Practise this conversation

How to ask your manager to change your hours

The ask you’ve been rehearsing on the way in, said out loud first to someone who answers back.

Lorrainemanager of a residential care home, your manager

Lorraine is waiting for you

Before you go in

Your life has changed and the standard pattern doesn’t fit any more. Decide exactly what you’re asking for before you go in: fewer hours, different days, an earlier finish or a four-day week. Lorraine, the manager, has been fighting to fill nights for months. You’ve asked her for ten minutes after handover.

Good luck.

Your goal

Ask Lorraine for the pattern you need, and leave with a plan rather than a favour.

Up to 8 turns, about five minutes, then feedback from our AI coach. Your first go at this conversation is free. After that, one credit a go (packs from £3).

What you’ll practise

  • Putting the exact pattern you want on the table in your first two sentences, with a start date and whether it’s for good or for now.
  • Showing how the work still gets covered, offering a trial period and something in return, so it’s a plan she can take to the team.
  • Getting a concrete next step out of "let me think about it": a trial, a review date, or a written request.

Practice for reflection, not legal or HR advice. If it involves harassment, discrimination, health or safety, talk to HR or ACAS.

The full picture

You're a care assistant in a residential home, three years in, on the standard pattern: a mix of earlies and lates across the week, with alternate weekends. Something in your life has changed and the pattern doesn't fit any more. Maybe you need fewer hours. Maybe it's the same hours on different days, or an earlier finish on school days, or your week squeezed into four longer shifts. Decide exactly what you're asking for before you go in, because that's the first thing she'll want.

Lorraine, the manager, has been fighting to fill nights for months and has been short with anyone who mentions the rota. You've been covering gaps for colleagues to get by, and that's wearing thin. You've asked for ten minutes in her office after handover, and you want to walk out with something agreed, not a "we'll see".

Why it's hard

A change of hours is a negotiation dressed up as a favour. Your reason is real and it matters to you, but the manager hears a hole in the rota, and the more you lead with how hard your life has got, the more it sounds like you want her to solve your life. What gets a yes is a proposal: the exact pattern, from when, for how long as a trial, and how the work still gets covered. She has four worries she may not say out loud: who covers it, whether everyone else will want the same, whether it's permanent or temporary, and what it does to the team. Answer those before she asks and most of the fight goes out of it. The hard part is holding your ask steady while being flexible on the details, and giving her something she can say to the rest of the team.

Two-thirds of managers say they're uncomfortable communicating with the people they manage.

Lou Solomon, Harvard Business Review, March 2016 (survey by Interact and Harris Poll)

82% of people who enter management have had no formal management and leadership training.

Chartered Management Institute with YouGov, Taking Responsibility, October 2023

What usually goes wrong, and what you'll practise

What usually goes wrong

  • "I can't do Saturdays any more" as a done deal. She hears an ultimatum and starts thinking about your contract, not your pattern.
  • Asking for "a bit more flexibility" with nothing specific. She can't rota a vibe, so she says she'll think about it and nothing happens.
  • Pointing out who else got their hours changed. Now she's defending a decision about someone else instead of making one about you.

What you'll practise

  • Putting the exact pattern you want on the table in your first two sentences, with a start date and whether it's for good or for now.
  • Showing how the work still gets covered, offering a trial period and something in return, so it's a plan she can take to the team.
  • Getting a concrete next step out of "let me think about it": a trial, a review date, or a written request.

Read before you practise

Questions people ask

How do I ask my manager to change my hours?

Ask for a specific pattern, from a specific date, as a trial, and show how the work still gets covered. Say whether it's for good or for a while. Then offer something in return and ask for a review date. In the UK you can also make a formal flexible working request from your first day in a job, twice in twelve months, and your employer has two months to decide. Practise the conversation first either way: a good conversation usually means you never need the formal route.

What should I put in writing?

Four lines. "I'd like to request a change to my working pattern. My current pattern is [days and hours]. I'd like to change to [days and hours] from [date], as a [trial for X weeks / permanent change]. Here's how my work would be covered: [cover]. I'm happy to talk it through." Send it after the conversation, not instead of it. For the statutory version, ACAS has a free flexible working request template.

What if she says the rota can't take it?

Ask what it could take. A trial for four weeks, four days out of five, one weekend a month. Moving from "no" to "what's possible" is most of the win. Get whatever's agreed in writing, even if it's an email you send her afterwards.

Credits here are BOM Credits: packs from 10 for £3 to 100 for £20, and one code works across every coach tool on the site. Full refund within 14 days if you haven't used a credit. Anything wrong, email [email protected]. How credits work