Teenager’s boss & his shift

[Hazyjaneishere]

My son (16) has a job as a waiter in a small independent restaurant. When he started he was told he would have 1-2 shifts a week at weekends. There was a girl working there doing same role and it seemed for a while she would work one, he works two and then the next weekend it reversed. All fine though he did like the two shift as more money.

anyway the girl started to be a bit unreliable, calling in sick etc - son gets the call, goes in etc. now she’s quit and the boss just said something like ‘so you work all three shifts now’. My son feels a bit iffy about this, but obviously he’s young and whilst he’s quite confident, he doesn’t really want to lose the job. So he didn’t say anything but in reality whilst he’s OK to do three shifts on weekends there are other times when he would want to be spending time with friends or going to a football match, that kind of thing. And of course there is school work to consider as he’s doing a levels. But it’s also so long since I had any kind of casual job like that, I’m just not sure whether this is the way things are now and whether he has to suck it up. Am I being unreasonable to think that actually the boss should’ve asked if he wanted to do the three shifts? He has subsequently asked if he can occasionally take time off, and the boss hasn’t said no, but he also hasn’t been very welcoming to the idea either. It’s 15 hours a week which feels a lot for a kid. Would welcome thoughts on how to handle this, if there even is a way!

Is he year 11 or 12?

My dd is year 11 and we’ve said one shift a week with occasional second if they’re stuck or during holidays. Year 12 I might encourage them to try it and see if it’s too much.

Nobody should be sucking up an arrangement that doesn't work for them. We used to hire young people on casual contracts and it is exactly that - casual. In your son's position, I would have a conversation with the boss and say that he will continue with this arrangements for another 4 weeks and then he will have to revert to 6 shifts a month due to other commitments. This should give them plenty of time to hire another person to job share. If he's been a reliable member of the team, they are unlikely to rush to let him go.
Either way it will be a good practice for him going forward as there will be plenty of employers in his adult life pushing the boundaries and he needs to learn to stick to his guns. Politely but firmly.

He’s year 12. Three feels a bit much. He doesn’t have a big social life yet but it’s more I think he will get tired. They’re 4-5 hour shifts and it’s three days in a row.

Yeah I think you are right. I also think there’s an element of him wanting to have his cake and eat it. Because what he really wants is two shifts a week but obviously if they find another waiter then some weeks he might only get one as I don’t think they’d find someone that just wanted one shift. But maybe I’m wrong about that. I have suggested that he perhaps tries to find somebody at school who might just want one shift and then approach the boss with that as an idea.

He’s 16….why the hell can’t he work 3 shifts at the weekends?

www.gov.uk/child-employment/restrictions-on-child-employment

Has he actually told the boss what he would like? He needs to speak up and have a clear conversation with him.
Due to other commitments, I can only work 6 (or 7 or 8) shifts a month. It doesn’t sound like he has actually communicated his preferences?

Because he’s not that keen on the idea. It’s 14-16 hours and three days in a row. It will also get in the way of other things. And he didn’t take the job on on the basis of three shifts. It was one or two.

He did try but he just got the vibe that it wasn’t appreciated… I think he’s nervous of annoying or losing the job.

Ok… maybe said in the wrong way… but if he’s 16 he’s old enough to have a weekend job…if he wants to pick & chose his shifts maybe the owner will want to pick & chose a more reliable worker? I worked every weekend from a young her age than him… it prepared me for a permanent job & did my bank balance the world of good!

Also children are only allowed to work 12 hours a week in term time, as per the government link posted above. 16 year olds can only work up to 8 hours on a Saturday and 2 hours on Sunday or during the week.

It's illegal though.

OP - I think your idea that he should approach a friend who might want a shift on a weekend is brilliant. Lots of teens looking for weekend jobs at the moment and can't find any. Just make sure the person your son finds is reliable, as otherwise he might get the blame.

I’m not sure you’re really understanding. Yes I suppose we all do to a certain extent light to pick and choose things. The main point was he was taken on to do one or two shifts a week, knowing that there was another person who also was covering the same role. Now he’s the only person doing that role and suddenly without actually being asked whether it’s what he wants he is now expected to cover those three shifts. Sometimes that will not be OK because obviously he will want to do something like go to a party or a football match. It was more just me thinking really is it OK for a boss to suddenly change? The amount of shifts you would be expected to work in this kind of job. As I say there was no conversation it was just so from now on you are doing these three shifts.

