October 2013 Weddings
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NWR: Work-Life Balance

First off I will give a disclaimer: this will probably come off as whining. Sorry, but I need to vent and whine while asking for advice. 

I have been with my company for nearly 3 years, and have worked my way up to managing a house. I work for a company that manages group homes, and my particular house has 4 male ex-sex offenders. Very high levels of stress with very little reward. In this field there is always a staff shortage because of the less-than-ideal working situations. 

I manage this house with a very little staff base and we MUST have 24-hour awake staff. Recently, I lost two staff (one cut his hours and another, well, he got let go because his background check turned up some crap.). Because of this I have been covering random-ass shifts and have resorted to pleading with other houses to lend me staff. No one has stepped up to help us out because of the difficult clientele I have. 

This upcoming Saturday I thought I had gotten someone to cover my open shift, and they called me earlier tonight to say that they are needed at their full-time job. I said fine, but also knew that I have NO ONE to cover. I can't do it because I have a dress fitting and other plans. Other than me, there is no one to take this shift. I told my boss (who previously said she has plans) that I can't and won't work the shift. Mind you, my scheduled days off are Friday and Saturday. She got attitude with me and asked why. Well.. I'm working the Wednesday and Thursday overnights- meaning that I lose one day off (Friday) in order to sleep. Sunday I am working a double (14 hours) alone because no one can cover the afternoon shift. I cannot give up my day off because I will lose my sanity.

FI is oot this weekend on a boys weekend. My dogs will spend 16 hours in the kennel on Sunday (hopefully my mom can drop over to let them out). I feel extremely taken advantage of at work and on top of it I feel guilty about refusing to work Saturday. Am I in the wrong?? I feel that her temper-tantrum was implying that her plans are somehow more important than my plans/days off. 

End whining sesh. 

Am I out of line?
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Re: NWR: Work-Life Balance

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    Definitely not out of line. Work life balance is critical for keeping good health - both physical and mental!  Stick to your guns @EmilyTork.  
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    I agree, they are asking too much. Do you have a job notice out to hire some people?  I hope this gets better soon!
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    Thanks ladies! I'm glad I'm not being a complete jerk! I will definitely help when I can, but despite being the house manager (and on call 24/7) I need separation. I am not a doctor, but I have noticed that I get sick to my stomach every time I do an overnight. To be clear, it's during the shift/after the shift so it's not an anticipation thing. I think it may be IBS from shift work- I looked it up and it's a legitimate issue. 

    Also, finding someone to hire for these shifts sucks. It usually takes a couple months and with the wedding only getting closer I can't see myself doing all these weird ass shifts. I'm sure my boss and her boss will have an issue with this, but I will eventually (sooner rather than later) say no more. I mean, it's not in my job description to pick up everyone else's slack so I can't be reprimanded, right? **I am an HR major and I can't find a legit reason for me to receive corrective action based on refusal to work another person's shift. If shit hits the fan, I will for sure be going BSC on them. 
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