Am I being unreasonable?

Rosemary7391

andydownes123 wrote: »

When I worked in the supermarket game, anytime I knew I needed off I kept to myself and then called in sick. I know this is not good, but 90% of every holiday requests would either be knocked back, or they would do what OP's employer has done...yes, but you need to come in for a day or whatever.

There are good managers in retail. One of mine was great, always straightforward with holiday requests, and when I covered a Sunday shift she arranged my time off in lieu such that I had the whole next weekend off instead. Usually I worked every Saturday, until I joined the Sunday rota - and my manager did her fair share there!


OP, your manager doesn't sound great, but I don't know that there is a lot you can do about it. Holiday requests can be denied, as can swap requests. He'd be quite unreasonable to refuse if you found someone willing to cover/swap so I suggest that that is your best avenue - start with the folks whose shifts you covered most recently

thriftylass

RedFinn wrote: »

Many pieces of legislation protect the rights of working parents, I'll accommodate you in this instance in the interests of any further advice you may wish to impart to others on the subject and save you the embarrassment of trotting out further BS.

http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1362

That actually only supports what Comms69 said and does not cover your annual leave request.

motorguy

RedFinn wrote: »

A lot of your 'advice' contains factual errors which you would do well to educate yourself about, all employers have a duty to provide support to working parents and, where necessary, provide parental leave.

So summarising, you're playing the "but i've got kids" card so you can get an extra half day off?

I can see why your manager is resistant.

motorguy

RedFinn wrote: »

It certainly isn't permissable for any company to treat some members of staff differently because they have other responsibilities.

Yet you want to be treated differently?

motorguy

Flexibility is a two way street. I suspect - reading between the lines here - the O/Ps manager hasnt seen much flexibility from the O/P in the past therefore isnt feeling a burning urge to facilitate this.

Either learn to work with your manager, or look for a job elsewhere.

ReadingTim

motorguy wrote: »

Flexibility is a two way street. I suspect - reading between the lines here - the O/Ps manager hasnt seen much flexibility from the O/P in the past therefore isnt feeling a burning urge to facilitate this.

Either learn to work with your manager, or look for a job elsewhere.

Quite - it could also mean 'come to me with a shift swap / someone who'll cover and I'll think about it'. The OP should present their manager with a solution, not a problem, and they might get somewhere.

Also, they're getting hung up on a phrase about back scratching, which the manager might not even have said - that was relayed by a 3rd party, so I suspect there's more than a small amount of Chinese whispers going on here....

Mind you, with any post that asks "am I being reasonable?', the answer is almost always "no"....

steampowered

You mention that you heard this from an admin staff?

It might be better to speak to the manager in person. Politely explain that this single shift of 4 hours is going to cause you a lot of difficulty, and ask to see if there might be a way of resolving it (maybe doing another shift on a later date?)

It may be that the manager has not thought about the issue in that way, and might be more accommodating if you explain the full details.

While employers can legally muck people about with holidays, most employers also want to retain their staff. Especially in an industry like supermarkets which suffer from high turnover - management have targets to reduce staff turnover.

Or you could just call in sick I suppose.

Takeaway_Addict

motorguy wrote: »

Flexibility is a two way street. I suspect - reading between the lines here - the O/Ps manager hasnt seen much flexibility from the O/P in the past therefore isnt feeling a burning urge to facilitate this.

Either learn to work with your manager, or look for a job elsewhere.

This


They've asked the OP to cover other shifts with a resounding no (as per their right), but also as per the managers right they can also show inflexibility in return.

Gavin83

RedFinn wrote: »

Comms69, You seem to be confused concerning employers responsibilities, I have contracted hours, they cannot compel me to work outside of those hours without consulting me about what hours I am able to give them and build a matrix around availability.

So what are your contracted hours? Are you not contracted to work on the Saturday?

How long have you worked there?

sangie595

The answer is "yes".