Thank you for that info. I did not know that! I’ll have a Google, but I don’t suppose you happen to know if that changes when they are 17? He will be 17 in December.

Because he doesn't want to.

Because that's not what he signed up for.

He needs to set some boundaries with the boss. In my recent experience of having 2 teens in various catering jobs - the boss will absolutely take the piss as far as possible to the point of madness.
One has now given up and focusing on A levels the other has a nice job in a nice pub at uni. They've both had A LOT of false starts tho. Good luck to ur lad x

It's straight forward. He wants a job and money so he sucks it up. It's not horrendous hours. Or he doesn't want that any hours and would like to stick to the previous arrangement so he goes and ask to have a word with his boss and explains that he can't do all three shifts every weekend and would he consider recruiting someone else. He either says yes, that's fair enough or he says he now only wants one person doing all three shifts, so it's him or he recruits someone who wants to do the three shifts.

It's very simple, no need for baking a bit drama of this.

I doubt he'll lose his job, the boss put up with all sorts from the girl.
Your DS tells boss he's studying so cannot do 3 shifts, besides it being illegal. The boss is trying it on probably because he can't be arsed to recruit someone new.

Finding a friend to take the 3rd shift is a brilliant idea. It solves the problem for his boss and for himself.

We have supported our 16 year old to push back when given too many shifts too so it can be done, but I think small businesses "insisting" on more shifts than the casual worker wants has been a thing for many years. Ultimately if the owner doesn't listen and DS cannot find a friend then DS may have to leave and find a different job, or get "let go" if the owner finds someone else who is prepared to work the hours. It's your son's decision whether to gamble on that, but he might well take his lead from you. For my own DC I always encouraged them to prioritise their own wellbeing and studies over paid work, and being prepared to risk the job if necessary. My DCs' college say up to one day a week of paid work is statistically ok but any more is associated with lower A level grades. Take that with a pinch of salt and adjust for your own YP's capacity. But if he says more than 2 shifts is too much then he is probably right and I would back him to say no. If he does lose the job then c'est la vie, it wasn't a suitable job for him at the moment.

There may also be the option of blaming you - he could say his parents said no to so many shifts or if you give him lifts, his parents are refusing to bring him 3 days a week. It may not change the outcome and a lot of 16 year olds will not want to mention parents but they are very young to be standing up to an employer, it's hard. This way of depersonalising it from themselves may make the conversation easier for them. He'd be saying it's that he can't do the extra, not that he won't. But that won't protect him from the owner finding someone else who will do all 3 shifts.

Sounds like he hasn’t spoken up
as others said 3 4hour aren’t a lot guess the boss thought it was a win win he doesn’t have to recruit and your lad gets some extra shifts and money unless he’s told different he’s. Not going to know

In your permanent job, did you just put up with someone retrospectively changing the conditions of your employment? Can you not see the multitude of threads with people pulling their hair out because they are expected to do something they never agreed to? How about an NHS worker who posted earlier today about doing two full time roles (one of which is unpaid!) and surprise from her boss that she is feeling stressed. What about all the people who are expected to work late, take calls on their day off and AL? What about the young girl who worked 6 Christmases in a row because she doesn't have children?
We don't have to accept poor treatment from our employers. My contract was retrospectively changed once in my life and I handed in my notice the very same day. That is what working in my teenage years prepared me for - not taking shit from employers just because I am threatened with losing my job.

I'm just going off what it says in Danikm's link, which is to the official rules @Hazyjaneishere - prob best to start there.

It's definitely worth asking around in case he can find someone who'd like one shift. I used to do a single shift a week when I was in sixth form and it suited me perfectly. I didn't spend much money and valued time more than the money but did need a bit of cash.

My DD is year 12. Her school recommend no more than 6 hours paid work per week ideally as A Levels are full on from day one. I think I used to do about 10 but I had to financially. DD likes but doesn’t need the money so is doing just the one shift and has extra curriculars that she keeps up.