Hi all
I have been back at work for 4 weeks on a phased return.
My normal working hours are Monday to Friday 35 hours a week but since I came back I have been working reduced shifts Tuesday to Friday. The phased return has been agreed to give me time to build my strength back up to full time hours and my reasons for wanting the Monday off is to give me a longer respite in between the working weeks, just in case it takes too much out of me and I over do it.
However, this morning my boss approached me and said that as Tuesday and Wednesday next week and the following week are holidays I will be expected to work Monday, Thursday and Friday for the next two weeks. I was not expecting this as nothing had been mentioned about me having to change my working days over the festive period until today.
I have already made plans for Christmas eve as I didn’t think I was working but I don’t mind working new years eve. When I told my boss this she said that Monday is one of my contractual days so it is perfectly reasonable for her to expect me to be available to work it.
I felt it was very short notice to be changing my working days given that she knew the Christmas and New Year weeks were going to be shorter than normal and could have taken steps to agree my shifts for those weeks when I returned to work.
I have to give her a call over the weekend to confirm if I will be working on Monday or not but she hinted that it would look good if I didn’t.
Is this right? Could I be disciplined for refusing to work Christmas eve?
Well, I think that is very poor of your boss, and petty and small-minded with it. No idea about the rights and wrongs technically because so much depends on the exact terms of your contract and the phased return arrangement, but it seems likely that it will come down in practice to what you think is going to make your life easier (or at least less hard). If you have an HR person, it might well be worth getting them involved (if they have not knocked off for Xmas). They might even take your boss aside and explain a few things, which would be nice!
Please try not to let it upset you too much either way. Your boss clearly has no idea whatsoever about the difficulties you are facing at the moment. That’s probably just the way she is. Please don’t take it to heart.
Alison
x
Hi
Don’t wish to alarm you but if I were you I would do everything that your boss wants in order to keep your job (I presume you do want to keep your job and that you love your job). I’m speaking from a bad experience this year whereby my boss made me redundant in a devious way after I had a really bad relapse and was off work for a few weeks and had to have a phased return. I’m not diagnosed, by the way, and had to tell work what I was going through. They obviously felt I was going to be a problem even though I had an exemplary record of over 6 years. Looking back I don’t know what I would have done differently as I was so unwell but I keep wondering if I could have concealed things better. My company had no HR department so I had nowhere to turn. I’d work the days they want you to if I were you, keep my head down and not give them any excuse to make out that you are becoming a problem. I loved my job and miss it so much, not having secured another job yet. I hope you have understanding bosses and a good management structure with an HR department. Good luck x