Work vent - kind of long

jajph1974

There are three of us in my dapartment. We received this email from our boss today at 2:57 (I leave at 4:00)

Carl (he's her boss) was just here saying he wants an update on each and every one of these installs and that our lack of response to these installs is embarrassing.  He wants each of you to update your SV’s before the end of the day today. (He actually asked her to do it)

  OT is approved for those of you that need it.  I will be working tonight and again tomorrow from 10am – 2pm.  (we're closed on the weekends)

  I can’t be the only one putting in the extra hours to get us back on track.  I submitted an offer to a new employee today and I hope they accept which will help.  

  We need to work together to get us through this next 3-4 weeks.  I am asking you all to step up and assist me in making this happen.

  I would like for each of you come up with something and to tell me what you can specifically do to help this situation.

This was my response email to her ....

I won’t be able to stay late. I’ll do what I can before 4:00.  I probably would’ve been able to get them all done if I had received the list this morning when Carl sent it to you. (He sent it to her at 9:52 am)

  ASP has been very busy lately and installs have to take a back seat to service calls.  We’ve all been working very hard in here and I’m not entirely sure what more you expect of us. There are only so many hours in a day.

  Honestly, I’m pretty offended because the tone of your email suggests that we’re not doing enough or “helping” you. I think we’ve all stepped up and are doing the best we can under the circumstances.

Her response was ......

I’m the only one working OT and that is what I’m looking for. (You're the boss, asshole. That's what you're supposed to do)


I was going to reply back something along the lines of " I don't do overtime ", but instead I just got up and left at 4:00

She's  been with the company for about 7 months and still has no clue what she's doing and I know for a fact that she'd throw any one uf us under the bus to cover her own ass.

Do you think I overreacted, or do you think my response to her was justified?

crfische

Are you salaried or hourly?

jajph1974

I'm hourly

crfische

Well, really, either way I'd be pissed that she waited so long to send it. Martyr much?

angiebear11

I don't think you're wrong, but personally I don't think you handled the situation very well. I would never talk to one of my fellow employees that way (unless they were personally attacking me or being offensive) especially via e-mail.

jajph1974

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_work-vent-kind-of-long?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:9d4c276e-4e32-4578-aa50-906eea0e174cPost:852adbbd-3149-4914-9fec-a0fe7ceabe0c">Re: Work vent - kind of long</a>:
[QUOTE]I don't think you're wrong, but personally I don't think you handled the situation very well. I would never talk to one of my fellow employees that way (unless they were personally attacking me or being offensive) especially via e-mail.
Posted by angiebear11[/QUOTE]


But that's the thing ... I think she was being offensive. She basically suggested that we're not doing enough work and I took HUGE offense to that.

Two months ago she fired the only other person, besides myself, that knew what they were doing and she dumped all of her work on me. I've been doing the work of two people for the past two months and I'm somehow managing to get it all done in 8 hours a day. Why the hell should I have to stay longer because she's clueless and get get her own stuff done?  You see what I mean?

jajph1974

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_work-vent-kind-of-long?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:9d4c276e-4e32-4578-aa50-906eea0e174cPost:2b87b965-a757-4676-8c67-0a26b635e4f0">Re: Work vent - kind of long</a>:
[QUOTE]I don't think you overreacted because it was a crappy thing for her to do. When I worked with someone like that I wouldn't have been able to get away with an email like that because the girl would have instantly taken it to the boss and twisted it to be in her favor and somehow implied that I was the slacker. I probably would have went to your boss about the issue beforehand and let him know it wasn't possible but you weren't thrilled with how she conveyed the request.
Posted by lovethebeach16[/QUOTE]
 

 She IS my boss

TurtlesAllTheWayDown

Eh, it depends on your job and your coworkers. I personally don't have to stay overtime pretty much ever, but many of my coworkers routinely do. Then again, I get my projects done during regular business hours. FI is salaried, but he stays at work late sometimes and/or brings work home with him if it needs to be done. I know our IT people are here ridiculously late sometimes. Our network admin used to take Wednesday off just because he was getting 10+ hours the other days and they didn't want to give him overtime.

