hownottobeajerk

[hownottobeajerk]

I'm an hourly employee. I've been assigned an extra project, beyond my regular job description, and given a stipend for taking on said extra project. Is my employer able to make the stipend replace paying me my regular rate and/or overtime for time spent on the project? When I asked about scheduling time to work on said project during regular working hours, my request was denied, and I was told during regular hours I'm to only focus in my main job, and the other project is to be "an after hours thing" and the stipend is to be my only payment for the project. I'm not even allowed to work on it during the little bit of downtime I may have during the work day. And I'm likely going to have to use my own personal device to work on it, as I don't have a company issued device. If I do the math, the stipend would only cover roughly 72 hours of work at my regular rate, not even my overtime rate, and this is a project that takes months to complete

#Work #work rant #Legal #legal advice

[hownottobeajerk]

Can I be required to connect to company wifi?

A new policy at work states that all devices, company and personal (like cell phones), need to be connected to company wifi. Is it legal to require us to connect personal cell phones to company wifi?

#Work #legal advice

[hownottobeajerk]

UPDATE:

I talked to my boss yesterday. She understands why I'm so frustrated. Next year, she's going to enforce stricter rules in my department to cut down on one of our biggest issues. She is going to mull over some ideas of ways to use me in other areas to possibly move me permanently.

Ok, it's definitely time for a talk with my boss about moving me somewhere else. I just can't take any more of the co-worker I primarily work with.

She takes time off CONSTANTLY (as does the rest of the department), sometimes leaving me by myself, but gets pissed when I take time off. I took two days off after getting in a freaking CAR ACCIDENT and she kept asking me when I'd be back, and that's just one example.

She has zero empathy for anyone at all. Talks about families "not investing in education" when they can't afford tuition at our school. Complains about how loud the special needs children in our building are. Kept bugging me about coming back after my wreck.

She doesn't take responsibility for anything. Any time something happens, even if nobody is blaming her, she's the first to blame someone else. And if someone does call her out on something she did, she'll make excuses.

Even my dang supervisor annoys me.

She gets upset when we don't communicate with her, but she doesn't communicate with us.

Says she's going to do things, then doesn't do them. Example: When we were short handed in the afternoons and had to do overtime, she said she'd cover one day a week and never did. She asked me to cover her day ONCE, said she'd bring me Starbucks or something in return, and I ended up doing her day every week...and never got the coffee.

Tells us things our main boss said that she never actually said.

Blames me for things that happen (or don't get done) when I'm not there.

I'm just so done with all this bullshit.

[hownottobeajerk]

Ok, it's definitely time for a talk with my boss about moving me somewhere else. I just can't take any more of the co-worker I primarily work with.

She takes time off CONSTANTLY (as does the rest of the department), sometimes leaving me by myself, but gets pissed when I take time off. I took two days off after getting in a freaking CAR ACCIDENT and she kept asking me when I'd be back, and that's just one example.

She has zero empathy for anyone at all. Talks about families "not investing in education" when they can't afford tuition at our school. Complains about how loud the special needs children in our building are. Kept bugging me about coming back after my wreck.

She doesn't take responsibility for anything. Any time something happens, even if nobody is blaming her, she's the first to blame someone else. And if someone does call her out on something she did, she'll make excuses.

Even my dang supervisor annoys me.

She gets upset when we don't communicate with her, but she doesn't communicate with us.

Says she's going to do things, then doesn't do them. Example: When we were short handed in the afternoons and had to do overtime, she said she'd cover one day a week and never did. She asked me to cover her day ONCE, said she'd bring me Starbucks or something in return, and I ended up doing her day every week...and never got the coffee.

Tells us things our main boss said that she never actually said.

Blames me for things that happen (or don't get done) when I'm not there.

I'm just so done with all this bullshit.

[hownottobeajerk]

Just because something works for you, doesn't mean it works for everyone!

Y'all, my co-worker really needs to pull her head out of her ass and realize that not everyone's situation is like hers.

Back in the fall, when we were temporarily rotating some overtime coverage, my boss came up with a plan to make the days we worked later seem less long. The choices were to either have whoever was staying late come in later, or have them take a break for an hour or so in the middle of the day. Now, she devised this plan after I had come to her feeling a little frustrated and burnt out. This co-worker immediately pushed back saying how we've tried that before and it didn't work, and that she wasn't gonna do it because us working those long days was fine.

Today, she helped our boss translate in a meeting with someone interested in registering their kid with us. With financial aid, it was gonna cost the family $60 a month in tuition, plus about $300 in technology fees. The parent said they were getting ready to buy a house, so they're not totally sure they'll be able to afford it. My co-worker went on a whole rant to me about how it makes her so sad that this parent "wasn't willing to invest in their child's education." I tried explaining that yes, $60 is a lot less than the regular tuition price, but for some families, especially those living paycheck to paycheck (and trying to pay for a home), it may not be affordable. She just could not seem to understand that. Then it somehow turned into a rant about how public schools get everything. I went to public school and have family members and friends that are public school teachers, so I know how underfunded public schools are. I told her a much and her response was, "Yeah, but it's different."

