We have been told that we need to take a lunch at work, that we have to punch out for a half hour before 5 hours into our shift (duh, that's the law). Well my boss told everyone in the department that they could come in a half hour earlier so they can continue leaving at the time they normally did. They work on nights. I work on days. I asked if I could do this too because I work a 10-6 shift and to be honest, it's hard to get things done working these hours. He told me that I could not.

On a side note, I'm starting to feel like I'm really taken advantage of here at work. I work most every holiday when everyone else gets the time off. I stay until 2 in the morning to cover for my boss when no one else will. I've just about had it. I want to go talk to his boss about the things that bother me, but I don't want my boss to be upset with me. He really is a nice guy but he does things that are really unfair. If I need to go into further detail I can, but I didn't want this post to be too long.

I appreciate the help.

I think if I were you... yes, I would go speak to his boss. Its sounds unfair to me as well.

I appreciate the feedback, I think I'll do that later today or Monday. Maybe Monday because I'll have some time to have cooled off by then. I just get so irritated.

Zoe, no one likes to be mistreated, but BOSSes often resent being usurped even more. You're in a situation where you are going to get the short stick no matter what you do, so you need to think it through before you do anything.

I'm not telling you NOT to do anything, I just want you to choose your "hell" properly. The devil you know is sometimes better than the devil you don't.

Do you think his superiors can deal with this without your life ending up worse than before?

Could your boss use this as a basis to start the process for kicking you out?

Since the chances of your boss reacting poorly to your complaints about him are high, consider one last shot at talking to him about it first, directly. It's going to be bad, no matter what you do, but perhaps this will keep him from going postal on you.

"Boss, who do I talk to get official copies of the actual company rules regarding taking breaks and when we should or shouldn't clock in?"

"Also, I need to reissue my request to receive the same equal option to clock in 30 minutes early that the night-shift receives. I believe it's our best interest to give me the same chances to get done on time. How do I arrange to get that option, too? Is there someone else I need to speak with?"

"Lastly, I want you to know you can count on me in times of need regarding overtime, but I do have other commitments in the evenings. We need to discuss the frequency of the overtime and I need to make it clear my other responsibilities cannot always be set aside. It's not a disrespect for my job when this happens, it is the truth that all my responsibilities deserve equal faithfulness on my part. I'm sure you understand. In the future, I do need advance notice about the long shifts, and I won't always be able to arrange the time."
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LASTLY, jobs are sometimes a habit it is best to consider breaking. So many people I know were GLAD six months after they left a job... more often than not they end up in a better situation. You should consider the job-hunting opportunities. The best jobs aren't in the paper, they are in people's minds and you need to "network" to get those jobs. Start making some calls.

Zoe.. normally I would say.. go to your boss but first ask yourself... what have you got to gain, will it change anything.. short from the fact that.. it will make you feel better, at least you would have had your say.. but at what price!!

Also are you secure in your job, would he replace you at the drop of a hat? No one is indispensable.
He may simply say.. you know where the door is,which is going to make your job much worse than it was before he new how you felt.

I think you have to stay on good terms and wait for the moment when you can casually slip little things in to your conversations with him... thus having your say.

If you have some holiday due, take it at a time convenient to you, perhaps when your not around to cover him he may realise your worth.

Goodluck

OK, well update. I talked to my boss about everything that was bothering me and the outcome was that I am in charge when he and his assistant are gone because no one else is capable of/or trusted enough to be in charge, which I guess I can't complain about. My boss's boss actually asked me if I would get as many things set up for night side as I can so there are less mistakes. She's noticed that since I went to days there are more mistakes at night. So I guess I'm not as upset about this as I was before.

Awesome result. I'm glad it's going positively. Well done.

Keep in mind all your options, though. It's a Big Blue World.

Did you post this same question before?

Me? No

I didn't expect this outcome to be what it was. It's nice to hear that somehwat of the opposite did not happen. Good for you ZM!! Now keep us posted. Just want to make sure no one is messing with you later on about this. I don't think so but just in case... In the meantime, go to the top and keep proving your worth. They obviously value you a lot ZoeMarie!!

