Trouble concerning my Christmas shifts

[poppins 10]

Sorry to hear about this chel..she sounds horrible...you need to be in a union....and then you get idiots sayin unions are not needed and are just trouble causes..

 

Maybe she's part time, do you have to be full time to join the union ?

[PeteMorris 10]

I do understand the OP problem, and it's not ideal. BUT. Looking at it from another viewpoint, my OH works in a care home too, she does the rota's for her staff (domestic)...nobody wants to work Christmas...So she's had to rota herself in over Christmas, which means I'll be on my own on Christmas day...All day...She's done it to be fair to those who work for her. But even so, there are still some that she's had no choice but to rota on with her. It's a nightmare to try and please everyone. It's an impossibility.

 

The problem is, that if you do a rota, and it gets chopped and changed willy-nilly, you might as well not bother. Just hang a calendar up and let everyone fight it out between themselves...it's never going to work!

[poppins 10]

I do understand the OP problem, and it's not ideal. BUT. Looking at it from another viewpoint, my OH works in a care home too, she does the rota's for her staff (domestic)...nobody wants to work Christmas...So she's had to rota herself in over Christmas, which means I'll be on my own on Christmas day...All day...She's done it to be fair to those who work for her. But even so, there are still some that she's had no choice but to rota on with her. It's a nightmare to try and please everyone. It's an impossibility.

 

The problem is, that if you do a rota, and it gets chopped and changed willy-nilly, you might as well not bother. Just hang a calendar up and let everyone fight it out between themselves...it's never going to work!

 

 

OPs problem is just the opposite from the care home I work at, most of the staff have grown children and fight like mad for holiday hours for the extra pay.

[WeX 10]

Sorry to hear about this chel..she sounds horrible...you need to be in a union....and then you get idiots sayin unions are not needed and are just trouble causes..

 

Playing devils advocate here, but:

 

on the face of it, the OP has no grounds to demand the time off. Christmas eve is a normal working day in the UK. If the OP knew this was going to be such a big issue they should have booked it off holiday well in advance?

[francypants 441]

I do understand the OP problem, and it's not ideal. BUT. Looking at it from another viewpoint, my OH works in a care home too, she does the rota's for her staff (domestic)...nobody wants to work Christmas...So she's had to rota herself in over Christmas, which means I'll be on my own on Christmas day...All day...She's done it to be fair to those who work for her. But even so, there are still some that she's had no choice but to rota on with her. It's a nightmare to try and please everyone. It's an impossibility.

 

The problem is, that if you do a rota, and it gets chopped and changed willy-nilly, you might as well not bother. Just hang a calendar up and let everyone fight it out between themselves...it's never going to work!

 

It must be very difficult trying to please everybody, but if as the OP says there is somebody willing to swap shifts, there should be no problem, that's normal. The manager is just being an utter pig for the sake of it.

[DaveGas 10]

We have already tried doing that and she has refused to let us and put a notice up saying no swaps over the festive period. I don't pay into a trade union x

 

---------- Post added 11-12-2012 at 12:04 ----------

 

She is a horrible woman, I have been in this morning and explained that its impossible for me to get childcare for Christmas eve and she told me to let my children who r 6 and 1 have a sleep over at there friends house on Christmas eve as she has done it for the past 16 years with her child and never spent a Christmas with them. She will be short staffed as I will not be attending

 

If that is the case i would use the next two weeks finding a new job and enjoy handing your notice in!

[banjodeano 31]

Playing devils advocate here, but:

 

on the face of it, the OP has no grounds to demand the time off. Christmas eve is a normal working day in the UK. If the OP knew this was going to be such a big issue they should have booked it off holiday well in advance?

 

that's true..but the op is not demanding anything, just asking to swap shifts with a person that has offered to swap her.....season of goodwill and all that...

[yummymumchel 10]

Already said to manager before rota went up that I would do everyday but I couldn't get childcare for Xmas eve and she still put me on. Definately think a big job search is in order thanks everyone x

[Cyclone 10]

Phone in sick, you can't be sacked for a single isolated period of illness (self certified of course).

 

And look for a new job, as you don't want to carry on working for someone who behaves like this.

[rosemary19 10]

Phone in sick, you can't be sacked for a single isolated period of illness (self certified of course).

 

And look for a new job, as you don't want to carry on working for someone who behaves like this.

 

Imagine what it would be like for patients in Hospitals,and clients in Care Homes if other staff members listened to your advice.

[Cyclone 10]

Imagine what it would be like for patients in Hospitals,and clients in Care Homes if other staff members listened to your advice.

 

I'm not suggesting it as general advice am I. I'm suggesting it for this specific person and the specific problem they are dealing with.

[WeX 10]

that's true..but the op is not demanding anything, just asking to swap shifts with a person that has offered to swap her.....season of goodwill and all that...

 

It may be the season to be jolly but that doesn't mean peoples care should suffer. The OP has asked to switch but are they switching with a member of staff with adequate training in meds etc? We don't know and for that reason we don't know the full story.

 

like I said before, the OP could have booked the time off as leave but has not (for what ever reason) and so cannot demand to switch shifts. The process of shift switching is usually done at the discretion of management as it is not a right and if management has said no, that means no.

 

there are many factors that could mean the manager is unhappy with allowing the switch. maybe the OP has done this before? maybe the OP is not very good at time keeping and so this courtesy is not being afforded to them at the moment. There are a number of reasons that could be at play here.