WWTK do? Work Situation

Re: WWTK do? Work Situation

• mikenberger member

  

  March 2015

  LabLove86 said:

  Hi ladies - 

  
  

  Just wondering what you would do in this situation at work.

  
  

  I am a dental hygienist - at the office I work at I am the only full time hygienist, with 2 part time hygiene co-workers.

  
  

  Over the last few weeks when the schedule has bombed out, or can't get full - I am the one sent home early or told to come in late. The part-timers always have their full hours. No one has ever told me "Your hours are being cut for X reason." So - I feel as though I have a target on my back with no reason known to me. I do what is asked of me, I make good quality use of my down time, I help out my coworkers when I'm able to, I am up to date on all of my individual maintenance responsibilities - I literally can not think of why I would be the one losing hours - especially since every place I have worked before - part timers lose hours first. And its not financial either - I make the same hourly rate as the other hygienists. 

  
  

  So - I talked to my direct supervisor about my concerns. She has a meeting with the owner of the practice (the one who makes the ultimate decisions on who stays home or goes to work - but he works out of a different practice. So I never actually work with him to talk to him directly) tomorrow about other office/business things. When I voiced my concerns to her her response was "I'll see if I can gracefully broach that subject and see what he says." (Which in my head I'm thinking No, this is why I am coming to you. To get a solid answer about whats going on. Don't pussyfoot around my question. I am asking a direct question, and would appreciate a direct answer.) 

  
  

  
  

  So - knowing that more than likely my question isn't going to be answered tomorrow -I am leaning towards writing him and email myself directly. Basically just asking if there is a reason I am the one losing hours, is there something I need to work on as an employee ect. I of course wouldn't word it in a mean/angry/any-emotional way. Just state facts and ask for feedback. 

  
  

  At this point I took this full time position because it was supposed to be 37 hrs a week (Full time is considered 32hrs/wk here). We are planning a wedding and looking to buy a house soon. Having my hours messed with right now is not exactly something that I can afford at this point in my life. 

  
  

  Part of me thinks I should wait until tomorrow and see what happens, but knowing my supervisor - I don't feel like my concerns will be addressed at all - or the thing I am concerned about specifically will not be mentioned (she may mention staff losing hours and how to fix that, but not specifically why is the FT employee losing hours over the PT employees). And the other part of me just wants an answer directly, and just wants to email him.

  
  

  WWTK do?

  I would schedule a follow up with my supervisor to recap her conversation with the boss. Give her a chance to fail in putting your concerns on the boss. If during that conversation with her, you don't get satisfaction or still have concerns, I would then email the boss. I wouldn't go over my supervisors head because I went to her first. I would feel the need to give her the chance to do her job or not to do her job. 

  
  

  
  

  Report6 Reply
• novella1186 member

  

  March 2015

  Wait. For all you know, the director and owner will get this all hashed out and settled and then she'll come back to you with an answer. 

  
  

  If you jump the gun and go over her head, 1. the owner will probably think "wtf? I JUST hashed this out with Director" and 2. your director will most likely not appreciate having you go behind her back/over her head to owner when she already told you she'd try to get to the bottom of it for you. So wait. 

  
  

  If she comes back and nothing has been resolved or figured out to your satisfaction, then let her know you'll be speaking with the owner yourself because it's important to you, and do so. 

  

  Report6 Reply
• kvruns member

  

  March 2015

  Just curious on the hours the PT folks put in.  Are they normally scheduled for 10 hours or20 hours or?  My thought was if the PT people work few hours to begin with maybe that is why they are not getting cut whereas they see you having more hours and can spare some for lack of a better word.

  
  

  I think you are correct in bringing it up, that can get a conversation going and maybe a rotation or schedule for who goes home early if there aren't enough hours.

  Report2 Reply
• plainjane0415 member

  

  March 2015 edited March 2015

  I would definitely give your supervisor a chance to address it with the owner first.  If you still have concerns after that, then I would think that would be the time to email/talk to the owner.  It's always good to kind of follow the chain of command in this situation so that you don't look like you are trying to go over anyone's head.

