Work Situation:
 

Hey all, it has been a while since I have come to post anything. Though the reading is great.

I need some advice.

So I work in a Retail environment. I have been working here for 6 years. They move us from store to store whenever they need us. So I just recently moved to a store out of my way, from ALL the other stores, because they needed someone to RUN this new store I am at. So They gave me a great shift. M-F 9-6pm. I have NEVER had this schedule before because I was their guy to go to who would take ANY shift they wanted because I never complained about it. So to get me to move to this store they offered me that shift.

So I took it. Now I get to this new store and there is this older lady who is having trouble doing EVERYTHING. She doesnt know how to work a computer nor use a mouse. Seems odd since we are a Telecommunications company. Like a ComCast basically.
I train this lady EVERYTHING i know and get her up to speed on basic stuff as well as dealing with scenarios that they dont teach us.

So one day, in December timeframe she asked to switch schedules with me. I told her, that I am happy where I am at since I have never had this schedule before. She has two kids, and lives in the town that she works in, where as I have no wife and kids, but I do have a family i see weekly if not more and I live in a different town.

then come last week she said, "i really want your shift. I am going to ask for it because I dont want to work Saturdays this summer at all." I was pretty floored by hearing this. I said you do what you have to do I guess.

So now Yesterday (Friday) our supervisor came to our store to give her a review. It was not good. She is not picking up the basics that I showed her as well as telling our Supervisor she wasnt "sure" about procedures. Making me look as If I am not teaching her. This is not the case. I show her EVERYTHING as well as show here where to go for the answers.

So the supervisor caught me off guard and asked me, "well me and Shelly are talking about seeing her not working Saturdays, because she had worked saturdays all last summer." Mind you she started in the summer. I told him, "well I worked 6 years on saturdays, and I am enjoying my shedule as of now." he said, " well can we do half and half. where every month you rotate to work saturdays for the month?" i told him im open to Ideas but I would have to think about it.

So now I just feel that this lady is gunning for my shift and this is her "round about way" of doing it.

I know its a saturday but what really bugs me is that this lady not working here for not even a year, is trying to get a GREAT SHIFT because she has kids but is not performing her duties at work?

This stirs me up. I am willing to give up Saturdays and such but not to this lady who in my eyes doesnt even come close to deserving it.

I am going to talk to my supervisor and let him know I think this is unfair. But I dont want to seem as a person who wont compromise, because I do compromise daily for the company they just dont see it since there is no supervisor their since I am basically the supervisor.

any ideas? am I wrong? thought?

It's bullshit. I worked for years compromising. I never got any recognition or benefit until I started looking out for myself instead of giving in.

if you're her supervisor, what stopping you from saving your ass by firstly giving her an official warning so that your superiors dont think its you thats not fulfilling your job.

secondly, that'd either teach her to ship up or help you ship her out.

like pop said, look after number 1. maybe then you can hire competant staff.

ive let go of 4 staff this past year because they were not only crap, but bad for my teams morale and the additional resources i had to allocate in order to manage them.

good to see you back by the way BLK. i was only thinking of you this morning.

You need to step up and let them both know you aren't a doormat. While the jobs may be scarce these days, that doesn't mean you can't start looking if this unfolds in a way that is unsatisfactory to you.

Flat out say no switching, and fall back to the half and half offer. Let him know that you've reconsidered and you value your Saturdays off to visit with your family.

Just. Say. No.

I'd ask your supervisor if you two can sit down and talk. I'd then explain to him your frustrations with this employee. I'd also make sure that they know that Saturdays are off the table.

This.

If you two were peers, I would say consider some type of compromise. But if you've been there 6 years or more, to her ~1 year, and you are her superior, you shouldn't have to. Explain to your superior that you feel you've earned the schedule you have, and that it was part of the compensation for getting you to switch to that store.

Also, a pet peeve of mine is when people demand special dispensation because of their personal life. It's fine to ask for schedule flexibility due to kids or the like. It's great when coworkers or your company help you get that flexibility. But just because someone is not married, or doesn't have kids, it shouldn't mean they should sacrifice their schedule for the sole reason that someone else does. People today like to pick and choose equality in the workplace. I totally believe that no one should be held back because of race, religion, etc., but it should also be true that one doesn't get special privileges because of their choices in life. Schedules, compensation, benefits, etc. should be based on job performance and seniority, period.

Yeah, that.

I worked for six years as a single male giving in to schedule whims of family people. Towards the end I told my super that I shouldn't have to work because so&so wants to be with her family. He informed me the exact opposite and scheduled me to work New Year's Morning when a computing system could have easily done the work via automation.

I turned in my notice and got a better job being the supervisor (bonus: in a beach town). Every holiday I programmed the system to make sure NOBODY had to work. The first year I did that, our GM questioned me about it, I said, "what business are we going to see on (holiday)?" None.

From then on I have been very territorial about my work and always point out when I save the day.