Impossible shift changes- help!

[KCumberSandwich]

Hi, i recently posted in AIBU (is my boss taking the piss out of me?) and was given some really good advice and support, one lady suggested i posted on here too.

I will try to keep from being long winded.

I have been in my job for six years, we work on a rota system which gives employees the same basic shift patterns but with extra shifts and swaps added to allow for employees who are off on holiday etc. The manager kept everyone's basic shifts the same each week and if cover was needed we were all asked where we could help out/ swap etc and for the most part everyone did the most they could and the system worked fine. My manager went on marernity leave two years ago and a new manager took over. since she started my basic shifts have changed several times, usually at short notice, and i have been messed about with regards to childcare and out of work commitments which i make around my basic shifts.

A new employee is due to join us in a couple of weeks, and the new rota went up last week. My manager has given my regular shifts to the new employee so that she can work this job and keep her other one and work around using her parents for childcare. I wouldn't have had any real objection to this but all of the shifts i have been moved to are impossible for me to do- no childcare, commitments i made around my old shifts which i cannot change now.

I asked for a meeting with manager and met with her on saturday morning on my day off. I explained the situation, why i was unhappy and enquired why new employee had all my shifts and why she moved me to shifts that i can't do (all staff filled in availabilty forms when she first started). She defended herself by saying that i accused her of favouring new employee (i did not) and saying that all other branches worked this way and if people said they couldnt do shifts they would get laughed at. When i asked how permanent the changes would be so that i could at least try and make arrangements and do some of what she had asked she refused to say and skirted around my questions. She also requested that i put in writing to HR why i could not do one shift in particular (son has swimming lessons, booked up and paid for till after christmas, i have no one else who can take him and they were booked on a day i previously did not work) despite other staff members having college commitments and other commitments with their children and never having to do this.

Basically, while i am willing to be flexible and always have been, most of these shifts i cannot do at all, some i could do but risk changimg all my childcare etc for her to swap everything again in a month or two. I have felt for a while jow that she is trying to make things awkward for me and push me out (she did this two at least two other staff though i have no proof) she is dismissive with me and makes me feel pressured when i try to discuss things with her and i feel it's unfair to accommodate the new staff member's needs without finding any middle ground for me, i feel that if the new staff member couldn't do the required shifts then she shouldnt have been given the job- especially as there were plenty of applicants.

In general my work is good, and i have a good relationship with other staff and supervisors, i even have a generally placid relationship with the manager both in and out of work so i dont underatand why she is targeting me.

sorry for this being so long winded, just wanted to give info so as not to drip feed later. i have contacted my union rep and waiting to get a telephone appointment with him. as yet i cannot findy copy of my contract but i have written all incidents amd details down so that they are clear in my head. i dont want to leave my job as there is nothing else in my area, so i have no intention of going down constructive dismissal route etc. i just want this to be dealt with fairly and professionally and my manager isnt doing that at all.

thanks if you have read it all hope it makes sense.

What does it say in your contract about how much notice they have to give you if they plan on changing your shifts? Have no-one elses hours changed? Sounds like your definitely being treated unfairly. If this new starter can't do the hours needed by the company thus forcing them to change yours then they should take someone else on. Seems a strange way of working.
Hope you don't have to wait long for your union rep to get back to you and you get it sorted.

hi owl. as yet i can't findy contract, but going to request a copy via. HR i think so i can check up. The Staff Handbook says three weeks though so i cannot see the contract being different.

i wasn't given three weeks notice for this shift change and honestly can't see how it is realistic to expect someone to change all their arrangements every four weeks, especially if one makes long term commitments. it doesn't change as often as that but she basically said she could and would. i have never worked anywhere else so i must be honest i am unsure of how these things work elsewhere.

thanks for your reply, hopefully my rep. will be able to shed more light on how things should be run. my child is under five so i know i should be entitled to work flexibly, or is that a myth?

and from what i can tell no-one elses basic shifts have changed, she has me and some others on for extra shifts which is ok as i am usually happy to make allowances for this and help out but i am the only one who has been taken out of my regular shifts.

When your shifts have been changed before at short notice, has it been a one off each time, reverting back to your regular basic shifts? Where I'm going with this is establishing whether your regular basic shifts could be argued as being contractual, therefore giving them to someone else on what sounds like a pretty permanent basis is a breach of contract.

You are not entitled to work flexibly no. You are entitled to request it, which can include fixed shifts, but they can say no if they can justify it with business reasons.

You need your contract ASAP, plus also if you can answer my question to establish whether your basic shifts are contractual, then as your manager is not responding to your queries/concerns, you need to think about a grievance.

Still digging for the contract- i moved house last year and no idea where i put it .I do know that my contract didn't detail any specific shifts- just how many hours i do, so they are subject to change but this is constant change and this time the only reason there has been a change is to allow somebody else to have my shifts so they can work around their other job and their childcare arrangements, i don't see how she can say this is ok for one person and not another.

my rep has advised to wait till boss is back from holiday, discuss it with her again and if there is no change he will help me with taking it further. he has advised that i am not out of order in my expectations and the way i was spoken to/ignored wasn't appropriate so i at least know i have his support. i suppose i just have to wait until she is back and take it from there now.