  ETA:  If there's any way that you can actually sit down and talk to the owner face to face, I always feel like that fares better than an email.  But that may not be possible if he works out of a different office all the time.

  
  

  Report1 Reply
• tojai member

  

  March 2015

  LabLove86 said:

  
  

  LabLove86 said:

  So - I talked to my direct supervisor about my concerns. She has a meeting with the owner of the practice (the one who makes the ultimate decisions on who stays home or goes to work - but he works out of a different practice. So I never actually work with him to talk to him directly) tomorrow about other office/business things. When I voiced my concerns to her her response was "I'll see if I can gracefully broach that subject and see what he says." (Which in my head I'm thinking No, this is why I am coming to you. To get a solid answer about whats going on. Don't pussyfoot around my question. I am asking a direct question, and would appreciate a direct answer.) 

  That to me doesn't feel like she's pussyfooting around the questions.  You said he is one who makes decisions about who goes home and who stays, so she may honestly not know. 
  
  I would also give her a chance to speak to him and find out what is going on.  It could look unprofessional for you to go to your supervisor and ask for her help solving a problem, and then go over her head without even giving her a chance to help you.
  

  Report1 Reply
• LabLove86 member

  

  March 2015

  @mikenberger and novella - you're totally right, I didn't think about the possible consequences of going over her head. I will give her a chance to bring my concerns up. (Obviously I've been thinking about this from a very selfish POV)

  
  

  
  

  
  

  kvruns said:

  Just curious on the hours the PT folks put in.  Are they normally scheduled for 10 hours or20 hours or?  My thought was if the PT people work few hours to begin with maybe that is why they are not getting cut whereas they see you having more hours and can spare some for lack of a better word.

  
  

  I think you are correct in bringing it up, that can get a conversation going and maybe a rotation or schedule for who goes home early if there aren't enough hours.

  One PT employee is 8 hrs a week (she is there now, I am home), the other is 24 hrs a week.

  
  

  To be honest - if there is a rotation it is my personal viewpoint that it should be between the PT employees. I was asked to come on full time. I have been a part time employee before who gets their hours cut. It sucks. Its not fair. But the full time employees at every other office/workplace I've worked at got those hours because they were the full time ones. 

  
  

  To the bolded - it is not up to my boss to  decide if my finances are at a point where I can lose hours. I get what you're saying. But just because I have more doesn't mean I should be the first one to lose them - especially since I am the only full timer. 

                                  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  Report0 Reply
• LabLove86 member

  

  March 2015 edited March 2015

  tojai said:

  LabLove86 said:

  
  

  LabLove86 said:

  So - I talked to my direct supervisor about my concerns. She has a meeting with the owner of the practice (the one who makes the ultimate decisions on who stays home or goes to work - but he works out of a different practice. So I never actually work with him to talk to him directly) tomorrow about other office/business things. When I voiced my concerns to her her response was "I'll see if I can gracefully broach that subject and see what he says." (Which in my head I'm thinking No, this is why I am coming to you. To get a solid answer about whats going on. Don't pussyfoot around my question. I am asking a direct question, and would appreciate a direct answer.) 

  That to me doesn't feel like she's pussyfooting around the questions.  You said he is one who makes decisions about who goes home and who stays, so she may honestly not know. 
  
  I would also give her a chance to speak to him and find out what is going on.  It could look unprofessional for you to go to your supervisor and ask for her help solving a problem, and then go over her head without even giving her a chance to help you.
  

  I guess when I talked to her I was just looking for more of a "Yes, I will address this with the owner." As opposed to "I'll see if I can. . . ." type of answer.

  
  

  ETA - I don't think she knows any reasons for this either. She would have just addressed them with me when I went to her. My supervisor and I have a good relationship, but she can be a little timid. Hence my concerns. 

                                  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  Report0 Reply
• southernbelle0915 mod

  

  March 2015

  I don't think the issue here is that you're curious about what's going on. The issue is that you don't think what's going on is fair and you want it changed. Right?

  
  

  So ask for what you want. Tell your supervisor that you signed on to this job because it was full time and that you're not getting full time hours. Tell her you think it would be more fair if the call-off schedule rotated evenly between all 3 of the hygienists.

