Employment and childcare

RubyRue

Hi all

I’m posting this on behalf of one of my friends who is having a little trouble at work with a colleague and is looking for some advice regarding childcare issues and pregnancy.

She works for a concession in a dept store and is on a rota system, 5 out of 7 days including weekends. Her colleague who is pregnant and already has a child is on the same contract. The rota is done a month in advance so everyone knows what days off/on they have, however she was wondering what sort of allowances she needs to make with regard to her colleague and the pregnancy/childcare.

The problems are that her colleague refuses to work any evenings/weekends despite being contracted to do so saying she has childcare issues or citing her pregnancy as a reason. She will also come in late/leave early or change her hours/days at very short notice for the same reasons. The owner/manager expect my friend to pick up all the hours her colleague isn’t doing, meaning she often has to work 7 days a week or very long/late days to cover the dept.

My friend is finding the situation very difficult and doesn’t get any sort of support from the manager/owner. She doesn’t have any children however she is finding it is affecting her own family life but she is worried about suggesting anything that goes against what you are supposed to do with regard to supporting pregnant colleagues, flexible working, childcare etc. I suggested to her to talk to owner/manager about the situation which she did and although they did listen nothing has improved or changed.

SandC

I think the two issues should be separate. Pregnancy related leave is always granted by law - by that I mean any appointments she might need. Childcare issues are her own business to sort out, or negotiate with the employer.

When she goes on maternity leave what will happen then?

fengirl_2

The other issue is the impact on you. You are not allowed to work 7 days in a row indefinitely under the Working Time Directive and it's your employer's responsibility to ensure that the rules are adhered to.
A parent of a young child does have the right to ask for flexible hours, but the employer does not have to grant the request if it impacts on the business.

SandC

That's right. People with children don't have automatic rights over those without so it's up to you to stand up to your boss and say no sometimes.

RubyRue

Thanks, for all the advice, I've told her that she should put her foot down and just say no and not work on her rota'd days off.

I'm not even sure if her colleague actually asks management to leave early or change her hours etc, from what I've been told all she does is puts in the diary that she has to leave at 2.30 for example because her babysitter isn't available and goes or things come up at the last minute, normally at weekends so she can't work.

She has also complained just yesterday about not being paid the hours she hasn't worked but won't come in other days or stay earlier or later to make up the time... In the words of Littlejohn... You couldn't make it up.

trevormax

This pregnant woman sounds very selfish and self centred in my opinion. If your friends manager was doing their job propperly, then they would have had a chat with the woman to let her know it is not going to continue.

Personally, if I were your friend, I would make it clear that I would not be covering this pregnant person unless it is a one off. This would kick the manager into taking some action.

Savvy_Sue

I know this was a week ago, but ...

RubyRue wrote: »

She has also complained just yesterday about not being paid the hours she hasn't worked but won't come in other days or stay earlier or later to make up the time... In the words of Littlejohn... You couldn't make it up.

AFAIK she is entitled to PAID time off for any MATERNITY related appointments, although she can be asked to produce her appointment card to show it really was a valid appointment, and that she was at work as soon as / for as long as could reasonably be expected.

Just taking time off because your childcare falls through needn't be paid for.

But your friend needs to start saying "no, it's not possible for me to cover that shift". Hopefully she IS being paid for the extra time she's working?