Changing contracted hours for 1 day

athensgeorgia

My husband works 6am until 2.30pm on Tuesdays. He received a note from work today stating on Tuesday 26th February all staff are required to work their contracted hours but any staff who start at 6am must start at 7am as they are doing stock take. My husband's told his manager he can't do this as we have a 6 year old and no childcare for this day and I work until 6pm. His manager then said he'll speak to the branch manager.

Can they insist he has to work because they've given near enough 2 weeks notice? we can't find his staff handbook. And should they consider our circumstances?

Al1x

Can he not start at 7am and ask if he can leave usual time? I'm sure he can take 1 hour as unpaid.

getmore4less

1/2 day holiday

paddedjohn

So instead of 6am-2.30pm they want him to work 7am-3-30pm for just 1 day? seems reasonable to me especially given the amount of notice, can you not leave the kid in kids club for the extra hour? if not then maybe book the day off.

athensgeorgia

No we can't join a kids club for 1 hour and why should we @ £4.50 an hour. He works in a warehouse @ £6.24 an hour its just not worth it. And we're heavily budgeted why should we lose out on money, why can't they do stock take Monday when half the warehouse don't work Mondays.

whichever way we do it we're gonna be out of pocket. He's already told when to take annual leave so why waste half a day al on an hour.

hopefully they'll be reasonable and let them work through breaks or something.

KiKi

I think two weeks is reasonable notice for a one hour time change as a one-off. Ultimately, the test of whether it's reasonable is at an ET which no-one in their right mind would do. So negotiation and being pragmatic about it is the only option, really.

paddedjohn

How would you manage if your kid was sick OP? what would you do if they needed a couple of days off school? i know you say you shouldnt have to lose money but sometimes things like this are sent to try you and its up to you to find an answer, what about getting a neighbour/friend/relative to collect your kid

zzzLazyDaisy

[QUOTE=athensgeorgia;

Can they insist he has to work because they've given near enough 2 weeks notice?[/QUOTE]

He needs to check his contract carefully, because most contracts expressly state something like 'your normal hours will be [time] to [time], but you may be required to work such other hours as the needs of the business dictate'

The wording may not be exactly the same as that, but the point is employers rarely give set contractual hours with no room for variance. So it is very likely that this is provided for under his contract.

To be honest, though, it is not an unreasonable demand, and they have given reasonable notice. Surely you have childcare back up for this situation. What happens if your child is sick? Or has an inset day? Presumably you have to find childcare on those days?

heretolearn_2

So your child needs one hour of additional care after school?

doesn't your child have one single friend they could go home with to play/for tea if you ask the parent (and return the favour with their child)? that's very normal for school children.

Or isn't there one neighbour or friend who could collect your child for you? Haven't you got to know any other local parents in the last six years? No relatives anywhere?

Sorry, I know that sounds snarky, but we don't raise our children in bubbles. You must know of one person, one parent, someone who'd be happy to have your kid for an hour. Your must play with other children sometimes, surely?

I don't think your employer is being at all unreasonable giving you 2 weeks notice, and I think you are just maybe trying to be awkward.Sorry, I know that sounds snarky, but we don't raise our children in bubbles. You must know of one person, one parent, someone who'd be happy to have your kid for an hour. Your child must play with other children sometimes, surely? I never really got into the whole local mums !!!!! thing, and barely spoke to my neighbours (dodgy estate), but I still could have found several people to help out in a situation like this.

To be honest, you need to find someone who you can ask in an emergency. What if your husband is delayed getting home from work one day by traffic or something? It's important to have someone you can call to look out for your child.

heretolearn_2

lol, my blanked out word is ma fia. Why?