Gotta offload some work gripes before I scream!!!!

Sorry folks, but I'm hoping this will be therapeutic/You'll be kind and sympathetic and tell me I'm not the only one!!!!!

Work - I work full time that is 39 hours a week, a mixture of late,early and middle shifts, and the way they panned out over the month suited me grandly giving me a really good work/life balance. I work alternate Saturdays and historically I do an early on that day, so if I'm invited out or want to do something on a Saturday evening, I've been able to. Due to some necessary "austerity measures" they've had to terminate all the temporary contracts that our part time staff have been on, leaving the full timers and a small handful of permanent part time staff (who are on set hours anyway, unlike full timers) to do the same amount of work. Their catchphrase is "work smarter - not harder" They think that with a few little adjustments that we're going to be able, as individuals, to do the work of two or three people without feeling the pinch!!!

Today is bank holiday Monday, and I'm having to work of course because there's not enough staff and because I don't have set hours I've been given the late shift, I start at 12.30, have to have a lunch break which is unpaid (before I used to have lunch at home, cheaper and easier) and work through until 8.30 which is the bum end because we have to do all the clearing up. I know I'm rambling so I'll try and "wrap up" But for me these changes have meant that all my Saturday shifts are lates now, I'm unable to dine at home any more when I'm on a late 'cause they don't have the staff to cover the earlier breaks and to top it all, it's been announced that the Eu directive regarding the gap between shifts has been tightened up/changed to 11 hours our "middle shifts" are more than likely not going to see us finishing work until 6 or 7pm!

Some friends of mine are having a little get together today which I've had to decline, don't worry, they said there's another bank holiday at the end of the month we'll probably have a barbecue or something - again I'm rota'd in to work!

With everything else going on right now I'm starting to feel mighty depressed tbh...I know there are bigger problems in the world, but this I just needed to get off my chest. A few of my colleagues have dropped some hours making themselves part time so that they can have fixed hours and a better lifestyle...but sadly I'm not in a financial position to be able to do this!

While I don't have the answer to you problems Merryone I can sympathise with you as my Daughter works for a company who only offer ZERO hours contracts but expect its "full time" employees to work anywhere up to 45 hours a week when they are busy but who drop their hours down to as few as 10 per week when they are quiet.
She never knows from one week to the next what her shifts are going to be. The shifts are meant to be posted online on the Tuesday before starting on the following Monday but she now has a new manager who doesn't post them until the Friday/ Saturday so making it almost impossible to make any sort of arrangements /appointments.
When she asked about it she was almost told "well if you don't like it you know where the door is".
Where we live in Cornwall is lovely but it lacks employment opportunities and the only other type of work she could do is seasonal so leaving her with no income from the end of September to the beginning of May so she is stuck where she is for the time being .
Just a quick thought could you not book the next Bank Holiday off as either unpaid leave or holiday?
Good luck with what ever you decide to do and as my Grandad used to say "Don't let the b@sterds grind you down there is life outside of work".

Your daughter's arrangement sounds even worse than mine - poor love! I know what you mean about the "There's the door" sentiment, as we've been told in no uncertain terms that we're lucky to have jobs and that should be enough to make us happy! I did actually ask whether I could not work the end of May bank hol, just to be told that there simply isn't the staff to cover it, so there's nothing they can do about it, whilst gently reminding me that we do get the day off another time...However, a wet n' windy wednesday in October that they've allocated to you isn't quite the same as a get together with family and friends in the park or on the beach! Or that lovely feeling of a long weekend! To top it all I've also had to say no to my friend's annual Eurovsion party because I've had my hours changed to the late shift - As long as you're given 2 weeks notice, the buggars can change your shifts at will - it's written in my contract - though not exactly like that lol!

I used to not mind doing shift work, as I was finding the long mornings were giving me lie ins, and opportunities to get things done around the house.....but these alterations have made work spread across my precious home life like a virus - Oh for a Monday - Friday 9-5 ....Never thought I'd say that!

Sounds like the very convenience of the working hours that suited you to start off with have become a tyranny. I am so sorry. I get away with quite a lot timewise as my face to face contact with people is mainly in the afternoon, so I fit in my administration around that and I am happy to work harder sometimes and less hard at others to suit me (even if the boss isn't all that happy with it!). It is all very well for the government to say so many people are in work, but when the employers treat their staff with such disrespect it isn't a great world to be an employee.

Being the first week back from holiday doesn't help either....I've already booked next years jollies to cheer me up. When I get a little time to myself, I might try and do some serious sums and see whether the option of going part time would at all be viable in the not too distant future...perhaps less tax might offset the balance a bit, and of course there's the question of what hours they'd actually be able to offer me - they would have to be attractive too. I don't have travelling expenses as I ride a bike and live very near work (one thing to be thankful for) so I wouldn't save there, I don't eat at work, I take packed lunch and eat main meal at home (though this option now is on the wane). Weather's glorious where I am today and I'm almost ready to gather my acrylic uniform together - Joy!!!! Like I said before I have got a lot to be grateful for, I totally know that, and there's a million things I wouldn't swap my life for -hey ho. Thanks for listening folks x

Can you 'swap' shifts with colleagues? As long as the shifts are covered and the required hours are worked, that shouldn't pose a problem to management, I would have thought? It's a reasonable compromise to help the service run smoothly.

dollydimple said:

Can you 'swap' shifts with colleagues? As long as the shifts are covered and the required hours are worked, that shouldn't pose a problem to management, I would have thought? It's a reasonable compromise to help the service run smoothly.

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This does happen from time to time, but the trouble is, it's usually the poor full timers trying to swap an unattractive shift eg, late Friday or Saturday for a better one. Understandably, even though it sounds mean, most are unwilling, or quick to come up with an excuse as to why they can't. If they'd changed your shift and you'd already paid for something like a concert or there's a special occassion...family birthday, anniversary, they do usually manage to sort you out, i'll give them that, but you pretty much have to prove it..and as simple as swapping sounds, it's not always that simple cos the person you swap with may not be trained in your job and vice versa.

I had a bit of good news in that I did find someone I could possibly swap with for Eurovision night and she said that'd would be totally fine as she had nothing planned..so fingers crossed that holds out! I work in a supermarket and I've been there around 14 years, since I started I've seen a lot of change. When I first started we opened at 8.30am and closed at 8pm, gradually that's shifted and now we're open at 7.30 am and close at 10pm. We didn't open on bank holidays at all either, now the only ones we're not open for apart from xmas and easter day are boxing day and new years day, but the way things are going it strongly looks as though this will change. The biggest blow for us, is them opening another store in the same city, this store is bigger and better and has far more superior facilities..more parking, a cafe, toilets, a pharmacy etc. It's taken off well which is good news for the company, but for our store it's proved little more than a competitor and in effect has changed our busy thriving store into little more than a convience shop. We have a rush in the morning where people come in and grab something to take to work, then from about 5pm onwards a flurry of people grabbing something for dinner, and another one much later on for stragglers mainly looking for end of day bargains, other than that it's pretty quiet and needless to say time drags. I don't think we're in danger of being closed down or anything cause our sales figures are still pretty healthy, but it's just a shift in trading patterns, but it's not making life easy for those who work there as like I said before, our shifts are becoming more and more unattractive and are having an adverse effect on our lives outside of work. I wouldn't like not to work, but how I wish I could afford to have a job where the hours suited me!