[hownottobeajerk]

If it's not yours, DON'T TOUCH IT WITHOUT ASKING

Ok, so I've made other posts before about people messing with my little "survival kit" at work (i.e. a co-worker breaking the container and not telling me, and another co-worker straight up stealing my Motrin out of it). Today, I went into the closet for something and happen to notice that part of my little box was open. I had made sure it was closed last time I used it specifically so I would know if someone had gotten into it. When I looked in the open part, I noticed that the pack of gum that had been in there was missing (I may have taken it out and forgotten, but I'm pretty sure it was there), and the little travel size bottle of mouthwash had the seal broken (I haven't used it) and some was definitely gone.

I tried to take my box home, but it wouldn't fit in my bag. So I'm going to bring a makeup bag or something, put my items in there, and keep it in my backpack instead of the closet.

[hownottobeajerk]

did you ever get to be part of the pepper pack?

No. I applied two or three times and never heard back. Now, they've done away with the Pepper Pack and are doing some sort of rewards thing where you earn points for buying products.

[hownottobeajerk]

Y'all I really think it's time for another chat with my boss. I'm getting real sick of being the "representative" from my team whenever we have to do something.

1. My first year, we had an out of town training day and I was the only one from my specific team that went.

2. Last year, I was doing the daily paperwork for both classrooms until our 2nd assistant got hired. If I wasn't there, it didn't get done, and I got chewed out for it.

3. This year, the current assistant in the other room literally said to me (about that same daily paperwork), "I miss when you just did it for me."

4. Last year, all staff were required to be at graduation. From my team, I was the only one that showed up. And yes, my boss did call out the ones that didn't come.

5. A few weeks ago, we had a staff pumpkin decorating contest. We ALL had to do it. At first, one co-worker told me, "You just do one for all of us."

6. Now, my boss wants us writing full sub plans when we're out. And guess who got asked to take on filling in most of those sub plans? 🙃

[hownottobeajerk]

An update to this:

When I brought my frustrations up to my "supervisor" she wanted me and my other co-worker to talk to the other 2 people about it. I suggested it should come from her or our actual boss. Her response was, "Oh yeah, definitely [insert boss' name] since she's their supervisor."

I went to our actual boss, told her about the conversation with my supervisor, and even she was confused by that response. Then, she came up with a plan to make the days we stay late less long, and my one co-worker got all pissy about it. It seemed like because she was fine working 10+ hours a day with no break, she assumed everyone else was, and/or she just wants to make herself a martyr.

Thankfully, now we have our 2nd evening person, so we don't have to cover unless one of them gets sick.

At work, we're currently short staffed for the evenings. We have one person, but we need two, so one day time staff member needs to stay until we hire a new evening person. We try to rotate and all take turns staying. However, two day time people have already said they won't do it. One says she can't because of school work and one won't because she wants to spend time with her family. I totally understand these reasons, but at the same time, those of us that do stay have families and other responsibilities as well, but we still do it.

What's really bugging me is that my "supervisor" seems to have no problem with this, yet when there have been days that I have been unavailable to stay, I've had to really fight for it. There's even been times when someone else was supposed to cover, my boss asked me to stay for just a few minutes while that person took care of something else, and those "few minutes" turned into an hour and a half.

[hownottobeajerk]

So...I'm thinking about putting a bug in my boss' ear that next year I'd like to be literally anywhere but where I'm at right now. I probably should've spoken up wayyyy sooner, but didn't wanna cause trouble, and now it's getting to where I just can't take it. There's been a major lack of communication, team work, and general respect.

1. A couple years ago, a co-worker broke something of mine and didn't have the decency to tell me, just left it there for me to find.

2. Last year, a co-worker straight up told me she was going to take some of my Tylenol since she had a headache and knew where I kept it. Knowing I only had one dose left, I told her I was out. She went through my stuff and found it anyway.

3. We had a pumpkin decorating contest last week. I was taking a planned vacation day the day the pumpkins were due, so I brought it in a day early. I left it where my "team" would see it, and texted my boss where it was. My boss forgot (she had a million things on her plate, so I wasn't upset about that at all), but honestly any of my team could've taken it where it needed to go when I was absent, but they didn't. When I went to get it the day of the event, I found it right where I left it, which was in reach of children, and the glasses I had stuck on with gorilla glue had been broken off. And nobody had bothered to tell me or attempt to fix it.

