Please help problems with my Employer

ragdoll24

Please can anyone advise on the following problems I have at work?

I started working in a shop at the beginning of May this year doing 5hrs a day 5 days a week (25hrs in total)

His current member of staff is on maternity leave and when I went for my interview he offered me the hours of 10-3 or 2-7, because I am a single mum with 3 children I opted for 10-3 but he then said could I possibly do 2-7 until his other employer finished maternity leave then he would reassess the hours between both of us to cater for family committments, so I agreed.

Its been very stressful working til 7pm every night as my children are left alone from 3.30 til I return from work at 7 and they are getting rather stressed about it and getting behind with homework etc (they are aged 15, 12 and 10)

The other member of staff who was on maternity leave came in for a return to work interview last week and stated she is reducing her hours from 25 to 16 and can only work Monday, Wednesday and Friday 10-3.20 (16hrs a week) so leaving absolutely no scope to share the later hours in order for me to try and finish early some nights to be with my children.

Is there any law stating that all members of staff with child commitments should be treated fairly as I feel he is not being fair with me but states she has worked with him for 5yrs now and his loyalty is to her?

Secondly I am given 33 days holiday pro rata running from Jan to Dec so can anyone work out how many days im actually entitled to if I started in May and work 5days a week 5hrs a day? Every time I have asked for holiday he has told me because I have been with him less then a year Im not entitled to take any, its nearly the end of December and so far he has only let me take 5 days off during the summer to be with my children so what do I do about my remaining holidays if he is refusing to let me have any?

I was also put on a 3 month probationary period and have now been there 7 months and did ask when my 3 months probation was up if he was going to do a review. He never got around to anything or discussed or and has not moaned about my work so under law because he has not done a review after the 3 months probation does that mean the probation period has finished?

Any adivse would be greatly appreciated as I am getting really stressed about the situation and feel he is taking advantage of me and treating me very unfairly.

beecher2

Sounds awful. What does your contract say regarding working hours.

I think you're due 15.5 days holiday in total.

If you're working 25 hours and a normal week is 35 then you'd be due 23.5 days. By the end of the year you'll have been there for 2/3 of the year, which gives 15.5 days.

If a normal week is 40 hours, then it'd be 13 I think.

Hope someone can give you some practical advice soon.

ScorpiondeRooftrouser

ragdoll24 wrote: »

Is there any law stating that all members of staff with child commitments should be treated fairly as I feel he is not being fair with me but states she has worked with him for 5yrs now and his loyalty is to her?

No.

ragdoll24 wrote: »

Secondly I am given 33 days holiday pro rata running from Jan to Dec so can anyone work out how many days im actually entitled to if I started in May and work 5days a week 5hrs a day? Every time I have asked for holiday he has told me because I have been with him less then a year Im not entitled to take any, its nearly the end of December and so far he has only let me take 5 days off during the summer to be with my children so what do I do about my remaining holidays if he is refusing to let me have any?

33 will be including bank holidays, so that's 25. If full time is 40 hours a week, you work 25 so you'd presumably be entitled to 25/40 * 25 so roughly 15/16 days a year. You don't have to work for a year in order to claim this, that's nonsense, but he can dictate when you take them. You've worked six full months so have earned about 7/8 days and had 5 days off so you are not too far behind your entitlement.

ragdoll24 wrote: »

I was also put on a 3 month probationary period and have now been there 7 months and did ask when my 3 months probation was up if he was going to do a review. He never got around to anything or discussed or and has not moaned about my work so under law because he has not done a review after the 3 months probation does that mean the probation period has finished?

Generally yes, but probation doesn't really have much meaning at all. What contractual terms applied only to the probation period?

Sambella

Why not ask your boss if you could work 1-6pm and explain why these hours would be more suitable and if he says no look for another job that has much more child friendly hours.

sangie595

ragdoll24 wrote: »

Please can anyone advise on the following problems I have at work?

I started working in a shop at the beginning of May this year doing 5hrs a day 5 days a week (25hrs in total)

His current member of staff is on maternity leave and when I went for my interview he offered me the hours of 10-3 or 2-7, because I am a single mum with 3 children I opted for 10-3 but he then said could I possibly do 2-7 until his other employer finished maternity leave then he would reassess the hours between both of us to cater for family committments, so I agreed.

Its been very stressful working til 7pm every night as my children are left alone from 3.30 til I return from work at 7 and they are getting rather stressed about it and getting behind with homework etc (they are aged 15, 12 and 10)

The other member of staff who was on maternity leave came in for a return to work interview last week and stated she is reducing her hours from 25 to 16 and can only work Monday, Wednesday and Friday 10-3.20 (16hrs a week) so leaving absolutely no scope to share the later hours in order for me to try and finish early some nights to be with my children.

Is there any law stating that all members of staff with child commitments should be treated fairly as I feel he is not being fair with me but states she has worked with him for 5yrs now and his loyalty is to her?