  
  

  Generally in the workplace, you should ask for what you want. http://leanin.org/discussions/asking-for-what-you-want-8-tips-for-timid-negotiators/

  *********************************************************************************

  
  

  

  Report2 Reply
• LabLove86 member

  

  March 2015

  southernbelle0915 said:

  I don't think the issue here is that you're curious about what's going on. The issue is that you don't think what's going on is fair and you want it changed. Right?

  
  

  So ask for what you want. Tell your supervisor that you signed on to this job because it was full time and that you're not getting full time hours. Tell her you think it would be more fair if the call-off schedule rotated evenly between all 3 of the hygienists.

  
  

  Generally in the workplace, you should ask for what you want. http://leanin.org/discussions/asking-for-what-you-want-8-tips-for-timid-negotiators/

  Yup. You hit the nail right on the head. Why can other people always articulate better than I can? I guess its because I'm too close to the situation. 

  
  

  But you're correct. I don't think its fair. Its not what I signed up for. I will see if either my supervisor or the owner calls me on Friday (we are off on Fridays), or talks to me about it on Monday. Otherwise I will be more direct. And I will read that article! Thank you

                                  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  Report0 Reply
• theartistformerlyknownas member

  

  March 2015

  How many hours are you actually working? If it's still over 32 I'm not sure you have much of a leg to stand on, as you're still getting your full time requirement then. Honestly I would never expect an 8 hour per week employee to get cut to potentially 0 just so I could be even further above full time.
  
  If you're not getting your 32, that's a different story, and you use the professional, accurate, "I am legally obligated to more than 32 hours" argument rather than "but you guyyyys I'm buying a houssssse!" But you should still give your supervisor the opportunity to fix this before going over her head. I would be livid if one of my employees did that.

  ---

  
  

  
  

  Report7 Reply
• tojai member

  

  March 2015 edited March 2015

  LabLove86 said:

  tojai said:

  LabLove86 said:

  
  

  LabLove86 said:

  So - I talked to my direct supervisor about my concerns. She has a meeting with the owner of the practice (the one who makes the ultimate decisions on who stays home or goes to work - but he works out of a different practice. So I never actually work with him to talk to him directly) tomorrow about other office/business things. When I voiced my concerns to her her response was "I'll see if I can gracefully broach that subject and see what he says." (Which in my head I'm thinking No, this is why I am coming to you. To get a solid answer about whats going on. Don't pussyfoot around my question. I am asking a direct question, and would appreciate a direct answer.) 

  That to me doesn't feel like she's pussyfooting around the questions.  You said he is one who makes decisions about who goes home and who stays, so she may honestly not know. 
  
  I would also give her a chance to speak to him and find out what is going on.  It could look unprofessional for you to go to your supervisor and ask for her help solving a problem, and then go over her head without even giving her a chance to help you.
  

  I guess when I talked to her I was just looking for more of a "Yes, I will address this with the owner." As opposed to "I'll see if I can. . . ." type of answer.

  
  

  ETA - I don't think she knows any reasons for this either. She would have just addressed them with me when I went to her. My supervisor and I have a good relationship, but she can be a little timid. Hence my concerns. 

  Ah that makes sense.  I would still give her a chance, now that you say she's timid I see your worry, but you also said the meeting was previously scheduled to address other topics so she may mean that she will do the best she can to incorporate your issue into her meeting. 
  
  If the only issue is waiting until tomorrow though, I would just wait.  If it was going to be weeks or something that would be different.
  

  Report1 Reply
• LabLove86 member

  

  March 2015

  @lolo883 - I would never actually whine to them about buying a house as my reason for needing the hours! I would be professional about it. 

  As far as my hours - sometimes I'm right at 37, sometimes 34-35, and other times just making it over 30 (last week was 30.5hrs, this week will be 32 on the nose). The 24 hr employee is usually right at 24 hrs, sometimes will lose an hour or 2, and the 8 hr employee almost never loses hours - very occasionally will be called in an hour late. And I understand what you're saying about part time employees losing more - I guess its the principle of when you hired me it was for 37 hrs a week. Thats what I agreed to. I went from multiple part time jobs working 45 hrs a week (Which was often less than that because I would get called off - because I was the part timer at all of those offices), to the stability of having a full time position at 37 hrs a week. So I already lost money to go work at this office, and now the hours are getting cut more. 

