I needed to vent about something so here it is... Both my assistant manager and my general store manager have used my schedule to 'punish' me for disagreements or even, what I thought were harmless discussions, we have had in the workplace. In the past I noticed that when I have specifically asked my store manager for a little time off to actively pursue my dental assisting career (this was back when I was still only supposed to be part time because I just got out of DA school) she would intentionally schedule me 40 hours a week at shifts that would not allow me to attend job interviews. For a long time in fact I was scheduled up to 40 hours a week but was still considered part time so I wouldn't get the benefits of full time. Now I looked into my state's employment laws and they require employees who are considered part time to work at least 90 days full time hours before they can even be considered or have their employment status changed to full time. Knowing this my boss would then occasionally give me just under what is legally considered full time hours every couple of weeks. It was an obvious and very frustrating pattern I noticed after a while. I have a new assistant manager now (still the same store manager though) and he seemed nice enough at first but now I notice he also uses the schedule as a form of punishment against employees. I recently asked him to bring me down to what is considered actually part time hours because I was tired of the back and forth FT to PT hours since I want to work on searching for another job that pays more, or even get my foot in the door at a dental office doing front desk work. I explained this to my ASM and he seemed to understand and said it wouldn't be a problem, "Oh yeah, if you spent the money on schooling, definitely you should try to find work in your field," is along the lines of what he said. He seemed to be cool with it all. I told him I still need at least 15-25 hours a week though and my second job covers the rest of time I lose not working at my day job. Well recently I had a LOT of stuff going on this month of October. The last two weekends (Thurs-Sat) have been really busy for me. I painted my dad's rental house for some extra money and I also was in my best friend's wedding. I already requested the wedding time off months in advance and thankfully I got my dad's rental home painted within my actual days off at work. But just the other day my dad told me that my grandpa is having his 80th birthday and he asked me if I could come to the surprise party on Sunday, the 27th. I told him I'd see what I could do but no guarantees since I didn't request the day off in the alotted time frame we're supposed to (they need two weeks advance notice before they give time off and there is no guarantee we'll even get it). So I just asked my ASM if there was any chance I could get out a little early on Sunday so I could attend my grandfather's party because I haven't seen him in a year and he got huffy with me and wanted to know why I was taking so much time off this month (I took two days off and work part time...). I said it was no big deal if he couldn't let me leave early because I knew I didn't ask for it in advance. He then wanted to go over my hours again and wanted to see if I could work more than part time and I was like, "well will I be considered full time if I do?" And of course he was like, "you have to work 90 days at full time to be considered full time", and I apologized and said that I wouldn't be able to. He seemed fine with my response but come to look at my schedule for next week it seems like he's very angry with me. He knows I need at least 15-25 hours a week and you know what he does just to be an ass? He schedules me a full day on Sunday and gives me no hours the rest of the week. So he wanted to make sure I wouldn't attend my grandfather's birthday but that I would also receive no more hours for the rest of the week. I talked to my co-workers about this sort of thing, asked them if they ever felt like they were being punished for something by the managers abusing their power over their schedule and they said yes but that they were also afraid to step forward and talk about it with them because they didn't want to get/lose more hours than they already had again and again. The place I work at seems to have this strange power struggle between the managers and the lower rung employees and it's very frustrating for everyone involved. All in all I've decided not to take next week's schedule as a bad thing but as an opportunity to get the HELL OUT of this job!!! I am going to be stepping it up on finding a new job for sure.
Having been in the position of managing a large staff on multiple occasion for several companies I may have a few insights into this discussion. Depending on both state employment law and company HR policy it is a bit of a struggle to define PT/FT position within staffing, and often does indeed come down to performance of the employee in question based on both work ethic/devotion and personality. An employee likely to leave shortly will be placed into the "Short timer" category and thus receive less consideration in scheduling than someone you hope to depend on and mold into the team. Expecting to be given more consideration after making it clear you will not become permanent staff is a bit naïve, and feeling set upon personally does not take into consideration the realities of scheduling and management. The catch 22 in this would be that the more complaint you project, the less consideration you will receive. It is important to remember who works for who in this.
The short-timer thing, if they considered me that when hiring me and that were really the case then I don't understand why my store manager wouldn't give me actual part time hours 15-25 hours a week when I first started working there, since that's what I was hired as, PART-TIME, and instead gave me full time mid morning/afternoon shifts that would never allow me to go to interviews. It's just odd to me. And yes, I know it's a catch 22. I really just try to keep my head low at work and mind my own business I don't usually speak up to my managers or anything. Also I think I work pretty damn hard. I got recognition multiple times for great customer service and for getting the most "highly satisfied" surveys at my store. You know it's funny though, the HR guy literally works upstairs at our store. If I really wanted to I could go upstairs and talk directly to him but I just hate the idea that it might cause more drama or cause my managers to lash out at me more if they find out I went to HR (my store manager carpools and is good friends with the HR guy so that'd probably be a really bad idea...) There was only one time several months ago that I actually felt the harassment against me from another co-worker warranted me going to HR. I told my store manager about it though and she took care of it pretty quickly. My problem was that I let her harass me for 3 months straight without saying a word. Anyways I appreciate the perspective from the other side of the table. This is just another hurdle in my road of life. If I could get over the harassment I faced (far worse than this stuff) than I get definitely get over this. lol
Most everyone there is looking for other work. Most everyone there is someone who graduated college in a certain field (certainly not retail) and who is still looking for a job. I came into the job making them fully aware that it was only going to be temporary until I could find a position in my career field, and that was a year and a half ago. This is certainly not new to them.
Office supplies, that's what I am doing right now. I also have experience in our copy center where we make prints, posters, bindings, etc. But I'm looking to get back into a receptionist position because I have gotten a lot better at multi-tasking and handling the phone.
Only the full timers and a couple of part timers. The others have limited hours because of school. - - - Updated - - - Oh it so. It so, fo sho. lol
Its tough out there for young people... actually for everyone. I am sorry that you are having a difficult time. Two bits of unsolicited advice.... Never discuss your personal life at work.. and before you leave each day ask your boss if there is anything you can do for him/her.
