Student and working more than 4x my contracted hours

Yes, it’s reasonable, discuss it with your manager and agree a reduction. You’ve probably got precious few employment rights but if it’s a reputable company hopefully they’ll do the right thing. Also join a trade union for advice and support

I work part time in retail and have just finished the first semester in my 3rd year at uni. I still have assignments to do for the beginning of january but have been scheduled 53 hours between 22-29th dec with only christmas day off (I have an 8 hour contract). I don’t have my rota for the week after so cannot plan time around work to finish my assignments. Would it be unreasonable to ask for less hours when it will be busy due to boxing day sales etc?

Note- I also have anxiety which leads to me getting very overwhelmed very easily. My manager is aware of this and it was previously agreed that I would stick to my contracted hours only.

Joining a union can be useful (USDAW is the usual one for retail) although often you need to be a member for a few months (unions differ) before you can get advice and support specific to you. However, there might be a union rep in your store, depending on its size, who might be willing to offer you informal advice. There's lots of help on their website. With an 8-hour contract, assuming this 8 hours is over a week, as opposed to 8 hours a day, your employer is being incredibly optimistic thinking you would be able to work 53 hours over a few days! Unless you have an unusual contract, it's highly unlikely they can expect such service! Check out your contract and see if it mentions the necessity to do overtime at busy periods and whether it says 'reasonable' overtime, for instance, which can be debated between you and your manager, but 53 hours? Hardly! As you are in your third year (not sure if this is your final year) at university, if you haven't already done so and feel it might benefit you, speaking to a careers adviser about time planning and fitting everything in, could be useful.

Thank you! Yes it is 8 hours a week sorry I should have specified. All that it says in my contract is that I’m expected to work a minimum of 8 hours a week but the actual hours I work each week will be agreed in branch- no specifications about overtime etc so am unsure how to go about this!

I work part time in retail and have just finished the first semester in my 3rd year at uni. I still have assignments to do for the beginning of january but have been scheduled 53 hours between 22-29th dec with only christmas day off (I have an 8 hour contract). I don’t have my rota for the week after so cannot plan time around work to finish my assignments. Would it be unreasonable to ask for less hours when it will be busy due to boxing day sales etc?

Note- I also have anxiety which leads to me getting very overwhelmed very easily. My manager is aware of this and it was previously agreed that I would stick to my contracted hours only.