                                  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  Report0 Reply
• theartistformerlyknownas member

  

  March 2015

  But... business changes. If they can't afford to continue giving you 37 hours when they're only obligated to 32, IDK what you can do about it besides threaten to quit and go back to those multiple jobs, and be prepared to back it up.

  ---

  
  

  
  

  Report2 Reply
• cupcait927 member

  

  March 2015

  lolo883 said:

  How many hours are you actually working? If it's still over 32 I'm not sure you have much of a leg to stand on, as you're still getting your full time requirement then. Honestly I would never expect an 8 hour per week employee to get cut to potentially 0 just so I could be even further above full time.
  
  If you're not getting your 32, that's a different story, and you use the professional, accurate, "I am legally obligated to more than 32 hours" argument rather than "but you guyyyys I'm buying a houssssse!" But you should still give your supervisor the opportunity to fix this before going over her head. I would be livid if one of my employees did that.

  
  
  
  The bolded is what I was thinking. If you're still getting at least 32 hours, there's not much you can do. Also, the other PT employees may have asked for more hours in separate conversations and that could be why your hours are getting cut. As long as they're still fulfilling the 32 hour requirement to keep you at FT, I don't know that there's much you can do besides what you've already done. Just be prepared for the situation to remain as is, as long as they are keeping you at FT and those employees at PT. It sucks, I totally get it, but it doesn't sound like much can be done.

   

  If they're cutting you to less than 32 hours, then that's a problem and I think you've already taken the appropriate steps. Don't go above your supervisor's head until she comes back to you with any information.

  Report1 Reply
• LabLove86 member

  

  March 2015

  Yeah - I get what you guys are saying. It does suck. I will wait to hear about the meeting tomorrow and just go from there.

                                  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  Report2 Reply
• paperpusher member

  

  March 2015

  One of my old employers was a master at playing this type of game. Full time for you is considered 32 hours/week right? Well where I live the "rules" say you can be considered full time still so long as you receive full time or higher hours at least once every six weeks.
  So week one I would get 32 hours. Weeks two thru six would vary between 20-30 /week and then week seven I might get between 32-38. She's fullfileld her once every six week requirement.
  
  I know it sucks and I hope you get a better answer from your supervisor tho.

  
  
  
  

  Report1 Reply
• LabLove86 member

  

  March 2015

  Man that's horrible @paperpusher - but honestly I would rather have a situation where it's " you're technically full time at 32 hrs so that's why its you losing hours" over some passive-aggressive move of "you didn't do X." Or "we don't like Y." Then just cut my hours without talking to me about how I can improve as an employee.
  
  Either way - I'm just going to wait and see how this all plays out.
  
  Thank you everyone for the advice and viewpoints I obviously didn't take into consideration.

                                  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  Report0 Reply
• jennyleigh16 member

  

  March 2015

  How many hours does your contract specify?

  

  Report0 Reply
• novella1186 member

  

  March 2015

  paperpusher said:

  One of my old employers was a master at playing this type of game. Full time for you is considered 32 hours/week right? Well where I live the "rules" say you can be considered full time still so long as you receive full time or higher hours at least once every six weeks.
  So week one I would get 32 hours. Weeks two thru six would vary between 20-30 /week and then week seven I might get between 32-38. She's fullfileld her once every six week requirement.
  
  I know it sucks and I hope you get a better answer from your supervisor tho.

  I had the opposite problem at a previous job. They only had a part-time spot available for me, and part time people did not get any benefits, of course. But it was pretty much the part-timers job to fill in gaps in the schedule left by the full-timers, and the full-timers' schedules could never vary. 

  
  

  So I almost always worked more than 40 hours a week. Sometimes around 60 hours. But I couldn't get any benefits, cuz I was just part time! Bullshit. 

  

  Report1 Reply