need some work advice

[ed miliband]

as some of you may know back in january i dropped out of university temporarily in order to return to the same level in september. between january and september i stayed at my parent's house and worked temporary jobs, still paying rent for a place in the city i go to uni. in august, while looking through the typical catering sorta jobs i usually go for, i came across an advert for a job back in my uni city that involved editing, writing copy, proof-reading, etc. decided to go for it... got it. they were looking for a student so said they'd be flexible with hours, but wanted me to do 18 hours a week for the time being - if i had any issues, i could go and ask them to give me less hours.

worked from mid-august until mid-september with no issues, then when uni started it became a bit more difficult to keep on top of work and uni commitments AND going out and doing fun stuff, but after a few blips (woke up 3 hours late for work and feigned ignorance) i managed to get into a pretty good rhythm, despite being tired most of the time. went to work, did uni work, socialised - fine.

i took last week off to concentrate on three essays (one of which is due later this week), at first my manager was stubborn about this and sent me an angry text, so i went into work to find she wasn't there and had left me two tasks to do over a six hour period, which is a joke. then she texted me the next day saying i had to tell her when i would work next week by thursday, and then sent me another text asking whether i would work 36 hours next week to make up for the time i lost - ignoring the 6 hours i did work. previously she's put pressure on me to work a full 18 hours a week which i managed to work down to 15, but now she's being absolutely stringent and implying i have to make up for the time i owe them - this despite the managing director telling me, apparently in good faith, that i could ask for less hours if i wished.

maybe it's an issue i should deal with myself through better time management, and if anybody has any tips i'd be grateful, but i'm presuming when i return to work tomorrow i'm going to have to have a meeting with management about hours and i'd be grateful for any tips on asking for less and getting it. they need me in the job, i'm the only person doing what i do, and i'm fairly confident that i'll be able to bargain with them, i just don't quite know how to go about it - tips?

[ed miliband]

i should add, it's a small company and i've had entirely different messages on the hours i'm expected to work from the managing director and my line manager. the former is fine about me taking time off work as needed if university requires - or has told me so, at least - but my line manager is really tight about it.

[adipocere]

Do they have an official relationship with the university to hire students or did the university refer you?

[ed miliband]

neither, found it myself. they were looking to employ a student because the city has a significant student population and, i guess, it made sense to employ somebody cheap and fairly malleable.

certainly if there was an official connection between the two this problem wouldn't be occurring.

[adipocere]

Well, I'm not sure you have much recourse then. You can try to negotiate and gently bring up the original terms. You might also see if there are certain hours that they would prefer that you work or if they are more flexible about when you have to work...ie weekends and so on.

On the other hand it might be something you have to figure out how manage. Student labor is cheap and plentiful, but you're in the door and if you like the job I would consider trying a little harder for awhile and see if you can get them to lighten up.
You might also use your free time at work to get some studying done.

[ed miliband]

it would be ideal if they were that flexible but they insist on me working in the office, during week days - which occasionally means missing lectures which i am, after all, paying for.

i agree with most of what you are saying, though.

[Blake's Baby]

If they said an 18 hour week to start, and they would be flexible when term started, then really they should honour what they said. But, how far you can push them depends on whether you're desperate for the job. If they know you are, then that's leverage for them.

I don't know what you're publishing, but there are very few proofing/subbing jobs that require you to work office hours. OK if you've got daily deadlines (ie it's a newspaper job), but I suspect you haven't.

Don't know if you've already gone to work; if you haven't, my advice would be to insist fairly strongly that they stick to what they said when they call you in for a talking-to. But as I say, it depends if they think they can just get rid of you if you're bolshy.

And if you've been working for them 3 months you should get time off anyway.

[Ele'ill]

Confront someone about it. They specifically were looking for students and specifically offered you flexible hours (students need flexible hours they wanted students and a student is what they got). Asking you to make up your hours the following weeks isn't a realistic request on their part it is a vengeful temper tantrum. If I were you I would state that you are unable to miss classes and can only work the hours you can work, period. Keep your head down and continue to do decent quality work for them and you will probably keep the job.

[ed miliband]

i didn't go to work today because it would mean missing classes and instead contacted the office saying i was unhappy about the situation. my manager wasn't there so i spoke to the managing director and he turned around his previous words, that university was their first concern, and said he understood that it was my first concern - as if i was simply being a bit difficult. then he offered me a zero-hour contract, which obviously i've heard a lot of shit about.

any advice on zero-hour contracts then? is this basically a way of getting rid of me, or will i still be able to work albeit on a minimal basis (exactly what i want, to be honest)?

[Ele'ill]

Well, it kind of looks like they take advantage of students, hoping that poverty wins out over education and you get stuck working longer hours there and dropping out of school. It doesn't look like you have a choice but to take their offer or maybe call their bluff and say no I want these hours based around my classes you knew I was an active student when you hired me. If they refuse and it looks even more bleak then maybe take whatever they offer, basically because you have no choice. But make a decision, school or work as a priority before going in to talk with them about all this.

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

it's a way of getting rid of you.

If they won't negotiate from 18 hours to 15 hours, then they're not serious, they just want to get rid of you. You're being totally reasonable. Unless you're that broke, i'd stick to your quite reasonable demands, as you need to focus on uni work too. If you can't get an agreement with them, then just leave I reckon. DOn't let them push you over.

[ed miliband]

good news. went in today and spoke directly to my boss said i wanted to work 15 hours a week on the same contract and... he agreed. the woman who manages my work wouldn't talk to me though...

[Blake's Baby]

You get your contract, and someone annoying and unhelpful isn't speaking to you?

Looks like a win-win, then!

OK, a bad working relationship with your line manager can be bad news, but I'd worry about that later if I were you (and try to find another job in the meantime).

[ed miliband]

the most apt piece of advice was not to appear desperate. when i went in my boss said he thought i was about to quit, so i guess he was glad i was willing to negotiate.