work not letting me drop a shift so i can look after new baby

CornishWildFlower

From direct.gov

How much time you are allowed to take off
You are allowed 'reasonable' time off to deal with the emergency and make any arrangements that are needed. There's no set amount of time allowed to deal with an unexpected event involving a dependant - it will vary depending on what the event is but for most cases one or two days should be sufficient to deal with the problem.
For example, if your child falls ill you can take enough time off to deal with their initial needs, such as taking them to the doctor and arranging for their care. However, you will need to make other arrangements if you want to stay off work longer to care for them yourself.
If both parents wish to take time off for a dependant you should try to adopt a common-sense approach with your employer. Both parents may need to take time off work if your child has had a serious accident, however it is unlikely to be necessary if the childminder fails to turn up.
There's no limit to the number of times you can take time off for dependants, provided it's for real emergencies. If your employer feels that you are taking more time off than they can cope with, they should warn you of this.
If you need to be off for longer than you thought to deal with something, contact your employer as soon as you can to let them know why and how long you might need. Try to give them these details in writing as soon as you can. Your employer may have a form they will need you to fill in.

joannaspanner

welcome back Butterflymind, missed ya !

mildred1978

CornishWildFlower wrote: »

From direct.gov

How much time you are allowed to take off
You are allowed 'reasonable' time off to deal with the emergency and make any arrangements that are needed. There's no set amount of time allowed to deal with an unexpected event involving a dependant - it will vary depending on what the event is but for most cases one or two days should be sufficient to deal with the problem.
For example, if your child falls ill you can take enough time off to deal with their initial needs, such as taking them to the doctor and arranging for their care. However, you will need to make other arrangements if you want to stay off work longer to care for them yourself.
If both parents wish to take time off for a dependant you should try to adopt a common-sense approach with your employer. Both parents may need to take time off work if your child has had a serious accident, however it is unlikely to be necessary if the childminder fails to turn up.
There's no limit to the number of times you can take time off for dependants, provided it's for real emergencies. If your employer feels that you are taking more time off than they can cope with, they should warn you of this.
If you need to be off for longer than you thought to deal with something, contact your employer as soon as you can to let them know why and how long you might need. Try to give them these details in writing as soon as you can. Your employer may have a form they will need you to fill in.

That's emergency leave, not parental. And it's not an emergency if you know about it 2 weeks in advance, or if it's going to happen every week!

CornishWildFlower

As far as I'm aware, the issue was for one particular night, so parental leave is using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

Reasonable time off is allowed, even if you know about it two weeks in advance, as certainly Barclays found to their cost, if memory serves correctly. You can know that you won't have anybody to childmind on a particular night and be unable (for whatever reason) to find an alternative.

Pollycat

missdisney666 wrote: »

All my friends say they should accomodate me not refuse me not sure what to think or do anymore.

Unfortunately, it doesn't matter what your friends think your employer should do.
It's about what employment law says they must do.
And they are not forced to accede to your request to drop your Saturday night shift.

Given that your partner also works at the same place and also works Saturday, one would maybe think that they'd understand your position but the fact remains that if they are unable to cover your shift (and I agree with the posters saying you are being unreasonable expecting workmates to swop with you) they are unlikely to agree.

I can't quite get my head round the bit in bold.

missdisney666 wrote: »

Thanks for this advice i will think about this however me and my partner wouldnt be too comfy leaving him with a stranger wether registered or not, and also cant really afford it. I will fill in the form and give it to my work hopefully theyll understand and let me swap it, either way wether they let me or not i wont be doing that shift.

You say you need to drop a shift (i.e. to me that doesn't mean swap a shift) so you are talking about losing a day's pay each week.

missdisney666 wrote: »

im due back at work in a couple of weeks after being on maternity, ive informed my employers that i need to drop a shift because i need to watch my son that night because cant get babysitters as family members are working next morning etc,

What's wrong with trying to find a good babysitter for Saturday nights, you continue doing your shift and pay part of the money you earn to the babysitter?

Pollycat

CornishWildFlower wrote: »

As far as I'm aware, the issue was for one particular night, so parental leave is using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

Reasonable time off is allowed, even if you know about it two weeks in advance, as certainly Barclays found to their cost, if memory serves correctly. You can know that you won't have anybody to childmind on a particular night and be unable (for whatever reason) to find an alternative.

The way I read it is that the OP wants to change her regular working pattern and drop every saturday night, it doesn't sound like a one-off thing to me so the 'knowing about it in advance' wouldn't apply here.

samwich1979

These flexible working forms are a total joke in my workplace.

I put one in on 14th December 2011 asking to drop a shift and to date i have had no reply from my manager about this.
It is a constant battle to get what you need and you are made to feel like you are being unreasonable for needing extra time to care for your child.

I am going to have to again approach a VERY unapproachable person and ask when are they going to help or not as it may well turn out.

If the government want women to go back to work after having children instead of staying at home then they need to make sure they can have SOME flexibility to do this as childcare is expensive and not everyone can afford to pay for it.

CornishWildFlower

Pollycat wrote: »

The way I read it is that the OP wants to change her regular working pattern and drop every saturday night, it doesn't sound like a one-off thing to me so the 'knowing about it in advance' wouldn't apply here.

I don't know what the maid's situation is, any further than what she's put here. Ongoing she says she wants to drop a shift but the immediate problem seems to be this night. Perhaps her b/f works in a different dept and is more free to swap shifts etc enabling them to struggle on for a time, I don't know. What I do take from it is that, if she cannot afford a childminder then unpaid leave of x amount of weeks wouldn't appear to be a solution either.

lovinituk

missdisney666 wrote: »

its just a shame working for a horrible company who wont help and who treat their colleagues like dirt

I'm interested as to what you think your employer should do?

If no-one is willing to work your shift are they supposed to just let you have the time off anyway? Surely that will cost them? Then they need to be fair and allow all employees to do something similar. Before long... no business!!!

Dunroamin

samwich1979 wrote: »

If the government want women to go back to work after having children instead of staying at home then they need to make sure they can have SOME flexibility to do this as childcare is expensive and not everyone can afford to pay for it.

Surely paying a large percentage of childcare costs through CTC is the government's contribution to combining parenting and work?