Ok so i have a problem at work already, i am contracted to do 16 hours and the advertised job was 16 hrs, also in the interview it was 16 hrs. So today i have been given my hours for this week and i have got 22 hours!

She told me its very rare you actually do 16 hours as there is always extra. Now i didnt say anything and have agreed to do the 22 hours this week, but i cant do it after this as it affects my HB.

Can they make me do more hours?? And what do i say to them??

(oh and i have started with a really fit 25 yr old who i have had such a laugh with and has the same sense of humour as me )

Unless it states in your contract that you could be required to do more hours (many contracts can say this) then they cant make you hun.

Thats a bit naughty of them. I would explain the HB situation to them xx

Well i havent recieved my contract yet, but the job was supposed to be contracted 16 hrs x

I'm not too sure, my friend had a similar problem with aldi, she was told 16 hours but they were trying to make her work over 40 some weeks. As Laura said I would explain that you need to keep to 16 hours due to childcare commitments, hope you get it sorted x

If I were you I would just say to them next time you are in, that the hours are 16 and that they mess up your HB. They will understand it, im sure of it x

Most retail jobs iv heard of expect you to work more hrs than contracted. It works in their favour. I was contracted to do 4 hrs a week in Tkmaxx for 7 years. Most weeks I did 12-16 but in summer hols/xmas etc I could do 30 hrs.

In ways it suited me because at exam time I could put my foot down and say I was only doing the 4 hrs - which they accepted as a short term thing and were more understanding the longer I worked there (but then it had 30-40 staff to jig hrs about with).

Companys often give contracts with lower hrs than they expect you to work because it means that if you take a weeks hols they only have to pay you for 16 hrs - even if you normally work 22. It also means they arent over spending and on weeks they not busy can just have you in 16 instead of contracting you for the 22 hrs they need you 46 weeks of year but the 6 weeks they not busy they dont have you hanging about making up your contracted hrs. You follow my ranting lol.

Id speak to them about it and hopefully they agree to keep you at 16hrs from next week. Im just a bit worried for you that they had planned/needed all along someone to do 20-25 hrs and are gonna try and bully you into working more.

Have you checked how much HB you would actually lose? As far as I know Iv lost all mine - not even bothering to reapply, but with WTC and wages im still £500 a month better off - even after paying all my own rent!!!

you do not have to i have a lady working for me who is on DLA she cannot do more than 16 hours and i wouldnt expect her to you need to explain your benefits situation to them and also thro child care in too xxx

ring if you need to know anything xx

Snoops there is no way i could ever pay rent on this place. TBH if i work more than 16 hrs its just not worth it because of the HB and CTB i will lose (not all of it but more than i would be earning) so i would be worse off. x

I was once declined a job I had applied for that was advertised as 12 hours but when I got to interview they said it was "minimum 12 hours" and they would always expect more than that. I couldn't accept it as I was already working 35hours elsewhere, just applied cos I was totally broke as a joke.

Anyhoo, if they had employed me without mentioning the extra hours beforehand then there would be no obligaion to do the extra.

We just had a right to-do with someone at our work because she was on 20hrs and that was what we recruited her to do, but at interview we forgot to mention that we prefer them to be full time for the first 2 weeks so that they get up to speed with the training faster as there's quite a bit to take in. She flat out refused and our HR said we didn't have a leg to stand on as we hadn't mentioned it at interview or in the advert.

We have lots of part time staff who we know can't be asked to do over a certain number of hours because of their benefits so if they are kept over for some reason (like they get a particularly difficult case right at the end of the day) then they take time in lieu so it doesn't affect their money.


You work for a larger organisation now so it won't just be on your one manager's say-so - stick to your guns honey, all will be well xx

They can ask if you want to do extra but can only expect you to do hours contracted for.

We have this at work, if we work late one day we supposed to come in late next day, never happens so I get extra hours build up till I get a day off

can I just say that i think its wrong that they advertise a job for certain hours then expect you to continually do more, I know im looking for specific hours so im going for work that is between 20 - 25 hours a week and doing more would compromise my child care arrangements, If your contracted to only doing 15 then you have a right to refuse more hours but maybe do it for the 3 month probation period first so as that they cant say your not flexable or a team player

I would tell them straight away you cant do it as if you make it work for a couple of weeks then they might expect you to do it all the time. Its not fair to expect you to do extra. Apart from the hb sitation, you have 4 bloody kids!

Mara have you spoken to them about it yet? What have they said? x