sunday working

blueye

hi i have been working every other sunday for over a year now, there is nothing in my contract which states i have to work sundays, only that i have to be flexiable. can i say i dont want to work sundays anymore without giving notice? im a care worker

blueye

also i dont know if i opted in to working a sunday should i have a copy of the form?

SarEl

Sunday is just another day of the week. You don't opt in and out of working certain days of the week. And caring roles are required seven days and week and not just Monday - Friday. So Sunday is just another day at work. It doesn't count as anything special. I am not sure if this answers the question, because I am not sure that it is clear what the question is.

blueye

i was told you dont have to work sundays and can opt out of it. im just asking that as it dosent say in my contract that i have to work sundays, do i need to give notice that i am not going to work them anymore

SarEl

You cannot simply say you aren't working Sundays any more. You can only opt out of Sunday working if you have a genuine and deeply held religious belief!!! Having worked a years worth of Sundays, you can hardly claim this - and since you have been working them for a year this has become a contractual condition by virtue of custom and practice. If you simply tell them you aren't working Sundays, your employer will be well within their rights to respond with "well you aren't working any more". At this point in time refusing to work on a Sunday would be the same as refusing to work any other day of the week - it will get you sacked.

Gertie_Walker

You can only opt out of Sunday working in certain circumstances, eg betting shop work.
By working Sundays for so long, you have made it part of your contract so if you want to wothdraw from Sunday wokring, you would need to negotiate this with your employer who could rightly refuse.

blueye

right, it was a friend that works in a shop that told me i can do it and she didnt get the sack and im sure she is not religious, but it did say in her contract that she had to work sundays, so she had to give 3 months notice.
so the question for anyone who can answer it still remains, do i need to give notice that i am opting out of working sundays if it does not state in my contract that i have to work sunday.

SarEl

blueye wrote: »

right, it was a friend that works in a shop that told me i can do it and she didnt get the sack and im sure she is not religious, but it did say in her contract that she had to work sundays, so she had to give 3 months notice.
so the question for anyone who can answer it still remains, do i need to give notice that i am opting out of working sundays if it does not state in my contract that i have to work sunday.

OK - for the sake of total clarity - YOU CANNOT OPT OUT OF WORKING SUNDAYS. The right to opt out extends on to shop and betting office staff - and you are neither of those. The only other right to opt out consists of a deeply and genuinely held religious belief that you should NEVER work on Sundays - and since you have been working Sunday for a year now then you obviously do not have such a belief. It does not matter one bit what your contract says about Sunday. You have worked on Sundays for over a year and therefore it is now CUSTOM AND PRACTICE - that means that it is just as much a part of your contract as if it were written down in there that you work Sundays. If you refuse to work Sundays now, you are REFUSING TO WORK and refusing to work will get you sacked.

Duncombe

Blueye - I have to agree with Sarel. You can not simply decide you dont want to work Sundays anymore? I'm sure lots of people would like to have Mondays off...it doesn't mean they can write to their employer and inform them they won't be turning up for work anymore.

I imagine your employer would be well within their rights to terminate your employment if you refused to work.

A better approach might be contacting your employer and asking informally if you can have Sundays off.

Sambucus_Nigra

blueye wrote: »

hi i have been working every other sunday for over a year now, there is nothing in my contract which states i have to work sundays, only that i have to be flexiable. can i say i dont want to work sundays anymore without giving notice? im a care worker

You can say whatever you want; to whom you want. What you have to be mindful of is the response that you may get. One of those responses is that you may be in breach of contract if you refuse to work one day a week when your employer wants you to work it. As your contract doesn't explicitly say 'monday to friday' and does say that you have to be flexible, then surely you would be breaking contract if you do not adhere to those conditions.

And add in that you have done this for a year already, so you have formed custom and practice that the employer should rightly be able to rely on.

If you want to negotiate with your employer then negotiate. However expect the worst if you demand.

reall

If i was you i would speak to the manager/ess about reducing the number of sundays you work for eg.every fifth sunday to work or once a month to work on sundays.This is assuming there are other care workers who can work the sundays so that they do not have to train up a new staff to cover what you have been doing for the past year.See it from your manager/ess point of view if they say no at least hear their explanation and then you can both work on the issue for the satisfaction and safety of the residents/patients.
If you mentioned at the beginning that you were fine with sunday point out that you did not realise it would be for a whole year and need a break to pursue family/friends meeting for emotional and psychological support. Make enquiries to find out if others are willing to work the sunday so that when you approach manager you will know that so and so would be happy to swap with you. Depending on how many are willing it might be every 2 weeks to work a sunday.offer a trial basis to see how it works out but whatever you do make sure you turn up until it has been agreed .
hope this helps you