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[Cantthinkofanoriginalname1]

My son recently got his first job working for a pub/restaurant. He is dependant on buses to get him to and from work and due to the rural area we live in the buses are very restricted. He explained this in his interview and stated that he wouldn't be able to do late evenings and Sundays as there are no buses then. He was told this was absolutely fine. He hasn't had any problems although he is still training and has helped out by coming in on a day off when they were short-staffed.
However when he received his shifts for this week he had been put down to work on Sunday. He e-mailed back , explaining that he can't do Sundays and that the manager was aware of this. The rota person replied that he had spoken to the manager and she knew nothing about this. My son then spoke to the manager herself today and she said she was unaware of him being unable to work Sundays and he would just have to do it. She said she was aware of him not being able to do evenings but my son is adamant he explained it was weekday evenings and Sundays that he couldn't do in the interview with her. He said it was difficult trying to have a conversation as they were busy so I've suggested e-mailing her tonight. He cannot get into the town which is 30 miles away on a Sunday , paying for a taxi would be more than his days wages. He knows he quite clearly explained the bus issue and was told it wasn't a problem but now they're saying it's his problem and he needs to work Sundays regardless.
Can anyone please advise how to construct an email to rectify this situation? Thank you

Dear x

As explained at interview I am unable to work weekday evenings and sundays due to lack of public transport. Please can you reorganise my shifts and let me know when you need me this week.

Thanks

*am surprised at a pub that didn’t need him Sunday’s tho

Thank you Cancer
This a pub/restaurant that is open early hours of the morning til late at night 7 days a week so they need plenty of staff. From what my son says there are a lot of students who work the weekends. I am aware that the restrictions of times he can work could make things difficult and specifically asked him after the interview what they had said about it and he said the manager had said that it was fine but it seems now she's denying all knowledge of it. I don't want the email to antagonise her as it took my son long enough to get this job but they are being unfair as they were aware of the bus situation when they offered him a job.

He cannot get into the town which is 30 miles away on a Sunday , paying for a taxi would be more than his days wages

An obvious point and sorry to sound harsh, but doing casual (zero hours?) work in a pub/restaurant with no public transport and 30 miles away isn't the best idea. Not suggesting that your DS shouldn't email, but it isn't their problem in reality, he chose to work there. Can he look for something closer now he has some work history?

To be honest, I’m wondering just how clear he was at interview. I doubt the manager would deliberately do this, she can fire him if she chooses, so she really doesn’t need to pretend she didn’t know.

Obviously day time work only in a pub restaurant isn’t ideal really they will need more flexible staff and will have plenty of willing folks. He probably needs to rethink the kind of work he does.

I’d phrase it differently so as not to antagonise, I’d say

Dear x

Many thanks for your offer of a shift on Sunday, and I’m sorry if I was not clear at interview , but due to lack of public transport I am unable to work Sundays or evenings. Please can I ask you to rearrange the rota, apologies for any hassle, if I could get there I would, however it is simply not feasible.

Thanks

Name.

Is there no one who can take him / pick him up for the Sunday shift? I doubt an email will sort it as the manager is adamant he needs to do it, so maybe he forgot to mention Sunday's when he thought he did? Wouldn't make sense for her to lie.

Sadly all the power lies with the manager. She can fire him and say he cannot work when we need him. Very sad really as he has shown commitment to wanting to work which is lacking in many of the youngsters.

I would go for the second option and try to appeal to the better nature of the manager.

To be honest, I am surprised they employed him in a role with potentially unsociable opening hours when he told them he could not work late evenings or Sundays - presumably two of the busiest times for the pub/restaurant. Does he have a contract and what does it say? I'm afraid as a new member of staff still in probation period he will be seen as being unable to meet the needs of the business so I don't think any email is going to "rectify the situation" and he will either have to work the hours (which sounds as if it is impossible for him to do) or he will need to find another job - easier said than done I know. In a busy restaurant employing lots of students, they will have a high turnover of staff and they are very unlikely to want to make exceptions for one member of staff who can quite easily be replaced by someone who doesn't have the same restrictions on working hours.

Yes what unfortunate said. He needs to decide whether the job is worth the hassle if it’s 30 miles away. They’ll expect him to take a taxi - even if it is more than his wages.

Well I'm glad this wasn't in AIBU as you've all decided I am!
Firstly , obviously this isn't ideal. What would have been ideal ,after all the time and effort he put into his education and gained his academic qualifications , would have been to walk straight into a job , in his field , local to where we live BUT despite all his efforts this hasn't happened. So rather than just sit there and claim JSA he gradually widened his search until ( sadly for him ) he was reduced to applying for any job that he could get to.
Secondly , the job was advertised with "flexible shifts". There are plenty of students there , both College and University , who presumably would struggle being able to do week days due to lessons but could do evenings and weekends. My son is available from 7am to 8pm 6 days out of 7 which he told them at the interview and was told this wasn't a problem and it hasn't been until this week.
In the short time he has been there he has helped them out 3 times at short notice, going in on his days off or starting/staying later than his shift was supposed to due to other members of staff letting them down. As an employer I would have thought this would have been seen as an asset in a member of staff and someone you would want to keep.
Luckily we sent an e-mail and ,after a couple of days of no communication and the manager not being on the same shifts as my son, they have allowed him to work today ( which was his day off this week ) instead of Sunday.
Thank you for your replies

Oh result.

Yeah I think ‘flexible shifts’ often means to suit the employer. (Really not saying it’s a good thing - just that employers expect a pound of flesh for not much financial reward!). Glad he’s got it sorted and hope he gets something that suits him more soon.

Good to see they have seen sense and switched his days. Its easy to say work closer to home or move closer to work but life isn't always like that.

You are not being unreasonable, its just the employment law, particularly flexible working, is drafted in favour of the employer.