part time work / cover

PeakOutput

ok so quick background i work part time while in college were i work runs a rota system in line with the college terms so in september you apply for hours and you are 'responsible' for those hours until end of january when you apply for new hours that suit your new college timetable which you work until the end of may

now next week is a study week in college and i wil be home for that week also after my last exam i will be going abroad so there are 4 weeks were i cant do my shift. normally if you miss 3 shifts your hours are drastically reduced so 4 weeks ago(about 6 weeks in advance) i told them i couldnt do these hours and that i will try and get cover but either way i cant do the hours.

they keep saying its my responsibility to get cover and ill be ' put in the black book' if i miss 3 shifts

is there anything i can do to prevent being disciplined as i feel i gave them more than enough notice or do i just have to suck it up and take whatever they feel is fair punishment?

AARRRGH

I don't know the law on this, but the fact that you're saying "I can't come into work when I am supposed to be in work, and not because I am sick" would make me think the employer probably has the upper hand here.

They are being unreasonable though.

PeakOutput

ye its a fair point but im basically asking for un-paid leave which was never a problem anywhere else i worked. also this place dosnt differ between not coming in and being sick either way if you dont get cover for your hours it takes one of these '3 chances'

if it makes any difference i havnt signed any contract either

Mrs OBumble

PeakOutput wrote: »

i told them i couldnt do these hours and that i will try and get cover but either way i cant do the hours.

they keep saying its my responsibility to get cover and ill be ' put in the black book' if i miss 3 shifts

Oh for goodness sake: you've got the best sort of hours arrangement that a college student could hope for.

Yet off your butt and find someone else to cover the shifts for you!!!

Meet 'em 1/2 way, they're surely doing the same for you.

PeakOutput

JustMary wrote: »

Oh for goodness sake: you've got the best sort of hours arrangement that a college student could hope for.

Yet off your butt and find someone else to cover the shifts for you!!!

Meet 'em 1/2 way, they're surely doing the same for you.

you must of missed the part were i said

that i will try and get cover

im asking in case for whatever reason they dont meet me half way and decide to fire me basically as i really need the job i also really cant do the hours

piby

Do they care who it is as long as it's done? I say this because I have a sort of similar arrangement in my jobs. I also live beside it so I'm never really away for too long but the odd time that I have been and I've been really stuck I've got my friends to do it. As long as I told work in advance who it would be etc. they were generally ok. If your job isn't too complicated could you try this/train them quickly if you can't get anyone within your job to do it. I'm sure you have plenty of mates who'd be happy to pick up a bit of money just before Xmas.

Shelflife

im not having a go but why did you sign a contract to do certain hours if you knew that you that you were going away?

if you didnt know you were going away then you should have cancelled your trip because you had prior commitments, you cant have your cake and eat it.

you got the job on the basis that you would cover set hours, if you told them that you would be missing for 4 weeks coming up to xmas id say you wouldnt have got the job.

PeakOutput

iv been here almost a year and i made a mistake about the time this particular rota ended i thought it would end the same as last semester ie right after the exams but it goes on for another month thats my fault no doubt

as i said i havnt signed any contract

i could get anyone who has the qualification neeeded to do the job accept anyone who has it is already working there

edit; and going away mainly means me leaving college and going back to dublin as i only have accomodation during college term i am also going abroad a bit later but either way i wouldnt be here

gerrycollins

no contract is not good for either parties. however verbal agreements like this are considered sometime part of your contract,if you want to get technical.

how long you working there? if less than a year there is nothing to stop them from firing you immediately if you do not commit to the hours you are supposed to work or if you fail to get cover. it could be considered unauthoried absence, regardless wether you told them or not they have not authorised your absence.

if your over a year and you do not comit or fail to cover they can start displinary proceedures but not in your absence only after you return and all they can do is give you a verbal warning, however as you do not have set hours they can also punish you by reducing your hours(again contract would have something about this if you had one)

im afraid they have the upper hand here all the way your letting them down, they have accomidated you all through college with times that suit you why should they now go out of their way and upset everyone just because you cant work (and may not be able to get cover) for a short while. if the fault in this lies at your feet at any time then your loss mate take a beating.

the only thing on your side is if your employed over a calender year.

Serafijn

A verbal contract is binding the same as a written one, it's just harder to prove!

It sounds like they made it very clear regarding the expected working hours and your obligation to cover them, so unfortunately they are perfectly within their rights to hold you to their terms.

If you can get people outside of the job to cover then you can surely find someone, somewhere to fill in. What about putting an ad on the college noticeboards, asking relevant lecturers if they know anybody, or even posting in the jobs section on adverts.ie! There are many people around without work or looking for extra cash, and there must be someone else with the relevant qualification even if they are people you don't know yet.

You say you're going back to Dublin as you have no college accomodation. Do you have friends living near college you could stay with to cover some of your shifts? I don't know where you go to college, but Ireland isn't a big country - would it be that difficult to go back a few times in order to save your job?

If you do really need this job then you'll have to go the extra mile and make sure you do everything you can to secure it! It may not be fun, but that's life I'm afraid :rolleyes: