advice

LegacyUser

Hi,im an active user but signed in as a guest,
My problem is with my wifes employer(large med device company in cork),we just had our second child 6 months ago,and it was organised(verbally)that she would be going back to work after her maternity leave on part time days(job sharing).

Before she left to have baby she was working partime shift days and evenings.So two days ago she got a phonecall from one of her friends working there,that all part timers would have to go on shift full time days and evenings.This caused huge hassle for all part timers in that area (all mothers).

Our case is that i myself work shift days/evenings/nights w/ends,so if my wife was forced to be put on shift,it would create alot of hassle,for example..

We are both working evenings-no one to mind kids till that late at night.
She is working evenings and im working nights-same as above.
Im on earlys,she is working evenings-im up at 6 for work,shes not in untill 2 and up again at 6/7 to feed 6 month old and fet other daughter ready for school.

Can her employer really force her and her colleagues to go on shift?Knowing what disruption its bringing to families lives?
My wifes colleagues are all in the same boat with husbands working shift hence the reason they are all on part time days.

Could really do with some advice on this,we are really both stressed out over it

bongomad

help me!! wrote: »

Hi,im an active user but signed in as a guest,
My problem is with my wifes employer(large med device company in cork),we just had our second child 6 months ago,and it was organised(verbally)that she would be going back to work after her maternity leave on part time days(job sharing).

Before she left to have baby she was working partime shift days and evenings.So two days ago she got a phonecall from one of her friends working there,that all part timers would have to go on shift full time days and evenings.This caused huge hassle for all part timers in that area (all mothers).

Our case is that i myself work shift days/evenings/nights w/ends,so if my wife was forced to be put on shift,it would create alot of hassle,for example..

We are both working evenings-no one to mind kids till that late at night.
She is working evenings and im working nights-same as above.
Im on earlys,she is working evenings-im up at 6 for work,shes not in untill 2 and up again at 6/7 to feed 6 month old and fet other daughter ready for school.

Can her employer really force her and her colleagues to go on shift?Knowing what disruption its bringing to families lives?
My wifes colleagues are all in the same boat with husbands working shift hence the reason they are all on part time days.

Could really do with some advice on this,we are really both stressed out over it

since they reneged on their promise i wonder if she asked them could she do nights the weeks your on days and vice versa?

Bandana boy

If they are changing her terms drastically there is possibly a recourse of redundancy ,
A company is allowed to restructure its shift patterns but if it is forcing your partner out of the job then I believe they have to offer redundancy.
If you partner take the new position on a trial and finds in the future it no longer works I believe she will lose the right to redundancy

tatli_lokma

In terms of the staff on existing p/t contracts, as Bandana boy says it all depends on the contracts in place. If the provision exists in the contract for the company to change shift patterns, then there is not a lot the staff can do, other than try to engage the company in negotiations and try to appeal to them. If their contracts are set with the hours they work/shifts they work, then they would need a new contract to be agreed and on that basis they would be entitled to seek redundancy or they can simply refuse to accept the new contract and take it down that route and see where it leads.

However, I think the crux of this issue is that any agreements with your wife were verbal. So as far as she is concerned, if she wants to go P/T it will be at the say so of the company and what they are prepared to give her. So most likely the part time option for her will be based on the new shift patterns. Her existing contract is a full time one, so these rights which existing part timers might have will not apply to her contract as she doesn't have a part time contract only a verbal agreement. All she can do is hope that her colleagues make a good case for retaining the existing shifts and that she can then benefit from it.