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

Pollycat

CornishWildFlower wrote: »

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.

I've just reread the OP's posts and the way I read it is that 'this night' appears to be Saturday - every Saturday - not just one night.

Maybe the OP can clarify whether it's a one-off or every Saturday.
If I were working and a workmate asked me to do their Saturday evening for a good reason - and I wasn't doing anything special on that night - I'd say 'yes'.
What I wouldn't do is swop one of my regular week night shifts for every Saturday night.

Maybe the OP has alienated her colleagues to such an extent that they are all unwilling to do her this one-off favour - assuming your supposition is correct.

Dunroamin

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.

But this isn't an emergency, is it?

These are the OP's normal working hours and she and her BF have had at least 9 months to make the arrangements for childcare for this shift.

If the time for this has now come very close then that's their fault.

CornishWildFlower

I suspect that she works for a major supermarket, or something similar. i work nights for one of the big 3, and my husband also works for them, similar situation really.

There is almost always room for manoeuvre, if I couldn't swap or change a shift, OH nearly always could so between us we've managed without childminders. Whilst it's not the company's favourite scenario, if neither of us could it would be marked down as authorised absence and left at that. My personal opinion is that she is panicking about leaving her baby for the first time, naturally enough.

Most of these large companies will let you decrease hours ongoing (there's usually no shortage of people looking for a few extra hours to pick up the slack), if not change them. I think she needs to take a step back, along with a deep breath, and just speak to them rationally.

CornishWildFlower

My very last thoughts for the OP........

If you are employed by, for example, one of the big supermarkets USDAW are fairly well represented. You can join the union online, they'll send you out a form to sign and, once you've returned it, they'll normally send you a membership card through within a week or two. They'll then mediate with the company on your behalf, certainly the company I work for are usually pretty co-operative with them.

Failing all else (and it's personally not a route I would take lightly, by any stretch) see your GP and explain your situation, they may instruct the company to seek a solution i.e. reduce your hours, if it is causing you stress.

Dunroamin

CornishWildFlower wrote: »

Failing all else (and it's personally not a route I would take lightly, by any stretch) see your GP and explain your situation, they may instruct the company to seek a solution i.e. reduce your hours, if it is causing you stress.

Goodness, I don't know where this suggestion comes from but it's totally ridiculous!

System

CornishWildFlower wrote: »

Failing all else (and it's personally not a route I would take lightly, by any stretch) see your GP and explain your situation, they may instruct the company to seek a solution i.e. reduce your hours, if it is causing you stress.

Sounds to me like the perfect way to get the company started on the capability dismissal route

lovinituk

How many GPs get involved in employment mediation?!? The best you'll get is a sick note after 7 days of illness!!

samwich1979

Dunroamin wrote: »

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

And to my family this is a mere £40 a month!
I cannot pay for childcare with this amount of money, its impossible.

CornishWildFlower

lovinituk wrote: »

How many GPs get involved in employment mediation?!? The best you'll get is a sick note after 7 days of illness!!

Work related stress.

CornishWildFlower

Dunroamin wrote: »

Goodness, I don't know where this suggestion comes from but it's totally ridiculous!

Why? work related stress is really quite common and most companies will look at it if it's raised as an issue.