I’ve been working at place X for a year and a half. It’s a cashier job just barely above minimum wage, tedious and boring and sucky, and the customers can be really rotten, but the staff are really nice and there’s definitely a family atmosphere.
Recently I got a job offer for place Y, which offers $17 an hour and flexible work shifts–which I really, really need, being a full-time uni student.
Before this month, I asked my manager at place X if I could work early on Christmas Eve and get Christmas Day off to spend with my family, as is tradition since time immemorial. Recently I checked the schedule for the holiday weekend, and found out I’ll be working late on Christmas Eve and all day Christmas Day–and I’m the only one doing this. People with less seniority than me are getting both days off.
I don’t want to get into too many details, but things are really tense with my family right now, and I really don’t want to spark a battle by working both shifts. I’ve tried phoning other people and switching around shifts, to no avail.
What do I do? Do I turn in my two week’s notice now? I feel like if I do, I’ll be selfish for leaving place X in the lurch over the Christmas holidays, but if I work those shifts things are going to explode at home.
Give them your two weeks notice — that way management can figure out how to work around your absence.
Also realize — you are in a minimum wage job — people quit those jobs ALL THE TIME when something better comes along. If they didn’t have a way to handle it, then they would pay 17/hour to keep someone in that job. It’s the way the world works.
So to reiterate: Give your two weeks notice, suffer a bit under a guilt trip from your boss(es), work two weeks, move on with your life.
What the hell kind of place is open on Christmas, anyway? (That isn’t a restaurant) I thought you worked at [DEL]Major Drugstore[/DEL], and I thought even they were closed on Christmas.
If the staff is really nice and you don’t want to screw them, I’d suggest you talk to your manager or whoever does the scheduling. I don’t think you need to go into detail about your personal life, but you can explain that things are tense at home now and it’s very important that you spend at least some of the holiday with your family. Point out that people with less seniority than you got some time off, while you didn’t, and ask them to reconsider.
If they say “sucks to be you; here’s the schedule,” then you can say “Well, then I’m very sorry but here’s my two weeks’ notice.” If they ask if you’d really quit over this, admit that you were quitting anyway but didn’t want to leave them in the lurch over Christmas, but you just can’t work both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day given the situation at home. Tell them if they’d like to reconsider the scheduling, you’ll stay, but otherwise you’re leaving.
Does that put them in a tough spot? Sure. But you have met them more than half way by agreeing to work even part of the holiday on a job you don’t like and no longer need, when you could be spending the time at home. If they don’t respect that you have to put your family first, then you’re certainly free to quit with a clear conscience – you certainly don’t owe them more of your loyalty than you do your own family.
I know where you work (hehe - it’s like I’ve seen you in your underwear or something!) - I agree - quit now.
If they ask why, tell them the truth - better wages elsewhere, not scheduled on crappy days, etc.
And yes, I know the discount is awesome but $17/hour more that makes up for it unless you’re getting commission (which you’re not, because I know where you work! MUHWAHAHAHA! - ahem. I’ll be fine.)
(We’ve found that when a company says they treat their employees “like family,” that’s a huge red flag. I know you said that about them, rather than them saying about themselves, but in this case the effect appears to be the same.)
I think it depends on what would happen if the other job fell through for some reason after you gave your two weeks. If it fell through and you had given your two weeks would the present job take you back?
If I were you I’d probably wait until I went to the new job and filled out all the paper work to put in the two week notice. Once you are sure that the new job is yours then put in your two weeks.
As the recipient of several redundancies, my motto is “fuck 'em: because they’d fuck you over in a heartbeat if they needed to”. Forget about company loyalty - do your job to the best of your abilities, but if your real life is put in jeopardy by it, then your real life must come first. Especially as you’re not reliant on the job.
Offset any passing guilt at inconvenience you may cause your nice coworkers by the truth that it’s the management who are causing this, not you. Explain it to them; they’ll be pissed but understand.
So you’re the one sitting outside the store with the telescope… :eek:
I didn’t realize it was so obvious to guess where I worked! g I want to avoid saying it because of online liability issues, but yeah, my [del]Major Drugstore[/del]'s location is open 365.
Thanks for the kind words, everyone! I’ll get my letter of resignation drafted tonight and arrange a talk for tomorrow or Saturday. You lot are made of awesome.
To be fair, in most cases no one is willing to volunteer to work on a major holiday, but the manager is bound to pick someone anyway. If not Kythereia, then someone else would get screwed. In those types of jobs, scheduling requests are only requests. It’s the ugly nature of grunt work.
But it’s not just that that makes you want to leave; it’s a much better offer somewhere else that may not be there after Christmas, right?
I know the feeling of wanting to be loyal but the new job sounds much preferable and you need to look out for yourself. And as mentioned, they expect turnover in these jobs.
I agree with everyone else here. Do what is best for you, not the company. You would be foolish not to. I certainly wouldn’t pick a job you plan to leave over family! At first I thought you were going to say that things were tense with your family and you were HOPING to get the excuse to work, but since it seems you want to time off to be with them, go be with them.
Absolutely, and in my younger days when i was a waiter i worked plenty of holidays.
But, when the manager has to pick someone for this, and no-one wants to do it, then seniority on the job should be a major factor in the decision. And the OP has told us that people with considerably less seniority have the holidays off.
I can tell you that working for family ain’t all that fair either-but you do not end up scheduled to work on a"family" holiday.
Unless you are the job-doctor in solo practice, lead scientist in own lab, the artist in the studio-family comes first. Blood is minutely thicker that water. What it comes down to is that in the end all you have is family-of birth or of choice. Isn’t that what all the sappy movies point out? ELF comes to mind right away.
Good luck, you may find yourself out earlier than you expect but that means you could start job Y sooner or work on the family issues earlier.
I left a job a couple of years ago when I was forced to pick between seeing my hubby (who was working a thousand miles away) for the first time in four months or the job. So I handed in my notice the next day. I never did say why, but I’m sure the office manager knew exactly what was going on.
Family comes first so the resignation is a no-brainer, especially when you’re being treated unfairly and you’ve got a better offer.
