Change of Working Hours

rhapsody

The situation:
The business where I work is open from 10am- 10pm. I work in the office & am a member of the day staff- we work 10- 6pm; there are evening staff who work 6- 10pm. For cost-saving issues, the bosses have decided to scrap the evening people and get us day people to come in late and work late on certain days.

My problems:
1. I live quite a way away from work, so the nights I work late I would not get home til possibly 11.30pm, or even 12.15am depending on what time I can actually get out of there (you'd never get out dead on 10pm).
2. I wouldn't be comfortable working at night in the city centre, essentially being a security person for the building, in addition to doing admin.
3. If I refused to work a late night, one of the other "day" people would have to (causing some unpleasantness in the office), or my hours might be reduced.

To be fair:
1. I understand that money needs to be saved
2. Its not my boss's fault I live so far away

I have been looking on the Citizens Info site but didn't see anything that specifically related to this. I'll call them on Monday (at work today!). I'm just wondering if anyone has any thoughts on this- am I being unreasonable, is my boss allowed to change the terms like this?
Any feedback appreciated! Thanks

gerrycollins

if its only the hours they are changing im sure considering what they are doing they might be in a position take on board your concerns however there will have to be some give and take on both side so somethings you have concerns about will have to be put aside for you to achive other concerns so prioritise the issues you have.

in all my jobs (retail) it would be nothing to see me work till 11pm and back in at 7am next morning however this would only happen twice a week max

rhapsody

Thanks for your reply. I would be quite happy to negotiate anything! but my immediate boss (who now has to do these hours also) made it clear yesterday & today that there was nothing to discuss, this is how its going to be. He didn't make the decision, and appears to be a little put out by it- but thinks there's no point arguing and will not be doing anything about it. Maybe thats right... but I just want to see what anyone else here thinks.
I used to work a bit like you do when I worked in retail, but I don't think its really appropriate for the work I do now.
I shall try to prioritise as you suggest, thanks!

wmpdd3

You probably won't find anything on the Citizen's advice website as it only covers the night-time workers rights. Any hours between 6am and 12pm are considered day-time hours as apposed to nights. So there isn't a law saying you are entitled to a new contract etc.

Where you may have a case is that you have 'own' the working pattern you currently work and would in theory need consultation before it was changed.

Usually the hours you have worked for the preceding 13 weeks are 'yours' and any change in them need to be agreed with you. You may have to consult a union to put an argument together for you.

D.McC

Just an angle you might use, but you say you would also essentially be a security person for the building?

You would need to have completed a recognised training course and be granted a licence to conduct the duties expected of security personnel.

rhapsody

Thanks folks for your replies.

wmpdd3- Yeah I've been working these hours for over 2 yrs so I would have thought a major change would have to be discussed more than it has. There's no unions around here

D.McC- Well its a building in the city centre that anyone can walk into, I would be the first person they come across so if some junkie wants to come in & rob the place. This has always been the situation, but the evening staff chose to do that type of job- whereas now I'm being forced to. Its not categorised by anyone here as a "security position", rather 'evening receptionist'. Maybe I'm being overly sensitive, and maybe there wont be any problems but I just wouldn't feel safe here at night.

chappy

I would imagine that once you aren't going into "unsociable" hours and your hours are not being reduced you wouldn't have much choice in the situation.

They may say as a compromise that if you are not fully flexible you may need to reduce your hours so they can have somebody else to do the hours you are not willing to do.