EddScott

A friend and work colleague died last Friday very suddenly. His funeral is on Saturday. My wife asked her boss (hair dressers) for an hour or so off on Saturday to come with me to pay her respects as she knew him too.

Her boss has said its too short notice and won't let her. How f*cking petty is that?!

I'm an inch close from going down there and telling my wife to pack up and stick this jumped up little cows job up her ****. Its a funeral FFS how can it be too short notice?

My wife is on minimum wage and is worked to the f*cking bone and this is how she is repaid.

chrisUK300

iTrader: (10)

Sorry to hear about your friend.

I *think* its at the employers discretion whether to give time off or not for a funeral if its not an immediate family member who has passed away.

http://www.workingrights.co.uk/right...-funerals.html

Time off for dependants (compassionate leave) : Directgov - Employment may be some helpful info on there

urban

iTrader: (1)

Unless its family then the rights are pretty much non existant.

In our place, the new contracts basically give someone 3 days off for compansionate leave, but it has to be family.

Doubt there is much you can do, and if she hates the place that much, maybe best just leave sadly?

Shaun

davegtt

Yep, no rights to being given time off but if the boss was so tight to not let you go to a friends funeral, for even just that one hour, not even wanting to go to the wake then I'll tell them where to go, bit unfair if you ask me. My misses wasnt allowed to come to my Grandads funeral because we wernt married even though we'd been together 7 years at the time.... I went down there and played mad with them, she got the time off in the end

Markus

Sounds like the boss is a grade A1 *****. I'd say that it could be considered compassionate leave, and I'd certainly check her employment contract, if she has one, to see what it says about compassionate leave.

I've had the odd day off here and there, at very short notice, to attend funerals of friends, and never had an issue with my boss over this.

My guess is that the boss would need to either do more work themselves and they are lazy, or they'd need to get someone else in, who will want more money for the same work and the boss is not prepared to do that.

It's at times like these when you find out how good your employer actually is. I'm guessing if she was "ill" that day then the boss would probably throw a wobbly and no doubt fire her.

Part of me want's to suggest going all Daily Mail Outraged Reader on her and get her to take the time off, not as a sick day, but as compassionate leave, make it clear this is why, and then see if the boss fires her, if the boss does, then go to the local media and ask them if they are interested in a story about a heartless employer who wouldn't let someone go to a funeral. Of course one could simply mention the media to the boss and see if that changed their mind. Depends if the wife really likes/needs the job.

Lisawrx

iTrader: (1)

As has already been said, don't think she has any rights unfortunately.

Maybe it is worth you going there and calmly explaining this death was very unexpected, so of course it is short notice. Thing is, I'd imagine a hairdressers' busiest day is a Saturday, and the bookings will probably already be made by now, and it would probably be hard to work around that. If it's a local salon, it could be worth suggesting that appointments could be rejigged, if customers don't mind, and she could work that hour back that day to fit everybody in, after all it's only an hour. Or she could get someone to cancel to allow her the time she needs.

EddScott

Thanks. I wasn't sure if there was any legal right but still a bloody hour FFS.

My wife won't let me go down to the salon because it will end up in a bun fight and I think she should walk anyway. She used to come home in tears over the way her boss treated her and I made a vow if she ever came home in tears again then the job would be over.

Her contract says shes allowed 16 days leave. My understanding is that the statutory minimum is going up in the new tax year to 28. My wife asked with 2 months notice as per her contract if she could have a Saturday off so we can go to Japfest. Her boss said no you don't have the time available. My wife said I will from April and her boss says but from April its too short notice.

Now IMO that is terrible behaviour. Her boss won't even acknowledge the increase in minimum leave even though its on the government website.

I'd almost (almost!) sell my Impreza that I've owned for 2 weeks just to get the money together to start her own salon up. We've got very little savings and the banks aren't lending to start ups but one way or another we will get the money together to start her own salon.

EddScott

LOL, the real fireworks will start in July if shes still there. My wifes sister is pregnant and due the same time as her boss. There is no chance her boss is going to let her go see her sister because she is due and she is more important than anyone else.

My wife more or less brought her sister up. She will walk of her own accord if shes not allowed a couple of days to visit her.

Now, I'm not saying bosses should fall over themselves for employees but a bit of give and take on both sides leads to happier more productive staff.

Lisawrx

iTrader: (1)

Edd, I'd be inclined to say in the meantime, she get a new job if possible anyway as her boss sounds like a grade A bitch. It just seems like she is a nasty piece of work. Our holidays run Feb to Feb, but we are usually allowed to start putting them in for the following year around September/October.

GC8WRX

Minimum wage jobs grow on trees, tell the tw@ to stick the job, go to the funeral, then look for another job!

Leslie

Rights or not, his attitude is morally disgraceful.

Les

richieh

Transit hitop-kit it out and go mobile taking her client base with her-thereby negating any penalty for setting up in competition nearby.
Should be possible on a lot less cash than a shop and she can have whatever time off she wants-sorted
ps according to european law for 24hrs leave only 48hrs notice is required and refusal must have good reason-ie operational/staffing needs etc IIRC

EddScott

Unfortunately its not that easy for her to just go to another job. She has a clause where she can't work for 6 months within half mile of her current salon. There is one salon over this distance and she knows the owner quite well. The downside to this one is that the owner wants £50 a day for renting a chair so my wife would be pretty much self employed. So given a 6 day week she has to make at least £300 to cover the chair plus products on top. She also has to pay the £50 if she isn't in work that day.

