I work part time in crisis support for adults with mental health issues. My work runs a crisis centre, a helpline, and a drop-in that's next to one of the local hospitals and aims to prevent emergency admissions. Most of us are part time because it's pretty much all night shifts, Our services are all open 365 days a year and obviously Christmas is a busy time, because it's often a shit time for people struggling with their mental health, isolated, estranged from family, etc, so we put extra staff on.
Last year, it was the same few people doing all the extra shifts and being leaned on to do emergency cover. Our CEO is CF and not much of a breeder pleaser, and she wasn't happy that some staff didn't pull their weight over the busiest three weeks of the year, so this year she's sent out an email about Christmas working (which we have to start planning for now) and said that EVERYONE needs to work two extra shifts during those three weeks plus two on call days in case of staff sickness etc and they have to give 10 available days, which must include at least one of Xmas Eve, Xmas Day, Boxing Day, NYE and NYD. It's in our contract that we can be called upon to work extra at Christmas and that we aren't allowed to book annual leave over the Christmas period, so this doesn't come as a surprise to anyone. To me it seems fair enough - everyone does two extra shifts and two days on call and everything gets covered, no dramas, no scrabbling around last minute or being short staffed. The organisation pays time and a half for extra shifts over Christmas and a retainer for on call, they have offered to pay for taxis home for staff who don't drive so people don't have to pay higher Christmas fares out of their earnings, you get a paid taxi to work if you're called in at short notice, if you're on your extra shift and it's quiet you're the first to be offered to go home early...they are literally bending over backwards to make it less shit working over Christmas. But are the moos happy?
No, of course not.
A bunch of moos and one grandmoo sent this email ccing everyone saying how the organisation was discriminating against them, how it's not fair on their family lives to be told they have to do two extra shifts when they have home commitments, they should be allowed to pick and choose their shifts according to when they can get childcare, not be told when they have to work because it creates problems for them, their children will suffer if Moo isn't home with them on Christmas Day (except we don't start work until 5pm or 7pm, so if you have young brats, there's not that much time you miss with them), how workers without families should be leaned on first to work at Christmas because they don't have the same responsibilities...it was the biggest WAAAAAH POOR MEEEEE I've ever seen. The CEO handled it brilliantly though - she shut that shit right down, saying that all workers have a right to family time and by ensuring the work is distributed equally it means that everyone gets some time off with their families over that period, including parents and non-parents, not to mention the emotional toll of working in this environment over the Christmas period, why should a few staff have to shoulder that while others get to skip it?
The best bit of it? She reminded them that there has been a lot of goodwill in previous years within the organisation amongst the workers without children or who have adult kids not living at home, etc., towards parents with younger ones, and that they may well have just shot themselves in the foot with that with their entitled attitude.
I for one won't be doing any shift swaps with anyone who signed that email, that's for sure.