shop remaining open all the time, even when staff shortages make this difficult or impossible without our manager giving up her time off to come in and cover without extra pay.

Our shop has a paid (FT) manager and a paid (PT) deputy manager. The rest of the staff are all volunteers.

Neither of the managers work on the Sunday, so the shop is staffed entirely by volunteers on that day. It's the only full day off that our manager gets, as her working hours cover the other six days.

In the past, if not enough of the Sunday volunteers could come, the shop just wouldn't open that time. But according to what our manager says, she is now being told that if a suitable number of the volunteers cannot show up on Sunday, she needs to come in herself to provide cover, if other members of staff can't/won't. The (non-Sunday) volunteers are usually unable or unwilling to work on a Sunday, so it ends up falling to our manager.

This Sunday, for example - two of the (four Sunday) volunteers are unable to be there. I can be there, but our fourth Sunday volunteer does not arrive until between 1-1.30 pm. The shop opens shortly after 11 and health and safety rules dictate that staff are not allowed to be alone in the shop when it's open to the public. The manager has been told that she is expected to come in and cover.

I am 100% sure that she will not be paid for these additional hours; from what has been said, it's typically expected that additional cover is done unpaid. I think the charity works around it by offering time off in lieu, so as not to be in conflict with the law, but due to the complexity of rota staffing when the majority of staff are volunteers (and thus can have as much time off as they want, for any reason) I think our manager finds it quite tricky to take all of her leave.

If the above was just a one-off, I don't think it would matter, but whilst those of us who volunteer on Sunday do our best to be there as much as possible, there are times when other things conflict and take precedence. Last Sunday, I myself did not come in because my mother and I were looking after my nephews for the day. One of my colleagues has a partner with fragile health and she sometimes has to arrange for him to go to the hospital at short notice. So there are times when, for a multitude of reasons, not enough of us can show up at the same time to ensure that the shop is adequately covered throughout the day.

In the past, it was just accepted that the shop would not open for that day if enough of us could not make it. But like I say, in recent times, the charity has become less understanding/tolerant of this and are more or less insisting that our manager come in to provide the cover instead.

My view is that - given the majority of staff are volunteers, with the freedom to have time off whenever - that expecting the shop to always remain open isn't realistic or fair. We're not a 'typical' retail business in that respect, because most of us are unpaid.

Considering that the only day off our manager gets is the Sunday, I think it is unfair to expect/demand that she always cover, especially for no pay.

This is really common. Round here the charity shops are open 9-5 Monday to Saturday and 10-4 on a Sunday. So that's 54 hours a week.

Manager will be employed for 35 or 37.5 hours a week. Deputy if there is one, anything between 8 and 12. So there are still times that there is no paid staff at all. The last shop I volunteered in had no paid staff at all, it was entirely volunteer led.

What the charity should be doing in the OP's position is to support the manager in recruiting more volunteers and providing experienced volunteers with training in cashing up and opening/closing procedures so that they can take on those reponsibilities if they wish to do so.

@sweeneytoddsrazor

Adequate notice is being given.

What’s the point in having two managers if neither of them are rota’d to work Sundays?

But only if they are not already over their agreed paid hours. Most big charities that run lots of stores have extremely highly paid staff at the top of the sector. They are exploiting their workers.

I was once asked to agree to regular unpaid hours by a charity that campaigned against slave labour. I pointed out the irony and turned them down.

When people question charity CEO's large salaries, the answer given is 'we need to pay them this to get the best people for the business'

They need to have the same mentality lower down the chain (as if!) - so they need to pay more staff to get the best for the business (ie wider opening hours)

I think the real issue is that the charity shop model, like much retail, doesn't hold up anymore in the age of online shopping and high staff costs.

Yes, within their paid hours. They shouldn't be pressured to work extra hours and opening hours should reflect the staff resources available. It's a bad business when charities feel free to exploit their staff.

They can easily do one weekend day each and have a day off in the week.

So manager A does Sunday to Thursday and has Friday and Saturday off, Manager B does Tuesday to Saturday and has Sunday and Monday off.

If the manager is 67 I’m sure she could retire? She shouldn’t be working 7 days a week especially at her age. Obviously it makes sense to close on Sundays or one day mid week.

The manager is either fibbing
OR
she simply needs to explain that she will work the days as per her contract

This is a great idea. You should tell them this at work.

You have zero idea of her financial circumstances

what do they do if only one volunteer can come, or none?

agree with PP that managers can just change their days and each do one weekend.... or leave.

It seems that the charity is treating her badly. I'd suggest that she goes to Citizens Advice to find out what her rights are and get some help with (hopefully) finding a resolution. If her paid colleague is having similar problems they could go together.

My DD is a deputy manager - clearly not the same charity as their shops don't open Sundays. Either her or the store manager have to be present during all opening hours, which I assumed was normal for all charities.

You posted about this exact issue months ago @SorcererGaheris , with the added detail that your manager doesn’t even get paid for working Sundays

basically - I think your manager is feeding you a load of garbage

It’s very hard to get good volunteers. I would never offer to run the shop without FT staff there. I left one place because they had poor safeguarding. I reported this. Another had shocking food safety because they were completely inclusive.

As a volunteer you can walk away, look at all the posts about colleagues who are a PITA but you are stuck with ‘Sue’ because you need to pay the bills. When it’s voluntary you can just walk. it also depends on the ethos of a charity. Some will take anyone, others will not so some of your colleagues are very interesting.

Charity shop managers earn very little and I think for retail it’s harder than a regular shop. No idea what your stock will be, underpaid, taking staff you wojkd rather not.

Lots of charity shops are shutting, it’s business rates and utilities plus so many people sell on vinted now the quality of donations has gone down. That’s why they are pressurising your manager,

Another had shocking food safety because they were completely inclusive.
I don't understand this @ViciousCurrentBun? Because they were employing people who couldn't understand food safety? Or something else?

The manager is being a wet lettuce. Probably being bullied into it under the whole "but it's charityyyyy!" whine.

Here and the deputy manager need to come up with a rota to cover Sundays between themselves. But there should always be at least one paid member of staff on the premises at all times. Expecting volunteers to be responsible for opening and closing, just them, is not okay.

Really though, the manager needs to be looking for a better job, or standing up for herself a bit more.

These charities don't care about people all they care about is money.

Charities get an 80% discount on business rates, it's why so many charity shops are still going while everything else is closing down.

My mother was an assistant manager at a charity shop , until they made her redundant at 74 (They wanted to make her retire when it closed , but she refused )

At first she would cover every so often to help out, unpaid , but suddenly it became every week , and an expectation , rather than a grateful acknowledgement . When she stopped giving up every weekend , they tried everything to make her continue , until she pointed out that what they would be doing is committing wage theft , and that she had also spoken to other managers across the area , who were being pressured into doing the same . And what a pity it would be if the charity were to be investigated by HMRC , because the penalties can be ruinous ( my brother worked for HMRC at the time)

Suddenly they stopped asking .

The Manager (OP?) needs to be firm & refuse.
I regularly hunt in charity shops, & it's rare for them to open on Sundays.

Then she's an absolute fool to work those hours at that age.

She needs to tell them the hours/days she is working - and quote the 48hr working directive.

She cannot be expected to LIVE there.

I also would encourage her to name and shame the "charity" on SM or to the local press.

Well that's what we're told on here. Charity shops aren't for the needy and there to make a profit for the charity.

So these people can pay their staff to work.

This is your manager's job to sort. One of them will have to change their shift patterns. It's not the volunteers problem and frankly charities take the piss out of their volunteers. I'll never do it again.

Pulls on the old heartstrings. Probably works as well.