With an established client bank this may not be too bad a deal but I think theres a clause about cutting the hair of those who go to her current salon - anywhere for 12 months or something.

davegtt

Edd, £50 for the seat isnt that bad, dont women pay about £70 a cut? I know my misses does :

richieh

Would it not cost stupid cach to enforce this though with minimal penalties-would have thought restraint of trade may come in somewhere too?
cheers richie

Chip

So is she really limited to working within a 1 mile radius of where you live? If not then look a little further.

Her bosses attitude stinks though.

Chip

Lisawrx

iTrader: (1)

Really depends as I have just had mine cut for £4.

GC8WRX

If it was my missus, i would have read the employment contract, spotted the ******* unbelievable clause about working within a set radius for six months, guessed she has staffing issues and staff have left to go to other salons and she (the owner) knows it, and told her to seriously think about workinig for a **** like that!

Get your missus to get a job anywhere for the next few months, but before she goes, get her to tell the customers that like her that she is leaving and why, and she is setting up an in home service, and would they like her to come to their home?

That way her income will stay reasonably steady, and you will be sticking two fingers up at the salon owning tw@.

BTW, what would happen if she broke said clause?

EddScott

Well we are in West Wales and although the area is reasonably affluent things are rather cheap here - we have our eyes on a location that used to be a salon and the landlord only wants £2K a year! Renting the chair at £300 a week would be £15K+ over 12 months!!!

I'm thinking £10K working capital, some sort of deal with the landlord as the place has been empty for 18 months. Put the equipment on lease, kit the place out open in 6 months time. Keep in touch with the previous client so they know whats going on so they at least have a choice and then after 6 months they are all fair game (I think anyway subject to yet another look at the contract!)

Well, I knew it had this clause and its quite common with hairdressing salons. However, I was told that it wasn't enforceable due to restriction of trade, stopping someone from earning a living being against EU regs etc etc. BUT I think these cases are probably quite common and I wouldn't like to have the carp that goes with it. Clean slate and all that. Abide by the rules and rise above it.

She just popped into my office now on a lunch break (which is a novelty for her to even get one!) and I've a feeling I'll be seeing her again in short time. I've told her if she can hold her tongue, wait until her boss has the baby and tell her shes not prepared to manage the salon on minimum wage. If the boss won't relent than adios amigos!

cster

You would have been better to pull a sickie.

GC8WRX

**** the contract, rip it up, if it ever goes to court, play dumb and say you were pressured into signing without a reasonable time to look over it or the employer would employ someone else.

Hard to prove in court, and i doubt the salon owner would bother!

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

I wouldnt pull a sickie, I would just explain that this is important to me and I am sorry but I will be going, if you want to sack me then thats fine (test her conviction) but on the date in question I will be out of the Salon for an hour or so, probably best to not book clients in during that period.

I work for a big company, I get paid quite well and they are so helpful when I need time off like that, I reciprocate by making myself available whenever asked out of office hours and they are always grateful, two way street and I never abuse the system, your wife would do well to look elsewhere and work wherever she pleases, I cant see a pregnant shop owner wanting to take on a legal case to sue her.

john banks

My wife came to my grandmother's funeral with permission, but missed a sales target as a result, which she was told would be rounded up so she would meet the target as it was only a fraction of a percent away, and the calls she would have made on the day of the funeral would have met it. It was not rounded up in the end and then her boss became a nightmare. She left and got another (better) job. Not so easy to do that in the present climate though.

legacytt

i used to work at a place where one of the employers told me a story his father had died so was told that he could take as much time of as he wanted to get over the loss funeral etc so in all he took 4 days and guess what because it wasnt put down as a holiday they docked his pay needless to say i didnt last long in that job as i thought that was f*****g terrible to treat someone who had worked there for over 15 years like that i say let your wife go to the funeral and if anything is said just say a life is more important than any job.

Timwinner

iTrader: (3)

Tell her to go sick, she will be able to get a doctors note saying she was suffering stress as a result of the funeral.
Nothing her boss can do about that. He does sound like a bellend though.

SiPie

Disagree strongly.

Hate when people throw the stress card, means those that are genuinely nervously ill are treated with even more sceptism. That's just my personal gripe I have


Agree with J4CKO (and in the same boat employer wise)

Timwinner

iTrader: (3)

I would suggest that being denied the chance to go to a friends funeral would cause you a certain level of stress.
If you find you "hate it" when people are denied chances like this because you dont believe it cause stress on a level that meets your criteria of stress then I can only assume you
A, have a very high stress tolerance
or
B, Have never been in that position.
I have, and I underwent a high level of stress, I went sick, The doctor agreed it was genuine.
Im not suggesting a lie I am pointing out that you have the right to feel stress over stressful situations.

SiPie

You couldn't have got that one any more wrong if you tried

I'm sure most of Scoobynet who know my 'mental health history' (some of it quite well documented on here over the years) will also share a smirk at your remarks.

Timwinner

iTrader: (3)

I have and still suffer with PTSD, I read on here all the time about how bad the services are, how everything I went through was for the majority of people a waste of time.
I have seen and done things that caused real stress and I dont use the term lightly.
I am not a kid throwing the term around because I cant be bothered to get out of bed.
I dont know your medical history and I dont want to get into a "who is the most ill" argument, but rest assured with me experience of "stress" I believe that the case this thread is about qualifies.