4. On the day I was out, my "team" made a decision that involved us having to stay late every day this week and didn't bother to tell me.

5. My one co-worker (who took a shit ton of time off last year) complained to my sub about me being out (even though I planned it 2 months in advance.

6. My "supervisor" never communicates when she's going to be out, just disappears for a few days, and doesn't reply when we check on her. But gets upset if we don't communicate.

7. At the beginning of the year, we had to rotate some overtime and only 2 of the 5 of us were willing to do it.

8. My one co-worker has bitched about every little change or suggestion our boss has made. And bitched when she asked for some time off too late (we have to give advance notice and she didn't ask in the required time frame) and our boss denied it.

9. Whenever I get pulled to help somewhere else, my co-worker whines and bitches about it.

10. The little daily stuff we're all supposed to be responsible for doesn't get done if I'm not there. And sometimes I get blamed for it not being done, even if I wasn't there.

11. My co-worker told someone during a conference about something she had to correct me on. It wasn't anything major, or really something she had actually needed to correct, but I did not appreciate her making me look bad.

12. We had a whole ass meeting about a lot of this kind of shit last year, and it didn't really help much. Like, one co-worker called another co-worker out for being kinda snippy and rude when she talks to us, and our supervisors response was "well, we're both moms, and it's hard to switch out of mom mode sometimes, so we talk like we're talking to our kids." And when I called my co-worker out for stealing my Tylenol her response was, "well you said you didn't have any so I had to go find some."

This isn't even all of it, but I'm too tired to write more.

[hownottobeajerk]

At work, we're currently short staffed for the evenings. We have one person, but we need two, so one day time staff member needs to stay until we hire a new evening person. We try to rotate and all take turns staying. However, two day time people have already said they won't do it. One says she can't because of school work and one won't because she wants to spend time with her family. I totally understand these reasons, but at the same time, those of us that do stay have families and other responsibilities as well, but we still do it.

What's really bugging me is that my "supervisor" seems to have no problem with this, yet when there have been days that I have been unavailable to stay, I've had to really fight for it. There's even been times when someone else was supposed to cover, my boss asked me to stay for just a few minutes while that person took care of something else, and those "few minutes" turned into an hour and a half.

[hownottobeajerk]

[hownottobeajerk]

So I work at a big chain department store and our policy is that we can take expired coupons for ten days past the written date, but after that the registers will not accept them. The amount of times this week alone I've gotten people trying to use coupons that are MONTHS expired is insane. And I overheard my coworker arguing with someone trying to redeem one from TWO YEARS AGO! REALLY????

[hownottobeajerk]

Follow up to this:

We recently had a meeting with our whole team and our boss about some issues that have been going on. Our boss had left and the team was just talking when my co-worker mentioned the day she didn't feel good and had to take medicine. I mentioned how she just went in the closet and helped herself to mine without permission and her response was, "Well you said you didn't have any left so I had to go find some." Like what the fuck is that???

My co-worker: There's still headache medicine in your little box in the closet right? I'll just take some of that. *Note: said box is my personal property with my name on it that someone gave me as a gift and she didn't even ask if she could have the medicine, just said she would take it.*

Me: I don't think I have any left

Co-worker: Oh, no? Ok. *proceeds to go into the closet, open my box, and take the medicine*

[hownottobeajerk]

Boss: Make something with the kids for our volunteer to show we appreciate her

Me: *has the kids draw pictures and writes a nice note for said volunteer, leaves them on the counter for my boss to take*

Boss: *never takes them*

Co-worker: *throws them out*

Boss: *a month later* Hey, we really need to make something for our volunteer. Her organization wants something for their volunteer appreciation event.

Me: I had all those pictures for her a while back, but they got thrown out.

Co-worker: Well you just left them there forever *starts a new project, takes 2 days off, doesn't tell me how to finish the project so I can do it.*

Boss: *gets mad that we don't have anything done and are scrambling at the last minute*

[hownottobeajerk]

One thing that really frustrates me is my boss' varying reactions to staff being sick depending on who it is. If one of the two leads complains about the smallest thing being wrong with them they get, "Oh poor baby. Do you need to go home? You should be resting. What can we do to help you?" But if me or the other assistant say we don't feel good it's basically a *shrug* "That sucks."

Like last week both leads called out on different days and our boss kept telling them to rest and feel better. Today, the other assistant texted saying she's been throwing up and the response was just, "Let (office person who needs to know) know. Thanks."

[hownottobeajerk]

My co-worker: There's still headache medicine in your little box in the closet right? I'll just take some of that. *Note: said box is my personal property with my name on it that someone gave me as a gift and she didn't even ask if she could have the medicine, just said she would take it.*

Me: I don't think I have any left

Co-worker: Oh, no? Ok. *proceeds to go into the closet, open my box, and take the medicine*