Correct procedure when shift start time is changed?

[TobysPaw]

Hi all,

I'll preface this by saying I am aware there is maybe no 'correct' procedure but:

Short Saturday shift booked today at my local MC: 1800-2100, I live reasonably close so I have no problem with short shifts. About 15:15 I get a message saying the shift start time was changed to 17:00, due to another commitment I knew I was not going to be able to get there an hour earlier, and it's quite short notice to be finding out - less than two hours before the shift would now be beginning at it's new time.

I felt I had no option except to cancel the shift, which I'm fine with, but I am concerned I will get penalised for a late cancellation, even though I was quite happy to attend at the agreed time. What should I have done? Cancel as I did, or turn up at the original time and ignore the amended time, or something else?

Incidentally, while I am using today's shift as an example, this is by no means the first time it has happened. Very typical is me having an 18:30-22:00 weekday evening shift booked, and it getting amended to a start of 16:30 or 17:00 which I can never do due to my main job.

Thanks.

[Lockardian]

This used to happen quite a lot at our Mail Centre.

What I always did was send a message on JoinedUp saying sorry, but I couldn’t start earlier due to other commitments. This message will be seen by the shift manager or similar at RM as well as Angard. Normally, I would get a reply saying “no problem, just come in at the original time”. On the odd occasion I received no reply, there was never an issue if I just turned up at the later time (and the evidence was there that I had informed them).

I imagine they would rather have you there to cover most of the shift than not at all, as you possibly wouldn’t have been replaced at short notice.