# Forced to work Christmas week..



## sparky27 (17 Dec 2007)

Hi All,

I'm posting on behalf of my girlfriend. The background to this is she has been scheduled to work a lot over the Christmas period (retail industry so working around this time is obviously not uncommon). 
What I need to know is if the employer can force her to work the additional days, as if they can't she can at least bargain with them for New Years off or similar.

1. She has a contract that states working hours from Tuesday to Saturday (37.5 hours per week)
2. Working week for the company begins on a Sunday
3. Scheduled to work Sunday 23rd, Monday 24th, Thursday 27th to Saturday 29th

In my opinion, she should not be forced to work on the Sunday and Monday for two reasons, (a) she is not contracted to do so, and (b) due to Christmas and Stephens day off (paid) she should only have to work three additional days to fulfill her weekly requirement. 

Opinions and advice please.....


----------



## Purple (17 Dec 2007)

She doesn't have to work days to fulfill her weekly requirement when the days off are paid public holidays.
The time over Christmas is a different matter, what arethe people she works with doing? What happened last year where she works?


----------



## MandaC (17 Dec 2007)

I once worked with a major UK furniture retailler when they were here.  They are no more, either here or in the UK. The situation regarding Christmas was terrible.  We had our days off in the week coming up to Christmas as they were quiet days, but i remember working from St. Stephens day at 12 o clock to the middle/end of January without a day off.(7 days a week)

It was like it or lump it.

I think this was before the 48 hour maximum working week was introduced.  I dont think shops would get away with that now.  The english management had a real issue with irish workers, who they felt were less work oriented because they wanted their days off!


----------



## ClubMan (17 Dec 2007)

Don't forget these rules in this context in case they are relevant:


> *Public holidays falling on a weekend*
> 
> Where a public holiday falls on a weekend, you do not have any automatic legal entitlement to have the next working day off work. This occurred in 2005 when Christmas Day (25 December) fell on a Sunday. (New Year's Day 2006 also fell on a Sunday). This meant that Tuesday 27 December 2005 and Monday 2 January 2006 were not public holidays. When this happens you are entitled to the normal alternative arrangements concerning employment and public holidays that is:
> 
> ...


----------



## shipibo (18 Dec 2007)

Just to clarify the 48 hour working week directive.

Revenue will check this over a 3 month period, 48 hours weekly averaged over 13 weeks, so one week you can work 80 Hours , rest 37.5 , and company has not infringed on directive.

To my knowledge, the Thurs and Sat you mention are not holidays, The Sunday / Monday would not be covered under her contract ....

Is OT in contract ??


----------



## Mpsox (18 Dec 2007)

23rd and 24th are not public holidays, neither is the 27th(banking holiday in that the banks are closed, not a PH). Therefore her employer is entitled to ask her to work the days after Christmas


----------



## bigchicken (18 Dec 2007)

Mpsox said:


> 23rd and 24th are not public holidays, neither is the 27th(banking holiday in that the banks are closed, not a PH). Therefore her employer is entitled to ask her to work the days after Christmas


 
But she has a contract that says she works Tuesday to Saturday? Surely all the rules around Christmas are irrelevant. She doesn't work Sundays & Mondays.

OP - has your gf ever worked a Sunday or Monday.


----------



## storm (18 Dec 2007)

I worked in retail for years and at xmas time we all chipped in and helped out on days needed. It was taken for granted youd be working Dec 23/24/27 as the are traditionaly the busiest days of the year

 Is every one else getting the days off? Does this happen all the time? 

Has she asked about new years eve off?

It sounds like a small company if there only bringing out their xmas rota now and havnt made up the new year one yet. If it is , it could be awkward with collegues if she demands the sun/mon off


----------



## shipibo (18 Dec 2007)

Don,t think girl wants to make problems, just looking to negotiate as her contract specifically states Tue - Sat


----------



## bskinti (28 Dec 2007)

I had a retail shop up to sept this year which employed 3 girls and my way of sorting Christmas was for them to sort it out themselves *equally*. Which I checked, worked fine,  
Now one girl works for a large retailer on something they call *flexi hours*, she lives 12 mile from store and she is getting a lot of 4 to 6 hour days I don't think she ever got an 8 hour day since I closed my shop, some weeks she gets only 27 hours over 6 days, also she has to question her hours every week due to a faulty clocking system, How does a great Irish company get away with treating staff like this,  I can't believe this large company is allowed to operate freely in Ireland and don't allow unions in its doors, and not a week goes by that they are not opening a new store somewhere.


----------



## CatherineB (3 Jan 2008)

Sounds like where I work, bskinti. I worked the 21st, 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 28th, 29th, 30th, 31st and the 1st..only reason I didn't work the 27th was because they had too many people rostered anyway. I don't see a problem working Christmas week if you work in retail..get over it, I'm thankful my work doesn't open on Stephens Day..some shops did!


----------



## shipibo (3 Jan 2008)

Assume you are from Dublin .... if someone was from Country, abroad, and had a close family that met at Christmas , the situation maybe different.


----------



## MrMan (3 Jan 2008)

> Assume you are from Dublin .... if someone was from Country, abroad, and had a close family that met at Christmas , the situation maybe different.



I worked in retail before (I'm from the country) and I presumed beforehand that xmas was going to be a hands to all stations period and it was. I can't for the life of me figure out what you mean by 'you must be from Dublin', as far as i know they celbrate xmas up there too. Your girlfriend should look at a different sector if she cant handle the xmas rota. If she wants to meet family and friends can she not do so after work like most people have to. If she wants to make a career in her current industry she needs a serious change of attitude.


----------



## shipibo (4 Jan 2008)

MrMan said:


> I can't for the life of me figure out what you mean by 'you must be from Dublin', as far as i know they celbrate xmas up there too.


 
I assumed the shop was in Dublin, as were her family.Easier access to relatives over Christmas....



MrMan said:


> If she wants to meet family and friends can she not do so after work like most people have to.


 
If her family / friends were some distance from her work, difficult to meet .



MrMan said:


> If she wants to make a career in her current industry she needs a serious change of attitude.


 
This girl has a contract of employment, employer requests a change for Christmas, why is her attitude in question ??


----------



## MrMan (4 Jan 2008)

> This girl has a contract of employment, employer requests a change for Christmas, why is her attitude in question ??



Ok, the way I would see it is go into every job with your eyes open. If you are entering the retail sector it would be prudent to assume that the xmas period will be more taxing than most other periods. If the girl in question wants to stick to her contract and not be prepared to go that extra mile in the busiest period of the calendar then she may get the days off she wants, but I doubt her name will crop up when it comes to promotions raises etc. I think she is not looking at it in a practical sense.


----------



## shipibo (4 Jan 2008)

That is a decison she will make, original question queried her bargaining power.


----------

