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Original poster

Calm me down about work issue please.

91 replies

Geckos48 · 26/12/2013 12:05

We have a new senior at our work, we'll call her A. I never have this trouble with the other one.

Two weekends ago I was doing some extra calls on Saturday morning because they had nobody in to cover, I was promised by my boss (B) that I would finish at 11am, which was clear from my rota, I get a call from A as I am heading to my last call;

'When you've finished you will go to '

No please or thank you, nothing. I was in front of a client so just said 'okay speak to you in a bit', when I called her afterwards I said 'is there anyone else who can do it? I'm supposed to be off now'. She said no, a girl had gone sick. Again no please or thank you.

Last night was a cock up and I ended up going to a call twice because the office messed me calls around, I ended up out until 9.30 when I was rota'd in til 9, not great on Christmas night. It wasn't A's fault but she could have gone and done the call much earlier and saved me staying up later than anyone else at work.

Today I had my first call at 7am but a gap between 8 and 9 so I checked with my client who I am good friends with and he said I could come between 7.30 and 8am instead ( the call is for an hour) after fannying about with the car being frosty I finally managed to get to his at 7.50 leaving plenty of time to do the call, I get a call from A

'After your call you need to go to ...' I said 'sorry I can't, have just arrived at first call and can't do it'. 'that doesn't matter, I need you here' she starts shouting at me and I hang up (eventually) looked at my phone ten minutes later and had a missed call, so I phone her

'Yeah don't worry about it, I've had to go and do it, I should have finished by now but because or you I have to go to another call'

Now this woman has no kids, gets paid a healthy premium for being on call and it is her responsibility to cover not me.

I sent her a message saying that I am only available for the calls I have agreed, that I will be speaking to the office tomorrow and that I don't wish to be treated like a skivvy.

She phoned me and I said 'is this about the calls I have this morning' and she said 'no I am trying to be nice Gecko' I said I didn't want to talk to her about it and hung up. The thing is she gave the impression that I was in some sort of trouble and by making a report about her I would be shooting myself in the foot and I am worried about it. I am always going out for extra calls, working as hard as I can and often working on my weekends off. I am now worried about tomorrow :(

OP posts:
lougle · 28/12/2013 09:02

I don't think you're getting the idea of the senior's role, here. She might not be your manager, but at that point of time she is in charge.

Admitting that you were wrong in an email to your manager still doesn't change the fact that you feel (as evidenced by this thread) perfectly entitled to do so because you made a private arrangement with a friend!

The on call role it's no do the calls, it's to arrange their fulfillment. If there was no one to do it, she would have to do it, but then she's not available to take any other calls, which is her role.

lougle · 28/12/2013 09:07

You sound like a nightmare to work with,tbh.

Original poster
Geckos48 · 28/12/2013 09:07

Her comment to me and I quote was

'I've had to go out and do it, I should be finished now but because of you I have to go and do another call.

You seem to be misunderstanding my role. My role is to fulfil the calls that are given to me, not to immediately put down every aspect of my private life in order to cover staff. I do often do this but it is my preogrative to do that, not somebody else's to decide for me.

She was rude and unnecessary to me, there was no way I could have fulfilled the call she asked me to do as I explained to her. She was able to go to the call so upon hearing that I couldn't do it, she should just have gone to do it, not been aggressive and nasty to me while I was on my way into a call!

OP posts:
clam · 28/12/2013 09:45

Well it seems a pretty chaotic way to run the system then. If carers can select which jobs they will do, then I'm not surprised it's difficult to get cover for certain calls. It might also explain why A was a bit sharp on the phone.

lljkk · 28/12/2013 10:32

I think it's exactly how the care system generally runs, very ad hoc, low paid staff working insecure contracts. Explains a lot about the "crisis in care", doesn't it?

Original poster
Geckos48 · 28/12/2013 10:57

At the end of the day, if they want me to take any call at any moment then they can give me a reasonable contract to do so.

Hopefully we will soon see the end of ridiculous zero hour contracts and the affect they have on both the employer and the staff.

OP posts:
tribpot · 28/12/2013 11:00

It does seem a staggeringly chaotic and demoralising system.

lougle · 28/12/2013 11:12

There was only no way you could fulfil the call because you went beyond your authority and unilaterally changed the time of your shift. It was perfectly reasonable of her to see your rota, see that you had two calls booked with a period in between free and ask you to add that one in. When she called you and you said 'oh matey said it was ok to come late' she was rightly put out.

clam · 28/12/2013 11:15

So how does it work at the moment, then? I'm not quite sure why, if you were rostered to work on Boxing Day, it wasn't reasonable for A to ask you to do another call (leaving aside the manner in which she spoke). At what point are your jobs agreed and settled upon in advance? And is there not some degree of flexibility allowed for?
Did you volunteer to work on a Bank Holiday, or was it ordained from on high? If you're paid per call, would it not have been quite useful to have the extra money?
(lot of questions there, sorry)

lougle · 28/12/2013 11:28

It will make a bit of a difference, I agree, Clam.

If you were rostered as 'available' on Boxing Day, then they are quite reasonable to ask you to go to extra calls as they come in.

If you were asked to do two specific calls on Boxing Day, and agreed to those two calls, then it was unreasonable to assume you could go to another call, but not unreasonable to ask.

LCHammer · 28/12/2013 13:29

I agree with Lougle. Tone aside - which, incidentally, will be difficult to convey - the request was reasonable. You had 'spare' time, you were going to get extra pay. Sounds sensible you'd be first called on. You said 'no' so A went for the next option and, professionally (and no less than one would expect), did the call herself. At any other time of the year you'd have probably wanted the extra call and money fitting so neatly into your schedule.

BTW I don't mean to sound harsh with the above because I think zero hours contracts are horrible and I know carers do a good job which isn't paid enough. I'm just saying it sounds more like personality clash than poor management. Good luck. I wish you well.

Original poster
Geckos48 · 28/12/2013 13:37

Yes I had spare time, I have no issue with her phoning to ask me to to take another call (how many times have I had to type that?) The issue is with her behaviour after that. When I said that I couldn't do an extra call she berated me. She had no right to do that.

I moved my earliest call by half an hour on Boxing Day, that is not a huge offence, regardless, I explained the situation to her, that I was just about to walk into a call and that I couldn't possibly take an extra call. I was then shouted at (whilst walking into a clients home) and treated terribly.

The issue is not that she asked me to do the call but how she behaved after that.

OP posts:
Original poster
Geckos48 · 28/12/2013 13:39

I am not rostered in to work Thursday mornings, I only have availability alternate weekend mornings as the rest of the time I am with the kids while husband works.

So yes, I was doing them a favour by being available on Boxing day (and Christmas night)

Its simply, if and when I can help out I ALWAYS do, every single time, if they want that to continue then they had better start asking politely for me to take calls rather than just barking them at me. That is really the only thing I want from this situation.

OP posts:
lougle · 28/12/2013 13:54

" When I said that I couldn't do an extra call she berated me. She had no right to do that.

I moved my earliest call by half an hour on Boxing Day, that is not a huge offence, regardless, I explained the situation to her,"

You really can't see the 'situation' can you?

-You agreed to be available on Boxing Day
-You had a call rostered from 7am until 8am.
-You decided without permission or informing your seniors that you would move the call to 7.30-8.00 until 8.30-9.00.
-Your senior called to say that she had another call that needed doing, so could you go onto it after the first call.
-You said 'no, I can't because I didn't do what I was meant to do and instead decided I'd go to it late.

Now, you think she was being unreasonable for being cross that your deviance from the schedule meant that she had to go and do a call.

You were in the wrong to change the time, you were in the wrong not to ask the office if that was ok, you were in the wrong not to inform the office ahead of time (so that they could say 'no, actually, it's rostered for 7am please go then).

