The scheduling manager at the organization I work for has decided to give me shifts that are the death knell for any associate–shifts that she has stated she cannot work because she has a family. I have always made it clear that I am only available for part time work because I have family obligations and health concerns that make part time hours a must. However, there has been one reason after another that this manager has needed me to not only work double the hours I signed on for, but also mainly night hours, heavy weekend loads, and shifts that start at store open and end at store closing.
I became physically ill and my family life was suffering tremendously. My son failed his first class ever in seven years of schooling. My last blood pressure reading was 160/120. I had to head straight to the hospital.
My garage was broken into while my kids were home alone during a shift I was called into without sufficient time to line up child care (they are 11 and 14). It was one of those, if you don’t cover this shift, don’t ever come back type of call-ins. I figured out that my manager was using the full-time gal to babysit her son in exchange for reduced hours and weekends off–which she conveniently gave to me.
I actually quit today and the best part was knowing that the scheduling manager would be the one who would have to cover my closing Friday and closing Saturday shifts…and I get to go to my son’s football game tomorrow…something I have not yet gotten to do since starting this job in late June.
I woke up this morning depressed and dreading the idea of even going to use the bathroom to start my day…I literally laid in bed, legs crossed, unable to move. That is when I knew something was dreadfully wrong with this situation. I felt like once I got out of bed, I’d talk myself into just dealing with it, sucking it up, and going in.
I’m not ashamed to say that two weeks’ notice in my case was not an option…I’m a people pleaser and my boss knows how to wind me around her finger. What I know she did not see coming was the phone call today and subsequent resignation email. As well as my follow up with the district manager about my manager’s abuse of her scheduling authority.
My sales numbers/quotas/CPI’s are so amazing, the DM is going to be at least slightly interested in knowing why they lost an employee as good as I was. I was the only employee with a degree, and I was a customer favorite. My kindness however, was taken for weakness. My husband is the breadwinner and I took this job because it was in the field of sales and beauty and I have a background in business and cosmetology. I was hired on the spot and I gave my all…then I started to be taken for granted and used. I offered to work extra hours to cover for an employee who abruptly quit; that was two months ago.
I continuously told my manager that I could only work part time with no more than two closing nights per week. She smiled, said she would see what she could do and for the past month she has scheduled me full time hours, closing 4-5 nights, with at least 2 of my shifts being open to close hours.
My doctor suggested I either cut back my hours or find another occupation. I quit this morning. I feel beautiful (weird adjective for this situation, I know) inside and out. My mom is coming for a visit next weekend and I am absolutely tickled that I have extra time to spend with her. By the way, I was only making 600 bucks a month. What a joke. I can make more selling my homemade pralines, and I think I will be trying my hand at that.
