Change of shifts at work for the worse

althamon

I currently work for a large online retailer (named after a rainforest...) and they have continued their usual selfless ways and now imposing them on the workforce.

I currently work on the "late" shift 3pm - 11pm which I have been hating for the last year as it is wholly antisocial and I haven't been able to spend much time with my gf since she works from 7am and rarely gets in before I leave.

So you can only imagine how ambivalent I felt that at the beginning of August this year they announce a shift change where we move to 10hr shifts 4 days per week. Everyone could choose the shift they would like to move to and to mark on the sheets shifts they cannot work. Obviously I chose day shift 8am-630pm and put cannot work in the night shift boxes. To my horror they put me on a night shift 7pm - 530am and personally could not give a damn about the extra pay I would get.

The main reason why I didn't want a night shift is that in the peak time last year I did nights for 6 weeks and was only able to get 4-5 hours broken sleep a day due to living near a primary school and a through-route to the large ASDA 2 mins away and it is constantly noisy.

Is there anything I can do to prevent myself being constantly subjected to lack of sleep by the new shift they want me to have as I have tried changing shifts in the past but they required evidence that I had enrolled on an evening course which I couldn't give because they kept taking so long to decide anything (which is normal for this company unless it benefits them), that the course I wanted stopped enrolling.

Any help would be appreciated.

p.s.
Also I am looking elsewhere for work so please don't suggest it unless it is a job offer

AP007

Ask why you didn't get the shift of your choice?

Brassedoff

althamon wrote: »

I currently work for a large online retailer (named after a rainforest...) and they have continued their usual selfless ways and now imposing them on the workforce.

I currently work on the "late" shift 3pm - 11pm which I have been hating for the last year as it is wholly antisocial and I haven't been able to spend much time with my gf since she works from 7am and rarely gets in before I leave.

So you can only imagine how ambivalent I felt that at the beginning of August this year they announce a shift change where we move to 10hr shifts 4 days per week. Everyone could choose the shift they would like to move to and to mark on the sheets shifts they cannot work. Obviously I chose day shift 8am-630pm and put cannot work in the night shift boxes. To my horror they put me on a night shift 7pm - 530am and personally could not give a damn about the extra pay I would get.

The main reason why I didn't want a night shift is that in the peak time last year I did nights for 6 weeks and was only able to get 4-5 hours broken sleep a day due to living near a primary school and a through-route to the large ASDA 2 mins away and it is constantly noisy.

Is there anything I can do to prevent myself being constantly subjected to lack of sleep by the new shift they want me to have as I have tried changing shifts in the past but they required evidence that I had enrolled on an evening course which I couldn't give because they kept taking so long to decide anything (which is normal for this company unless it benefits them), that the course I wanted stopped enrolling.

Any help would be appreciated.

p.s.
Also I am looking elsewhere for work so please don't suggest it unless it is a job offer

Hi, welcome to the boards.

I assume the went through the normal consulting period etc?

You could try going to see your Doctor, explaining the impact of working your current shifts, A****ns own OT dept. both could establish that working nights is not good for you. Your main issue is that there are so many sheds in the area you are located with a large supermarket chain, white goods warehouse etc, prospects outside are pretty limited.

I would go do your Doc and see where it takes you. Good luck

althamon

They stated that at the time of choosing shifts that if you were unlucky and did not receive your original choices you would be "randomly" allocated a shift.

Honestly I don't know what the consulting period is/was as we were all notified of the changes at the end of July and shift preference form submitted by 2nd August.

As with prospects outside I should be ok as I have a degree and and a lead post behind me and only went with that company as I had no other choice at the time hence wanting to do evening courses. Cheers for the advice on the Doc as I hadn't really thought of that.

paddedjohn

Once you have been on nights for a while you will get used to sleeping in the day, what I would suggest is that you get some blackout curtains and some earplugs and try staying up all day before your first shift.
If your first shift is Monday then lie in till about 10am and keep yourself busy, by the time you get home on Tuesday morning you will sleep like a baby. Finishing that early in the morning means you can be up doing things by 2pm or you may be able to find a pub open at 6am and have a few pints before sleep and get up at t-time.

Brassedoff

If you are able to leave, I would suggest you do so. Is the shed in the LE post code? If so, you know wht the prospects are around here.

althamon

Its not in LE but HP.

I have tried night shift before and no matter which way I tried it I could not change my sleep pattern as I was doing it for 6 weeks and I was only getting 4-5 hours sleep. So I realise that I am not a night owl, by the end of the 6 weeks I was nearly falling asleep at work in every shift and I was reliant on strong coffee and red bull equivalents just to help me drive hone at the end of shift.

Also after seeing cirrhosis effects first hand on my mum wanting to drink every day does not appeal plus we get random drug and alcohol tests.

custardy

althamon wrote: »

I currently work for a large online retailer (named after a rainforest...) and they have continued their usual selfless ways and now imposing them on the workforce.

I currently work on the "late" shift 3pm - 11pm which I have been hating for the last year as it is wholly antisocial and I haven't been able to spend much time with my gf since she works from 7am and rarely gets in before I leave.

So you can only imagine how ambivalent I felt that at the beginning of August this year they announce a shift change where we move to 10hr shifts 4 days per week. Everyone could choose the shift they would like to move to and to mark on the sheets shifts they cannot work. Obviously I chose day shift 8am-630pm and put cannot work in the night shift boxes. To my horror they put me on a night shift 7pm - 530am and personally could not give a damn about the extra pay I would get.

The main reason why I didn't want a night shift is that in the peak time last year I did nights for 6 weeks and was only able to get 4-5 hours broken sleep a day due to living near a primary school and a through-route to the large ASDA 2 mins away and it is constantly noisy.

Is there anything I can do to prevent myself being constantly subjected to lack of sleep by the new shift they want me to have as I have tried changing shifts in the past but they required evidence that I had enrolled on an evening course which I couldn't give because they kept taking so long to decide anything (which is normal for this company unless it benefits them), that the course I wanted stopped enrolling.

Any help would be appreciated.

p.s.
Also I am looking elsewhere for work so please don't suggest it unless it is a job offer

looking at this,if it were me
go home and grab a few hours kip
get up,spend time with the GF after she finishes work if possible
go to work
repeat for 4 days
I now have one full extra day off to sleep,catch up with GF etc
Not ideal but thats what you gotta do sometimes
I probably get less sleep between my !!!!!!,my OH and having my boy

Kayalana99

I know its not ideal working nights but as above poster says, you'd actally see more of your GF this way.

Its really not ideal working late shifts when shes working earlys, maybe this is a blessing in disguise?

paddedjohn

Sorry, not telling you to go get pi55ed every day, just a drink now and then when you finish work. I have worked nights for 5-6 years now and when im on cover I have to do maybe 20-24 12hr nights on the bounce and the way I handle it is to turn the day on its head so when I finish at 8am I treat it as 8pm, a couple of pints,(not every morning) a nice meal and a couple of hours relax before bed at 12ish and up at 7pm to start all over again.

custardy

Kayalana99 wrote: »

I know its not ideal working nights but as above poster says, you'd actally see more of your GF this way.

Its really not ideal working late shifts when shes working earlys, maybe this is a blessing in disguise?

I can go days with me leaving as my OH comes in





Heaven :cool: