wife,s job hassles?

ictmad

i apologise if this is in the wrong forum?

my wife works at a private nursing home,she has done for just over 2 years now,originally when she started there she did 5 days shifts were 2pm-9pm,these shifts suited us both(and the care home) as i worked in a hotel 6am to 2pm so there was always someone at home to look after our severly disabled son,recently after a year of hunting i left my job and got another job working 7.30am to 5pm,my wife approached her work on numerous occasions to try and arrange suitable shifts to work aronund my shifts and our disabled son,every idea she gave them wasnt suitable,anyway in the end she ended up donig nightshifts(shift is suppsoed to be 9pm to 8am,but she does 9pm to 6am so she,s home to be with our son as i leave for my work at 7am)when she 1st started these nightshifts she was getting between 4-6 shifts a week,and those have gradually been reduced over weeks and now its got to the stage where theres 3 weeks in jan she has no shifts at all,yet its not as if theres no work on nights as they have just employed a slovakian guy(who used to be a fireman on the qe2)a week ago and he suddenly has 6 nightshifts a week(even thoguh he has no caring experience,and my wife has 2 years at the home and just finished her level 2 vq)she also went into work last night and discovered the 3 nightshifts she had next week 2 had been tippexed out and this new guy has now go the shifts,she was also told by one of the senior managment(in front of all the staff) that it was a major inconvenince she finished at 6am instead of 8am,and the owner/manager has also said to her that the care commission wouldnt be happy knowing she,s finishing her shift 2 hrs early and that theres no-one else to cover the 2 hrs between 6am and 8am(why the new guy cant do it i dont know?) does she have any comeback or rights in the way her shifts are being cut and lack of hours? if nayone know would be appreciated any info cheers

CIS

that it was a major inconvenince she finished at 6am instead of 8am,and the owner/manager has also said to her that the care commission wouldnt be happy knowing she,s finishing her shift 2 hrs early and that theres no-one else to cover the 2 hrs between 6am and 8am

Its the owners responsibility to ensure that the staffing levels are adequate. not the staff members.

ictmad

CIS wrote:

Its the owners responsibility to ensure that the staffing levels are adequate. not the staff members.

exactlly but seems there discriminating against my wife becasue she has to finish early,its obvious the new guy or 1 of the 3 senior management can cover from 6am until 8am but they dont want to know,she gonig intoday to try and get it sorted out,so chances are she,ll be told to leave and not come back

Becles

I would imagine 6am-8am is a very busy time in a nursing home, with staff needed to help residents get up, get dressed and get their breakfast. Is this why they need as many staff as possible between those hours?

ictmad

Becles wrote:

I would imagine 6am-8am is a very busy time in a nursing home, with staff needed to help residents get up, get dressed and get their breakfast. Is this why they need as many staff as possible between those hours?

it isnt actually that busy as the majority of them get up at 5.30-6 wehen my wifes still there,but there just being picky saying she has to work the proper shift as care commision will ask questions why shes leaving,but its ok for her to work longer shifts(12 hrs and start earlier) or like today she worked from 9pm last night until 8am this morning then back in at 2pm-till 9pm its ok to give her hrs when it suits them

alwaysonthego_2

Has she got a contract with the amount of hours she is to work. It happenned to me where I was contracted to work 20 hours and my boss decided to lower my hours, to 10 a week. I contacted ACAS, who said it was breaking the contract and against the law. Told my boss, who soon upped my hours. Incedently they had to still pay me the 20 hours, when I only worked 10.

Nursing homes are nortorious for the owner to think they can treat their staff like dirt, with no regard to the law. Can your wife not find employment with another home, with her NVQ 2, she will be a good catch for another employer.

ictmad

alwaysonthego wrote:

Has she got a contract with the amount of hours she is to work. It happenned to me where I was contracted to work 20 hours and my boss decided to lower my hours, to 20 a week. I contacted ACAS, who said it was breaking the contract and against the law. Told my boss, who soon upped my hours. Incedently they had to still pay me the 20 hours, when I only worked 10.

Nursing homes are nortorious for the owner to think they can treat their staff like dirt, with no regard to the law. Can your wife not find employment with another home, with her NVQ 2, she will be a good catch for another employer.

she has a contract stating her weekly hrs is 30(is from when she did 2-9 shift 5-6 days a week,since she started night shift they havent given her a new contract)and we looked up cab website last night it did say if she was contracted to work a amount of hrs(30) and was ready and willnig to work those hrs,she had to be payed for them,so when she catches up with the owner she,s gonig to tell her that one(but could imagine owenr will start giving her weird shifts liek 10-2 in morning and 6-9 at night,which wouldnt be a hassle normally but as she stays 15 miels away from her work thats 60 miels a day petrol wouldnt be worth it,and owenr knows that)why wife has been looknig for another job but as its in a small town not much about,shes foning bna(a nursing agency)in the new year to see if she can register as a agency carer/nurse and get a guaranteed 30 hrs a week from them

alwaysonthego_2

ictmad wrote:

it isnt actually that busy as the majority of them get up at 5.30-6 wehen my wifes still there,

isn't it frowned on by care standards ,for the residents to be got up before 6.30, unless that resident is a early riser.

As an above poster said it isn't your wife's responsibility to ensure that there are adequate staffing levels. This would be the managements.

I would check to see whether their are laws to ensure your wife's employers accomodate for her to be able to care for your son. I am sure they can't discriminate her for this.

ictmad

alwaysonthego wrote:

I would check to see whether their are laws to ensure your wife's employers accomodate for her to be able to care for your son. I am sure they can't discriminate her for this.

yes we are both sure she,s being discriminated due to having to leave early to look after our son,but she,ll check that out and the being payed for 30 hrs bit with cab after the new year

Emmzi

If she could do the shifts the owner wanted would she get them? It's hard to guess, but I would reckon she simply cannot do the hours he needs. He's running a business, and if someone else can, he needs to work with that.

She can ask for 'family friendly' hours, in writing, and ask for a response if declined in writing, stating why. That would seem simplest and then you will know what is going on and not have to guess.

ictmad

Emmzi wrote:

If she could do the shifts the owner wanted would she get them? It's hard to guess, but I would reckon she simply cannot do the hours he needs. He's running a business, and if someone else can, he needs to work with that.

She can ask for 'family friendly' hours, in writing, and ask for a response if declined in writing, stating why. That would seem simplest and then you will know what is going on and not have to guess.

she suggestted suitable hrs to them when she 1st changed her shifts(fri night 9-8 sat night 9-8 and sunday 2-9) but she has never done those hrs since she started,but even if she did 3 night nightshift 9-8 the owner(a she) would only need to find someone to cover 1 2 hr shift(6am-8 am) yet she has said no-one want to work those hrs(early shift starts at 8 so could get someone on early shift in 2 hrs early)what i dont understand is why they take someone in with no caring experience and tel lhim he can have all the nights(ok maybe he can work the full shift,but its not my wifes fault she cant wrok till 8,its only during week she cant work till 8,weekends fine)whycouldnt this new guy be told he has to do 1 morning start at 6am? and tell him if he cant thewres no job for him,instead of muckniog about someone whos been there for over 2 years