Secondly I am given 33 days holiday pro rata running from Jan to Dec so can anyone work out how many days im actually entitled to if I started in May and work 5days a week 5hrs a day? Every time I have asked for holiday he has told me because I have been with him less then a year Im not entitled to take any, its nearly the end of December and so far he has only let me take 5 days off during the summer to be with my children so what do I do about my remaining holidays if he is refusing to let me have any?

I was also put on a 3 month probationary period and have now been there 7 months and did ask when my 3 months probation was up if he was going to do a review. He never got around to anything or discussed or and has not moaned about my work so under law because he has not done a review after the 3 months probation does that mean the probation period has finished?

Any adivse would be greatly appreciated as I am getting really stressed about the situation and feel he is taking advantage of me and treating me very unfairly.

I'm afraid that the answer to pretty much everything is the same. Until you have been there two years you have almost no employment protection. So probation is irrelevant - you can be sacked for almost any reason for the first two years.

There is no law that says that everyone must be given the same treatment over hours of work, parent or not. You agreed to work these hours. Whether you thought it was temporary or not, you agreed. So I am afraid that you are stuck with them. Since this is a small employer, the truth is that even if you didn't agree, there is no capacity or requirement for flexibility - if you are not able to work three hours that the employer needs then you must find another job with hours that suit you better.

Sorry, but there is no law that will get you the hours that you want.

TBagpuss

In terms of the holiday, this may help you https://www.gov.uk/calculate-your-holiday-entitlement/y

in relation to the hours, as others have said, the employer is not required to be fair in terms of treating your and your collague differently - he is required to avoid unlawful discriminiation, which is discrimination based on the protected characteristics: age, gender, sexual orientation or identity, race, and disability, or pregnancy.

Even if he did want to look at you and your colleague together, he might well take the view that it is more reasonable to ask you to continue to work the later hours than to ask a staff member with a much younger child to do so, and so it is fair to you both to split the hours as he has done.

You are free to tell him that you can no longer do the later hours, and can request different hours - would it be possible for you to work ful time on Tuesadys and Thursdays and shorter hours on the days that she is in?
He is free to agree a compromise with you, or to give you notice and to look for someone else who can do the hours that he wants to have covered.

If you do make proposals to him for differnt hours, then think of it from his / the businesses perspective. What are the benefits to the business of the hours you are proposing? What are the disadvantages and how might these be addressed?
he has no obligation to agree to any changes but if you present him with good reasons, and with solutions rather than just problems, he might be willing to think again.

But it sounds as though your best bet may be to look for alternative work which fits better with your needs.

sangie595

This is a chemists, right? If that is the case then the hours it opens will likely be dictated by the longest period that a local surgery might dispense prescriptions. So I doubt that you are going to get very far in suggesting alternative hours. TBH, I think you need to look for another job. If you are who I think you are, he's already said no to alternative working patterns, including you reducing your hours and taking on another member of staff. So these are the hours available to you, and you must decide to work them or to find more suitable hours elsewhere.

paddedjohn

beecher2 wrote: »

Sounds awful. What does your contract say regarding working hours.

I think you're due 15.5 days holiday in total.

If you're working 25 hours and a normal week is 35 then you'd be due 23.5 days. By the end of the year you'll have been there for 2/3 of the year, which gives 15.5 days.

If a normal week is 40 hours, then it'd be 13 I think.

Hope someone can give you some practical advice soon.

Please don't listen to any of the above, it's totally wrong.

gettingtheresometime

How is the employer thinking of covering the early shifts on a Tuesday & Thursday if the other employees work a Monday, Wednesday & Friday.

Is there any scope for you to work the the early shift on these days and the later ones on the other days?

With regards the children I presume that they are waiting for you to come home before having tea. Would it help the situation if their tea could be prepared in advance - I'm thinking slow cooking or food that can be batched cooked/frozen so it only needs warming up.

As for their homework can they organise their own homework club so that they do it collectively around the kitchen table rather than each in their own rooms.

Yes getting a job that has child friendly hours is the ideal solution but if that's not possible then you have to look at how you can minimise its effects

paddedjohn

ScorpiondeRooftrouser wrote: »

No.



33 will be including bank holidays, so that's 25. If full time is 40 hours a week, you work 25 so you'd presumably be entitled to 25/40 * 25 so roughly 15/16 days a year. You don't have to work for a year in order to claim this, that's nonsense, but he can dictate when you take them. You've worked six full months so have earned about 7/8 days and had 5 days off so you are not too far behind your entitlement.



Generally yes, but probation doesn't really have much meaning at all. What contractual terms applied only to the probation period?

Op works 5 days a week so is entitled to 33 days leave at 5 hrs per day. Not 25/40 at all.

ragdoll24

sangie595 wrote: »

This is a chemists, right? If that is the case then the hours it opens will likely be dictated by the longest period that a local surgery might dispense prescriptions. So I doubt that you are going to get very far in suggesting alternative hours. TBH, I think you need to look for another job. If you are who I think you are, he's already said no to alternative working patterns, including you reducing your hours and taking on another member of staff. So these are the hours available to you, and you must decide to work them or to find more suitable hours elsewhere.

Sangie595 can you private message me please?