Punctuality!

[ailbhe]

Because Rob did an eight-hour day followed by a six-hour night yesterday, he is under more pressure than usual to be at work for 8:30 today for his standard eight-hour day.

Why am I the only one who seems to think that this is madness?

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I so agree with you, Ailbhe! What are his employers trying to do, kill him? Haven't they heard of 'work / life balance'?

I read your journal regularly and you seem to manage your life and your child rearing so well that I am always filled with admiration! But it sounds to me as if this problem with Rob's work threatens to spoil things. It's potentially damaging to the health of the whole family.

Is he not able to talk to them about it, and if not, would you be able to? They really should be made to see how unreasonable they are being. How much do they value him, if they aren't paying appropriately enormous sums of money for what he does for them? What would they do if refused, or threatened to leave and work for someone who paid him appropriately and treated him better? Are any of these options?

I hope you don't think I'm interfering, but for me the answer is no, you're definitely not the only one who thinks it's madness! I do hope you are able to sort it out.

Best wishes;
Elaine

[sam-t.livejournal.com]

It is madness. If I'm on call for work and I have to come in overnight, I'm entitled to come in x hours late, where x is the number of hours I worked at night. I wouldn't necessarily do it if there was a big deadline coming up and I didn't feel too tired, but turning up and falling asleep at my desk benefits no-one. Some of my colleagues do not have to be on call but are expected to work longer hours with no overtime in exceptional circumstances, but they're paid more than me, knew in advance what they were signing up for and usually do not have a spouse and kids.

Isn't an eight-hour day followed by a six-hour night followed by an eight-hour day kind of illegal?

[perceval.livejournal.com]

It is illegal. My husband's been on call for another company, and he's not supposed to come into work at all if he's been working for them for a set number of hours that night. Your employer HAS to guarantee rest times.

[helenprev.livejournal.com]

It is complete madness and you aren't the only one - well not amongst us anyway.

I really hope something can be sorted out, am thinking of you.

[clare-s.livejournal.com]

I am pretty sure there is something which means that he must be allowed so many hours continous rest in a 24 hour period.

Also the word No is very effective when used appropriately.

[uitlander]

Has he agreed to the opt-out of the working hours directive. If not its time to put the foot down. If he has, its time to give them the written notice that he rescinds this. From what you've been poasting it seems fairly clear that he has the workload of 2 people, and his employer ought to be dealing with that by employing person #2, not working him into the ground.

[mssociallyinept.livejournal.com]

I'm sure that's actually illegal. Tell him to simply tell them no, and should that cause any drama, drag them to the cleaners.

[the-warwick.livejournal.com]

Not only is it mad, it is illegal. Even if he's opted out of the European Working Time Directive there are sections that the opt out does not cover. One of those is that there must be a a minimum daily rest period of 11 consecutive hours a day.

You can't opt out of that.

They're breaking the law as well as breaking Rob.

[nex0s.livejournal.com]

It's madness. Even my job where the employers are insane, the clients are insane, an I live in a country that doesn't protect it's professional workers the way the EU does - *it's still madness*.

n.

[hitchhiker.livejournal.com]

madness it is! even from their pov - he can't be expected to be optimally productive under the circumstances.

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

I think so, too. Want me to phone his boss?

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

it seems like rob doesn't think this is madness, either, sadly. (why does he keep going in? are there other jobs he could get?)

[megabitch.livejournal.com]

why does he keep going in?

Wife; 2 children; mortgage... that'd be why he keeps going in. Having been in the unhappy and stressful situation of not having a job to go to, I can understand him carrying on regardless.