pink_sugar Posted November 3, 2012 Share Posted November 3, 2012 So my husband gets his schedule 3-4 days before the new week, each week. It's short notice, but fine. However, almost every week, they change the schedule without notifying him...so basically all the employee have to check their schedule online every day or even every hour it seems. They won't call you to inform you of the changes they made short notice. Anyways, my husband and I made plans for today, and yesterday he goes into work to find they changed the schedule AGAIN from 845am-1pm to 1pm-9:30pm. So he was made privy of this less than 24 hours before the shift. Problem was we already had non-refundable commitments per his original schedule. He spoke with a supervisor and he said it was fine to work his original shift. Today he goes in and another manager says he has to work an additional 2 hours and threatened to fire him if he doesn't. And even had the nerve to say "Isn't work a commitment"? I've never heard in all the jobs I've worked at to be fired over not being able to work a schedule change that was made in less than 24 hours before the shift. Of course people have other obligations besides work, but apparently, you can never plan anything in advance....because who knows if they will change your schedule 12 hours before the shift! And this is also a minimum wage job...part time. You'd think there would be some work/family balance, but apparently not. In all my retail jobs, if I was needed to work a different time in short notice, I was called and asked...but never was I threatened to be fired if I couldn't do the shift. It's wrong on many levels. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
CarrieT Posted November 3, 2012 Share Posted November 3, 2012 What kind of job is this? Something sounds really fishy to me... Could have a few options; he starts looking for a new job immediately. He could have shown up for the time he *was* scheduled and then explained he made a commitment for the time off, as is his prerogative. Link to post Share on other sites
Author pink_sugar Posted November 3, 2012 Author Share Posted November 3, 2012 It's a retail job. He did show up for his originally assigned shift today after talking to a supervisor yesterday about the schedule change and one of the managers said he needed to stay longer and threatened termination if he didn't. I know he's also been looking for another job, although I told him he needs to make it a like second job to look for another job. Link to post Share on other sites
Balzac Posted November 3, 2012 Share Posted November 3, 2012 It sounds like you are in the US. "And this is also a minimum wage job...part time." Most PT employees are at the mercy of demand and their supervisor. He is free to look for other jobs. How many of his coworkers leave for friendlier work environs? This sounds stressful. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Author pink_sugar Posted November 3, 2012 Author Share Posted November 3, 2012 Actually, his last department supervisor stopped showing up to work for some reason. He had over an hour of a commute and I suspect he wasn't making too much more than minimum wage either, so he probably decided the job wasn't worth it. The company is actually in a news listing about being one of the worst companies to work for. He's pretty upset with what's been going on, so I know he'll be looking for another job asap. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Author pink_sugar Posted November 7, 2012 Author Share Posted November 7, 2012 So he checks his schedule again tonight...as he was scheduled to be at work at 8am...to find they changed it until 1pm! Had he not checked his schedule again, he would have gone to work at 8am. This has happened before where he actually showed up at the original time and had to go home. I told him he really needs to talk to someone about this...it's already the middle of the week and they decide to give the rest of his schedule for the rest of this week a 100% change. It's absolutely absurd. People have other commitments they make around their work schedule and this last minute schedule changing is becoming a weekly habit. He's been printing his initial schedule and documenting when the last minute schedule changes occur. Link to post Share on other sites
threebyfate Posted November 7, 2012 Share Posted November 7, 2012 I wouldn't bother with all the documentation. This is a part time retail job. It's time to go job hunting and this time, ensure that it's not one of the top worst employers. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
demrea Posted November 7, 2012 Share Posted November 7, 2012 Why do people put up with this? If u all quit, the company would smarten up or go out of business. Is your husband unemployable elsewhere? The crap people put up with to help others get rich is beyond my comprehension. If I never have a job again, it will be too soon! 3 Link to post Share on other sites
SoleMate Posted November 7, 2012 Share Posted November 7, 2012 This type of behavior by lower-end employers, particularly in retail, hospitality, and service industries, is a major trend. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/28/business/a-part-time-life-as-hours-shrink-and-shift-for-american-workers.html?pagewanted=all A worker faced with this challenge can reason, persuade, negotiate, ingratiate etc. but I would expect limited success in most cases. Improving your skills and hence your market clout is the only real way to address this. I wish you good luck. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Author pink_sugar Posted November 7, 2012 Author Share Posted November 7, 2012 I definitely agree that it seems like a no-win situation and I know he's been applying elsewhere. If you say you have made commitments around your work schedule, they don't care, they expect you to put them first and work at their convenience without notice. Thanks for the link, I agree that this type of treatment is common in retail from my experience also. Thankfully my husband only has 5 more classes until his bachelors degree which seems required by most jobs in the field he's getting into. Link to post Share on other sites
MuscleCarFan Posted November 7, 2012 Share Posted November 7, 2012 I appreciate all these responses because having to tolerate this BS of constantly changing schedules. Thank goodness for only having 5 classes left before my bachelor's degree! Link to post Share on other sites
Leigh 87 Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 People either have to get a degree or get skilled up, or put up with terrible working conditions, basically. There are some great retail companies out there, though, however; these are extremely hard to get into, seeing as EVERY ONE in retail wants those "good" retail jobs. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Author pink_sugar Posted November 9, 2012 Author Share Posted November 9, 2012 Good point! I can honestly say I wouldn't go back into retail although there were one or two jobs that were fine. The others I quit for a reason. On another note, what do you all think about a 2 weeks notice? My husband was saying if he got another offer, he probably wouldn't give notice to his current employer...given the working conditions and constant schedule changes last minute without notice...why should he do the favor in return? He also doesn't need them as a reference as the work doesn't provide him with any experience for what he's looking for...basically it's just a "job" for extra cash until he gets into his field. In this case, I would take another job asap when they wanted me to start if I'm only making minimum wage, part time. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts