Part time worker rota'd to work on call on days I don't work!!! Where do I stand??

jane1010

Hi All,

Just wondered if anyone has experience of this.

I work part time in the NHS. Days worked are wednes, thurs, fri.

We are also contracted to participate in our on call out of hours service, ensuring department is open on skeleton staff 24hrs, 7 days a week.

As I understood it as part time worker, I would be expected to work on call wednes thur and fri as well as over the weekend.

I did not expect to be rota'd (frequently!!!) on the days I am not in work, mon, and tues.

I have a son undergoing treatment and with some special needs, which is why I am now part time! Ensuring I am able to attend his many apts!!!

Any advice on where I stand is welcome

Thanks

SarEl

There are two aspects here. In terms of the rota, the days on which you can, or cannot, be rota'd on duty are entirely a contractual matter. It may be in your written terms or it may be policy. But techinically, unless the contract says otherwise, they are not doing anything wrong.

However, you may be able to ask for reasonable adjustments if the reason for your inability to work these is due to being a primary carer for a child with a disability / child with medical problems. The Disability Discrimination Act extends to reasonable adjustments for a primary carer. But this is a request not a right, and whether such agjustments can be made should be subject to "business needs" which may make it impossible if the flexibility cannot be stretched.

I think your best bet would be to talk to your employer. If you have tried to talk this through with your manager and got nowhere, an informal chat with HR may provide options for you.

laurz121

Out of interest why would you expect to have to work weekends but not mondays and tuesdays if they are all days you don't normally work? That to me hints at something you've seen in your contract maybe?

LittleVoice

jane1010 wrote: »

Hi All,

Just wondered if anyone has experience of this.

I work part time in the NHS. Days worked are wednes, thurs, fri.

We are also contracted to participate in our on call out of hours service, ensuring department is open on skeleton staff 24hrs, 7 days a week.

As I understood it as part time worker, I would be expected to work on call wednes thur and fri as well as over the weekend.

I did not expect to be rota'd (frequently!!!) on the days I am not in work, mon, and tues.

I have a son undergoing treatment and with some special needs, which is why I am now part time! Ensuring I am able to attend his many apts!!!

Any advice on where I stand is welcome

Thanks

I would not think it right that you should be rota'd to be on call on the same day as you are already working. If you were called out on a day you were already working, that could be a long day indeed.

If it is the out of hours service that the on call rota is looking to cover, then I don't suppose it will be at a time when your son would be attending his appointments.

Maybe the person organising the rota actually thought they were helping you by avoiding weekends when they could to give you a decent amount of time not working and not on call. If it doesn't suit and you would prefer to be on call at the weekend, then let them know that you are happy to do that. (I would also guess that some other of your colleagues would be happy to have the weekend free from work/on call responsibilities.)

slummymummyof3

Do you belong to a union? I would check it out with them as it probably has something to do with a working contract in practice not just what is written in black and white.

jane1010

Hi Guys thankyou for responses!
We are under contract to participate on call rota, this includes weekends and wknights. I always assumed that wkends would continue as normal as that is the same for all of us, part time or full time.

I honestly didn't think I would be rota'd on the mon and tues I don't work, at least not the majority of the on calls anyways.

Because we work from home if we are called between 11 and 2 we come into work the next day late to allow for compensatory rest. If called after 2am we have the day off following working time directives.

My on calls this month, for example, have been tues, fri, mon, fri, mon so far.

From a managers point of view there is only one day where they will loose a staff member (following the tues). I have a sneaky suspicion this is why they are doing it.

I have sent email to my union, will wait and see what they say, have tried to read contract but it just states "participation in on call system compulsory."

Sorry if this is hard to follow, have just got in from another nightmare on call!!!
Thanks again