Your first option is to talk through the situation with your boss. Open communication is essential in any good working relationship, especially when significant changes occur that can affect your working life.
Under the law the parties must work in good faith, which can require the employer and employee to be open and honest with each other.
It also encourages good working relationships - very few employment relationships can be successful unless both parties talk openly.
You could consider having someone help you to talk through this problem if it is difficult to talk to your boss or if your employer is not picking up on what you are saying. There are several places you could turn to, including the Department of Labour's mediation service or the Human Rights Commission, which also provides mediators. Both of these services are free.
If that doesn't help, you could consider talking this situation over with a lawyer or employment advocate. I would expect a professional adviser to consider the specific wording of your employment agreement as it relates to hours of work, as an employer cannot require an employee to work outside the hours specified in their employment agreement.
I would also expect a professional adviser to consider whether you are being indirectly discriminated against because of your childcare responsibilities. Indirect discrimination can occur when an employer imposes a condition, such as working weekends, which has a greater adverse effect on you than on your colleagues because of your childcare responsibilities.
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Q. I keep getting anonymous emails at work that are upsetting me. They started about two months ago and at first were no big deal, including a few questions about what I had been up to and how things were going. Some had some harmless jokes and funny pictures. Recently they have been getting nasty. One of the emails was of a graphic sexual nature and also referred to a number of things that only someone I work with could know. I am certain that whoever is sending these disgusting emails works with me. I have replied to their emails and asked that they stop sending them. But I do not know how to stop them.
A. Several recent overseas cases have highlighted the seriousness of workplace internet harassment.
Your employer is obliged to protect you from being subjected to such behaviour. You should bring the emails to the attention of your employer, who will be able investigate where they come from and take the appropriate steps to ensure that you can get on with your work without being harassed.
Your employer should have an acceptable use policy for email and internet use.
Such policies generally regard internet harassment as serious misconduct justifying the termination of employment.
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