So family unfriendly! Working hours have been pushed

[Lana07]

I absolutely HATE it they force us with their STUPID flexibility to work till 22:00 (for 6 weeks for Christmas, fair enough) and 20:30 in retail.

I used to finish at 18:30 the latest.

Family evening is RUINED when I get home by 21:30/22:30.

Please DON'T tell me I am lucky to have a job.

My post is NOT about that.

And no, I am not in a position to change my job for the nearest 3-5 years minimum.

I originally DID NOT sign up these hours but they they are pushing and pushing!!!

Honestly OP, you’re working part-time, have one child who doesn’t need childcare/constant supervision, and you’re complaining that it’s all too much for you.

Are you sure you’re cut-out for a stressful career like IT?

@BonesInTheOcean

When a man talks, he comes up with an action plan and solutions. When a woman talks/moans she often wants to distress as well as possibly find a better solution to the situation. That's a huge difference I discovered on the 14th year of marriage (married for 16).

Really? thats a bit sexist don't you think?

Probably, however utterly true in my experience.

When a man talks, he comes up with an action plan and solutions. When a woman talks/moans she often wants to distress as well as possibly find a better solution to the situation

Why would someone want to be distressed?

As for men coming up with solutions, that's hilarious based on the exec meetings I've been at. Quite the opposite: they generally like the sound of their voices and reiterating points already made by others in an attempt to sound intelligent.

In fact my ex-husband even said in marriage counselling that I was a terrible wife because when he told me about a problem I'd suggest/ offer ways to fix it for him. Apparently this made me an evil wife. 🤣

So bore off with your ridiculous stereotypes.

@icedcoffees

25 hours a week isn't exploitative, no. But changing the hours worked, when those hours were in the initial contract, is not on. But the time to address that is when the change was first suggested, by refusing as it's a breach of contract, or getting union help and addressing this collectively.

Pretty much all retail contracts say "your hours can be changed with x amount of notice subject to the needs of the business", so the initial change was probably never a breach of contract.

Most people in retail and hospitality are expected to work shifts and those shifts can change with little or no notice. It's part of the industry, unfortunately.

Lol. People are bonkers aren't they? How is that "exploitative"? 🤨😂 I mean, people in professional salaried roles are expected to work as many hours as required, whenever they are required, with no extra pay! I think some people's ideas about the world of work are really unrealistic and crazy.

What daily/weekly tasks do you do at work?
Did you study/have the training to do it?

Daily, each of us has different admin tasks but we are crosstrained to cover for each other. Mine is in the area of tenders and procurement mainly, but printing/typing, working with MS Office and other programmes, as well as some PA duties, customer service as well.

My training was a two year admin/comms course -probably that training is outdated now. But the reason I'm valued by my employers isn't that training, that got me in the door. Thousands have done that course and probably better ones, but it's on-the-job ability, willingness to upskill and soft skills that have earned me the various pay rises over the years. Having said that, it was pretty low pay to begin with for the first few years.

In terms of current skills you'd need to do my job - know MS Teams inside out, also cloud based systems -Office 365. I also learned to use Adobe Creative suite of programmes at a basic level to enhance some minor aspects of my duties. Know PDF software, and obviously reception duties /call handling & that sort of thing.

The soft skills appreciated by management are that I'm calm at all times, never get stressed, never get involved in office politics. My role involves high value bid with immovable deadlines so staying calm and focused and with a dollop of humour is appreciated. I'm super organised, and never go to management with a problem unless it's also accompanied by one or two potential solutions. I'm known as a problem solver, quick to come up with ideas to sort something out.

As I said before, I don't really get involved in office politics, and while there's certain annoying people in work (as in every job) they have no clue I can't abide them- I'm as pleasant and civil to them as I am to the people I do like.