It isn't fair to agree to be available on Boxing Day and then arrange things so that you are unavailable when needed. It just isn't.

RandomMess · 28/12/2013 13:56

My understanding is that you agree to take on so many calls in advance some of which are on your rostered day, some not (which are then a favour to them). Any time you are phoned and asked to take on extra calls on a non-rostered day it is totally up to you whether you accept or not.

So you were doing them a few calls arranged in advance on a non-rostered day. You turned it down (as was your right, you weren't rostered to be working), she got arsey even though she was the one rostered to be working and had the time and ability to do the call.

Not surprised you were cross and feel like your flexibility is being abused.

lougle · 28/12/2013 13:58

Once someone says 'yes I can work on X day' they are rostered. It would be different if the OP had said 'Im not available on Boxing Day but I could do these two calls as they are local to me, only....'

tribpot · 28/12/2013 13:59

Yes, this is my understanding too, RandomMess. OP was free to say no to the call, and would have said no regardless of the circumstance that meant she was late attending the previous call.

RandomMess · 28/12/2013 14:05

Yes tribot, she would have had said no anyway because she wasn't on the roster, her senior was!

clam · 28/12/2013 14:06

Well, I suppose it's then worth considering how badly you want or need the job. And even if you're not that fussed about it, be aware that some of these people, or rather your working relationships with them, might have a hand in any reference you need in the future.

Tigglette · 28/12/2013 14:09

My experience of doing this type of scheduling is that it's a complete juggle trying to keep things ticking over. She had your schedule and saw you had, in theory, a gap. She didnt know you'd rearranged a call because you didn't tell her and so she thought you had a reasonable space to potentially pick up something else. How do you know she had time to do the call, she could have been thinking, good X has possibly got space to do this call leaving me free for Y which I think is going to need covered later on. You don't have the full picture of what needed covered or what else she had on during the day. It sounds like it was her first "on-call" too, which means she may have been somewhat out of her comfort zone and possibly somewhat stressed.

She shouldn't have spoken to you harshly but I would have taken 10 mins to catch up with her and clear the air before sending an email to my manager. You sound like a bit of a nightmare to work with to be honest.

Original poster
Geckos48 · 28/12/2013 14:09

Yes I would have said no because I would have gone home to have breakfast with my family.

My biggest issue is that I am being phoned and spoken to in a way I don't really think is acceptable. The senior is paid a rate for each day she is on, if an extra call comes in and she can take it then she can take it!

I get phoned maybe four or five times a week and asked if I will take on extra calls, often I say yes to them, I will be less inclined to say yes to them in future.

OP posts:
MerylStrop · 28/12/2013 14:13

It's not a favour. It's work. For money.

Op has every right to be spoken to politely. But otherwise I agree with Lougle.

RandomMess · 28/12/2013 14:14

The senior let it slip that she was available to do the call, she just didn't want to, she wanted to go home instead DESPITE receiving money for being on call/rostered to work.

MerylStrop · 28/12/2013 14:20

If you are discussing this with your manager op I would leave out all of the stuff about A being childless, being paid more, the extra call being "her job" etc (makes you appear unreasonable and your complaint personal) and focus simply on how you wish to be spoken to. Politely and with respect as a colleague.

And that you would like the working hours you've agreed to be acknowledged but that you appreciate that flexibility works both ways.

Tigglette · 28/12/2013 14:26

No, she said she had done it, it doesn't mean she had nothing else to attend to, just that she prioritised the call over anything else - including going home. The OP has no knowledge of what else the senior had already been doing or what might crop up on call later on that might need her attention. It was perfectly reasonable to ask the OP to do the call, as her rota indicated she might have time, it was fine for the OP not to be able to do the call and she shouldn't have been spoken to harshly but beyond that I'm not sure that anyone was "treated terribly". It just sounds like the Senior was stressed and new in role and reacted badly.