Shop assistant who has to do cleaning!!

gadjah543

Hi Rose
Is your daughter actually contracted for specific days ? If she is and her 4 hours is at the weekend then I would think that the Manager is well within her rights to question the amount of unpaid leave.

It seems like the manager has only been there a few months and within that time has had to cover sickness/unpaid absence through too much snow/skiing trip and 2 weeks unpaid leave all throughout the last 3/4 months.Certainly one of the things I would be looking at is what % of time has she been absent overall and then compare this with other employees.This is good management practice for absence monitoring.

My concern would be the no. of times she has been absent not what those reasons were.

Whilst I do symathise with your daughter I can also see things from a managers point of view and the extra work involved for her in organising staff cover .

LittleCharlie

rose28454 wrote: »

Also she is off to Switzerland to stay with my sister for a few day's skiing Friday ( my sister's treat) so she can get away from the problem.

I think your daughter needs to seriously prioritise her working life. She wants leave to do this internship scheme, and you're moaning that the shop manager won't let her take it unpaid, yet she's having a weekend off to go skiing? So really, she could sacrifice the ski trip and use that holiday for her internship?

I think your daughter doesn't know how lucky she is! I'd love to be able to go and do an internship in my chosen industry, in fact it would be the only way to get good work experience, yet I can't because I have to work full time! Oh, and I'm also doing a part time degree on the side with no student support! Yes, it sucks, but that's why you get a full time job to pay for it.

adouglasmhor

gadjah543 wrote: »

s far as the uniform goes,if she got it free she would be taxed on it so that is why she has to pay a percentage.

As a shop manager myself I would be very wary of promoting someone who suffers from nerves as they are often the ones left dealing with difficult customers or staff if the manager is absent.

The cleaning should definetly be fairly divide among the staff and that is a fair enough point for your daughter to raise but it should be her.At the end of the day if she is mature enough to take a job and ask for promotion then she needs to show she has the courage to fight her own battles.

Hope this doesn't sound too harsh but just wanted to put across the views that an employer might have.

But for heavier cleaning jobs protective overalls and PPE are a legal requirement and are to be suplied untaxed. As a manager you know that of course.

gadjah543

I was of course referring to the clothes the employee purchases at a discount to wear in the shop which come from stock as was explained by the OP.As this does not have a company logo and could be worn outside it would be taxable.I made no mention of heavy duty protective overalls as this was not part of her uniform for work provided by the company.

adouglasmhor

But part of this thread has been about her having to clean heavily soiled areas, in the clothes she has contributed to.

Js_Other_Half

Rose, I'd suggest removing the name of the store your DD is going to work for (post 41) - someone may be able to identify her.

rose28454

LittleCharlie wrote: »

I think your daughter needs to seriously prioritise her working life. She wants leave to do this internship scheme, and you're moaning that the shop manager won't let her take it unpaid, yet she's having a weekend off to go skiing? So really, she could sacrifice the ski trip and use that holiday for her internship?

I think your daughter doesn't know how lucky she is! I'd love to be able to go and do an internship in my chosen industry, in fact it would be the only way to get good work experience, yet I can't because I have to work full time! Oh, and I'm also doing a part time degree on the side with no student support! Yes, it sucks, but that's why you get a full time job to pay for it.

I think you misunderstood what I said. I never said her boss would not give her unpaid leave over that month. She is working the weekend before she foes and is coming back each weekend to work one or 2 days except one where she is taking 4 hours leave. She is contracted to work 4 hours per week but not any particular days. She will have worked 3 times before she goes away on Friday and will be back in time to work 3 days next week before she leaves for London on the Sunday. Whatever days she does nt work at the weekends while away she will be working for my sister's catering company to earn extra money. SHe does know how lucky she is to be asked back for the 2nd time to do this internship and has been frantically selling her old books and clothes n E-Bay to raise money. SHe is doing an online degree which is full time hours with minimal part time funding. She does not even get enough to pay the fees and has had to find an extra £2000 this year. On top of that she has severe dyslexia and so struggles with her uni work. I am not able to help her financially as I am in severe Debt due to personal family problems either.
So the only problem she really has is with the constant cleaning. Yes she had 3 days off for the snow but she was not paid ( which she agreed with ) and she was not the only one to be off at that time.

GT60

Do NOt let her resign let them sack her and then go for
Constructive dismissal
And get acas involed too

gadjah543

ceridwen wrote: »

. Particularly considering she had to pay 30% of the cost of them - a fact that is rather cheeky on her employers part in the first place. The clothes should have been provided for free - since she has no option but to wear their clothes. I recall a friend of mine years ago had a job as the manageress of a clothes shop. She was told she had to wear their clothes on duty - but she was given several free outfits per season of her choice to enable her to do so at no cost to herself.

The reason I mentioned tax was because another poster said she felt it was cheeky for the employee to be charged when in fact it is now the correct procedure for this.Several years ago her friend might have been given free clothes but that is not the case now. I totally take on board that this has nothing to do with the cleaning aspect and should have perhaps clarified which post i was writing about.

milkybars

Could her uni work be part of the reason she didn't get a supervisory job? Maybe they believe that once she's got get degree she'll be leaving to pursue her chosen career. Maybe they're seeking someone that they believe might stay for the long-term. This may also not be their doing... for example this criteria for a permanent long-term position may have come from head-office. Particularly, if as you say, they've been through a few different managers/supervisors recently. Thus anyone involved in selecting someone for a supervisor role and knowing she's doing a degree may not be allowed to consider her application.