Employment contract advice

[Deleted User]

I love all these “entitlements” people seem to think they have. You work in retail that operates clearly 7 days per week so deal with it or find a new job. 

TELLIT01

MarkN88 said:

I love all these “entitlements” people seem to think they have. You work in retail that operates clearly 7 days per week so deal with it or find a new job. 

Harsh.  The OP states they were told at interview that they would not have to work every weekend, so I understand their feeling on the situation.  That said, we don't know if all employees are also working every weekend.  If not, I understand the OPs feelings even more.  Given the current job situation I would say just grit your teeth and get on with it.  Many people do have to work every weekend.

TBagpuss

Do you know why you are being asked t do so many weekends? Are they scheduling more staff at weekends because the shop is busier, or are they prioritizing requests from other employees about who works what hours, and if so, on what basis? Knowing the answer doesn't change the fact that they can still chose to give you the weekend hours but if you understand how they are reaching that decision then it may help you to be able to discuss with your manager. 

Liz65

Feel I can't discuss anything with  my manager, she's hard to talk to and gets humpy.  I appreciate  comments on here and do understand working weekends is part of retail but it seems I am the only employee put down for both weekend days! 
I am also wondering if she can change my days on rota without as,ing me first? This is something she does frequently  and I can't arrange anything or have had to rearrange  my personal life to suit her needs
Surely that isnt right?

Undervalued

Liz65 said:

Feel I can't discuss anything with  my manager, she's hard to talk to and gets humpy.  I appreciate  comments on here and do understand working weekends is part of retail but it seems I am the only employee put down for both weekend days! 
I am also wondering if she can change my days on rota without as,ing me first? This is something she does frequently  and I can't arrange anything or have had to rearrange  my personal life to suit her needs
Surely that isnt right?

It depends entirely on your contract (which may not even be written down). If that clearly says, for example, that you work four hours on a Tuesday and four hours on a Thursday then no they can't (unless they could argue it has been changed by custom and practice). If however is says you will work eight hours to be arranged on a weekly basis, then it depends on what "arranged" has come to mean.

Do you only ever work eight hours per week? Or is it that eight hours are fixed and guaranteed, then you do additional hours as required / by arrangement?

Brynsam

Undervalued said:

Liz65 said:

Feel I can't discuss anything with  my manager, she's hard to talk to and gets humpy.  I appreciate  comments on here and do understand working weekends is part of retail but it seems I am the only employee put down for both weekend days! 
I am also wondering if she can change my days on rota without as,ing me first? This is something she does frequently  and I can't arrange anything or have had to rearrange  my personal life to suit her needs
Surely that isnt right?

It depends entirely on your contract (which may not even be written down). If that clearly says, for example, that you work four hours on a Tuesday and four hours on a Thursday then no they can't (unless they could argue it has been changed by custom and practice). If however is says you will work eight hours to be arranged on a weekly basis, then it depends on what "arranged" has come to mean.

'Custom and practice' has to be over a very long period, so that argument wouldn't hold water.

OP, you are letting this situation continue because you find your manager hard to talk to - and you seem to prefer avoiding a difficult conversation (as do so many of us!) to sorting out something which is clearly making you unhappy. Your manager isn't going to change the status quo when she's found someone who's a pushover in terms of doing what she asks them to do. 

It's not unusual for people to get 'humpy' when they aren't terribly good at their job and would struggle to sort out a situation where an employee says 'no' to their request, so try not to put her in that position. Say that you need to plan for some time with your family and would like to be sure which weekends in the next six weeks would be convenient for you to keep clear to be with the family. She might still have a grumble, but by doing things that way round and asking her to give consent, it still gives her the element of control which just might be enough to keep her sweet. If not, you need to take a view on which matters more to you: keeping your job even it means working weekends, or calling it a day.

In a world where it was easy to get a new job, the options would be different, but for now, it's a case of making the best of things unless you want to take the very real risk of being out of work.

Savvy_Sue

Liz65 said:

Feel I can't discuss anything with  my manager, she's hard to talk to and gets humpy.  I appreciate  comments on here and do understand working weekends is part of retail but it seems I am the only employee put down for both weekend days! 
I am also wondering if she can change my days on rota without as,ing me first? This is something she does frequently  and I can't arrange anything or have had to rearrange  my personal life to suit her needs
Surely that isnt right?

Well she CAN, because she HAS!

One question: do your colleagues also have their days changed without being asked? Or does it seem that if one of them asks to change their shifts, yours are changed to accommodate this?

Because if several of you were being 'inconvenienced' by this, I feel you would be playing a stronger hand. If it's just one person who's not happy, it's harder. 

I think Brynsam gives good advice: bite the bullet and TELL her what you need and ASK her to arrange it. 

Personally, I would also join a trade union. 

Liz65

Thank you, tried talking to deputy manager today and got told that it is all fair and everyone is being flexible  which is untrue and that because I don't have small children I shouldn't need weekend.  I don't have set hours every week inanswer to a previous question. No I feel like a lepper

oh_really

If you don't need the job, pick your moment and go sick for the SSP if you qualify resign.

[Deleted User]

oh_really said:

If you don't need the job, pick your moment and go sick for the SSP if you qualify resign.

This isn't going to look good when the next company you work for, asks on the reference, about how many sick days you've had.