Hi Sheila, how far in advance should my employer need to give me my rotas when working in a care home?

Answered by Sheila Scott

Dear A,

Thank you for your question.

This is the advice that Chris King, our Employment Law expert at Napthens Solicitors gave us some time ago:

“An employer should give an employee who works an irregular shift pattern reasonable notice of their hours. Normally this would be included in the contract of employment and the standard notice period is around 7 days.

I realise that this doesn’t completely answer your question but it is quite clear that you should receive at least one week’s notice. You should also check your contract of employment. If there is a different length of time in your contract then there is a process that an employer should go through with employees before making any changes”.

I think you should look at your contract of employment and see what that says. Personally I would hope that most people would be getting more than 7 days’ notice.

Best wishes.

Sheila