Given too many hours

[Sarah3587]

I’ve just started a job in a pub. To give you an idea of my situation..I’m a mum of 3 and my youngest has disabilities.
technically I’m not contracted to any set hours.
we have an app and every 2 weeks our shifts are displayed. This week I’ve done every night 6pm till gone midnight. I’m exhausted the next day as it’s very physically and mentally demanding.
everything is slipping at home. Housework, my daughters care needs etc.
how do I go about asking my boss for fewer hours? I don’t want to ruin our relationship at work. But I need to put my family first.
mum also being made to work most weekends which mean I don’t really get to see my children at all and my 16 yr old who is in the middle of her exams is having to cook and care for her 2 younger sisters whilst their dad is also at work 6 days a week.

If you're on a 0 hours contract, surely you just tell them that you can't do as many as they are arranging?

@LightandMomentary i know they can’t fire me for asking for less but I’m worried it will be awkward to ask as I came across so flexible in the interview

Just tell them you won't be available to do so many hours going forward. Before you say this think about what would suit you and tell them clearly that you can commits to, say three/four shifts a week but no more. Are there also daytime shifts that you can ask for? My DD used to work in a pub and found the daytime shifts much easier to deal with than the late night ones.

It might well be awkward - it depends if you told them that every evening shifts were fine? Decide in advance what you can do as a maximum as then you both know where you stand.

Yes they can fire you for asking for less. Or for almost any other reason that they think of. But if you are on a zero hours contract they don't have to fire you - they simply don't offer you any hours.

I do sympathise - you have obviously ended up overcommitted in work and in your personal life. But to be fair, employers employ people to work - your issues with home and childcare etc aren't their business, and if you told them at interview that you were flexible, you can't blame them for taking you at your word.

I would suggest that you think carefully about your approach here. What hours do you think you can offer? You need to be honest with them about this, not promising flexibility that you can't actually offer. Because the only reason you are working those hours is because they need someone at work at those times. If not you, someone else. And if they decide that trying to fit their work around your homelife is too complicated or doesn't meet their needs, they will go and find someone who does.

I did say I was flexible however I said that I needed 12 hours and anything else was a bonus. I said that a split shift during the week was better then several shifts over the week. I said that I was not available Sundays, and that I could do the occasional Saturday. She said that she has staff to cover Saturdays but if i could do the occasional one to allow them an evening off that would be great.
so far I’ve been given most evenings 6pm-12:30am which includes every Saturday.
I have 3 children and my youngest is disabled.
she has to leave via transport for school at 7am every morning and isn’t back till 4:30pm. With working so late every night, I’m exhausted having to get up at 5:30am the next day and only have a Sunday off with my children where I don’t have to prepare myself for work.
so although I said I was flexible. I meant I was flexible during the week with the 12 hours and would be willing to do an extra shift here and there to help out.
none of this is in writing and it’s likely she wasn’t taking it in. So I need to speak to her again and go over what I’ve already said.

so although I said I was flexible. I meant I was flexible during the week with the 12 hours and would be willing to do an extra shift here and there to help out.
none of this is in writing and it’s likely she wasn’t taking it in. So I need to speak to her again and go over what I’ve already said.

Agree you need to speak to her as she's heard 'I'm flexible' and that's it.

I would just be honest and say these are the hours I can do, how does that work for you? Try to be as flexible with those hours as possible.

Can you nap during the day when kids are at school? If they're away by 9am, you could nap until lunch time, catch up on housework before they finish and then be ready for work at 6.

so although I said I was flexible. I meant I was flexible during the week with the 12 hours and would be willing to do an extra shift here and there to help out.
none of this is in writing and it’s likely she wasn’t taking it in. So I need to speak to her again and go over what I’ve already said.

I understand but you need to be clear with her about what you mean, and you must understand that if that doesn't suit her then she can replace you. In the end she wants the job doing, and the job that she has, not the one that you would prefer. If you don't suit her requirements she will find someone who does. That isn't me being unsympathetic. It is me being realistic. Zero hours contracts are designed, amongst other things, to suit employers who want what they want when they want it, without any ties. Even the best of employers doesn't, in the final analysis, care all that much about your personal life and commitments. It is all about the job.