I totally understand not wanting to stay past 4, though, without prior notice. An hour is not cool.

TurtlesAllTheWayDown

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_work-vent-kind-of-long?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:9d4c276e-4e32-4578-aa50-906eea0e174cPost:685503f6-ff4c-4ba9-839d-09f6c43a328a">Re: Work vent - kind of long</a>:
[QUOTE]Why the hell should I have to stay longer because she's clueless and get get her own stuff done?  You see what I mean?
Posted by jajph1974[/QUOTE]

To play devil's advocate: because she's your boss. And clearly holds your job security over your head (or could). Plus you would get paid for it, at least. I know you could claim that if they fire you they'd be screwed, but that's their decision to make.

angiebear11

But personally, in her e-mail I don't think she was trying to offend you. It just sounds like she's being lazy. Again, I don't think your feelings are wrong, but I think you would have been better off saying "Sorry I can't work" period. Like lovethebeach, I would never been able to get away with speaking to one of my co-workers like you did... and if I talked to my boss that way, I'm pretty sure he would fire me.

crfische

Ditto what they said. Insubordination is a biitch.

jajph1974

Angie & Mery - I see where you're both coming from.

I think a big part of it is that I have no respect for her whatsoever. She has no time management skills and it seems like her main goal is to do as little work as possible (but take all of the credit, naturally).

She's running our department into the ground, and the lame excuses she gives her boss are starting to wear very thin on him. He's fully aware that I do the majority of the work.

crfische

Have you talked with her supervisor?

jajph1974

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_work-vent-kind-of-long?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:9d4c276e-4e32-4578-aa50-906eea0e174cPost:b260bb81-00ff-4bfb-974a-6a9b2219d67b">Re: Work vent - kind of long</a>:
[QUOTE]Have you talked with her supervisor?
Posted by crfische[/QUOTE]


Not yet. I'll only do that if it's 100% necessary. She's slowly digging her own grave, and for now I'm happy to just sit back and watch.

banana468

While it sounds like she's a tool, I don't think you handled the situation well. As your superior, (as people said) she's in charge of your employment.  And essentially scolding her and telling her no can be construed as insubordination and worse - not being a team player.

It sounds like it's not a great place to be and if you have no other person to turn to it's not fun.  However if you're hourly, you don't have a ton of ground to stand on if she tells you that she needs you to put in more time.  Companies can insist on mandatory overtime and even if you dislike it, you can't tell them no when that's a requirement.

Beyond that, I think you need to display to her what is on your desk in a positive way.  That email can now be filed.  It can go up the company food chain for others to see and it can be interpreted how others want to view it.  NEVER put anything in writing if you don't want it to be used against you.

And perhaps coming up with a "plan of action" for how you can get the job done will earn you a few brownie points.   I also recommend OT for you tomorrow.

jajph1974

Banana, as always, you are very wise.

If this were any of my previous jobs and/or bosses I would agree with you wholeheartedly. However, overtime is not a requirement at my company. It's actually frowned upon because they don't want to pay for it. The higher-ups expect us to get our work done in 8 hours, and everyone with the exception of my boss, is able to do this.

When her position was open it was suggested by quite a few people that I interview for it. I didn't because I didn't want to be the salaried employee that HAD to put in the OT if necessary.

katiewhompus

Eh, I didn't read it so much as rude as "corporate lets-get-this-done" tone of voice. There's stuff that needs to be done and she seemed to be "rallying the troops" but failing miserably.
Whenever I worked as hourly I was required 5 hours overtime a week. I was also required to get my job done. If getting more overtime was needed then I was required to work that additional overtime or explain why I couldn't do my job in the time allowed (and if the explanation wasn't good enough, receive discipline).
I would think about talking to a supervisor after that email. While she may suck, that's not a good way to communicate with someone who is your boss and may turn around to bite you in the butt for insubordination.