Thanks! So far so good and once again, I will be working until 2 am. Lol. I go in at 6 tonight.

Update: I need a vacation. Seriously.

This has been going on for a while. My boss has been coming in late. Just about daily, and I'm not talking 10-15 minutes. I'm talking 2-3 hours. Last night he was scheduled at 6 and one of my co workers called me last night because she didn't know where the files were for a particular job. She called me at 11:00 pm. She said she would have asked our boss but she couldn't get a hold of him and he called earlier saying he would be 2 hours late. He's salary. He always comes in late, always leaves early. I came in at 5 this morning. If he was in at 11 last night, which I'm sure he wasn't, that would mean he should be staying until at least 7 this morning, no sign of him. He left the new girl who told me herself that she doesn't feel like she was trained properly to do everything by herself last night. I know she's capable, but I also know that she's not as confident in what she's doing as she could be.

I've been working crazy hours since one of my coworkers had surgery. She's been out 7 weeks so far. I'm telling you, my hours have been all over the place. So I've been having all kinds of responsibilities added to my regular duties. I've asked a coworker since he was basically filling in for me if he could help me out with the dayside duties. (I was told to make sure when we're both here to make sure he has things to do). I asked him nicely, and explained that way we wouldn't forget things. Since I've asked him to help me, he has not done a single thing that I've asked. I talked to my boss about this twice within these 7 weeks and do you think anything changed? No. Of course not.

We had a couple skids of plates (for press) with possible damage to them. The lid was really damaged and there was an email that went out 2 months ago that said if the top packages were damaged not to put the plates in the cabinets (I'm guessing because we would be sending them back). Well a coworker (the same one listed above) decided that even though the top packages were destroyed, that he was going to put them all away anyway. I reminded him of the email that we weren't supposed to put them away and he continued to do so anyway. Now over the weekend we had problems with every single plate we sent not being crimped properly or at all. We had to call the techs in on Saturday trying to figure out what was going on. We thought maybe it was the software going bad, or a problem with our system. Nope... bad plates. This could have all been avoided.

I honestly feel like of the 7 people in our dept there are about 4 of us that give a damn anymore, neither of them being the manager or the assistant manager. I don't know what has happened in the last year or so, but this is ridiculous. Someone today asked me who was running our dept anymore and I joked "no one." But it's the truth. I have caught so many mistakes lately that have saved our department money. I would be in a world of trouble if I didn't, but do you think that because these products are already plated that the person that plated them would even be asked to be more careful? That's all kinds of product time and money wasted because people aren't taking their jobs seriously.

I know this sounds like a rant more than anything, but I don't know how much more of this I can take...

Why would you be in a world of trouble if you had not caught so many mistakes? It sounds like the manager and/or asst. manager should be taking care of these things. I think it stinks that people like you who really care are the ones taking good care and not getting credit for it. Not that you are looking for credit but something is wrong here. Doesn't it stink that the higher ups usually get away with things like this? I hate it. You sound like a great great worker who cares but you have to unfortunately deal with this crapola. Is there anyone else you (all), the ones that care, could possibly speak to? If not, do your share. As frustrating as it may be, someone, the higher ups will have to eventually come through no? I sure do hope so but I hate when I hear stuff like this.

And P.S. Can you take that vacation ZoeMarie?

Yeah, I get my vacation in 2 weeks. It feels long overdue. I would be in trouble, most likely written up if I had not caught the mistakes, mistakes being things like ads that have been paid for not running because someone overlooks it. I hope that all this hard work pays off in the end. Most everyone in the department says that they can see me being the manager in here some day, but in the meantime I just wish that my boss would get control of the department. He just doesn't care anymore.

Ahhh. Ok, I see. It was your job to catch those mistakes. You have good work ethics and I'm sure if it wasn't your job, you would still look out for and/or catch mistakes anyway. Keep it up and hopefully it will pay off. I hope it does and it sounds like you should indeed be the manager some day. Will be rootin' for ya'.

Thanks, that means a lot. I just feel like everything I do goes unnoticed.