Because they hate facing bitchy women. And it’s hard to explain why there’s no such thing as a male receptionist.
Okay, here’s your strategy. But you say, “We never asked her to fill in again.” So is staffing this position, or making sure it’s covered, in your job description? If it is, then you’re doing your job. If it’s not, you’re being taken advantage of.
Probably you want to seem like a team player. But the thing is that teams have positions, that are defined.
What is the relationship between Cindy and Annie such that Cindy is obligated to tell Annie if she’s having family problems, or one of her teenagers has landed in juvie, or her sibling has cancer, or whatever other issues she may or may not be facing?
The fact that you’re going through the calendar book to figure out exactly how much time another employee has taken is what’s rubbing me the wrong way. Her boss and the HR department are capable of figuring it out for themselves.
Yes, lets not blame Cindy. You* earn* days off, do you get mad when she chases her paycheck?
Umm, are you two the only females? Are they sticking you two with this because they think it’s “womans work”? or are you two just the lowest in seniority?
I’d talk to the boss, and at least get a laptop so you can work at the front desk. In fact, that’s the best way to ask “hey boss, I am getting a lot of front desk time, which is cutting into my assigned work. Can I get a computer or laptop there so I can be more productive?”. Then, if the boss is unaware of the sitrep, now they know.
I’ve explained in this thread before, I chose to ask if Cindy was having family problems as a softer way of bringing up a potentially uncomfortable subject that Cindy is possibly taking an excessive number of days off at an inconvenient time. I was trying to be tactful.
I don’t normally peruse the calendar book, but there’s nothing secretive about it. It’s right on the front desk for all to see. I counted up the days because I wanted to know if my feelings of being a little, well, taken advantage of were justified.
Sometimes I just get tired of being a doormat. Sorry if that offends you.
Oh, there are plenty of women in the office. It’s just that Annie and I are the only ones who will do it regularly without pissing and moaning about it.
If it is not actually part of your job description( distinct from everyone else but you, Cindy and Annie ), start pissing and moaning. Or flat out refuse to do it anymore unless and until they start distributing it more equitably. Say it is negatively impacting your ability to do your actual job and you no longer feel like being a team player on a team of three, when it should be a team of 30. You’ve been covering up to now, so you clearly are willing to do it, but you’re fed up and you’re done with it until they fix a broken system.
Unless that would threaten your job, of course.
I like your style, Tamerlane.
But yeah, not likely to happen.
Tactful to whom? Gently asking Cindy if she needs help might be tactful, “a softer way of bringing up an uncomfortable subject.” However, talking about Cindy behind her back with someone else (Annie) who is apparently in no better position than you to have any answers is not tactful; it’s just gossiping. Workload and desk coverage are topics that are relevant to you and Annie, but Cindy’s life isn’t a subject that needs to be brought up with Annie in the first place.
You’re aiming at the wrong target. Yes, you are being taken advantage, but by your boss, not Cindy. As you have described it, Cindy is your co-worker and she has her manager’s approval to take time off. End of story. She owes you nothing, not her presence during closing week and not an explanation for her absence. Trying to blame her for your boss’s failings is creating drama that doesn’t need to exist.
Some people in this thread are giving bad, counter-productive advice. Every place that I have ever worked expects workers to do as they are told, regardless of whether or not something is officially part of their job description. As a matter of fact, some companies place all-encompassing wording in job descriptions: there might be a specific list of duties, but then the description says something like, “And other duties as assigned.”
Whether or not your particular company uses such verbiage, it’s always a good idea to act like it’s there, because most companies expect it. If you go around complaining that something is not part of your job description, (A) a lot of supervisors will start looking for the first good excuse to fire you, and (B) even if that doesn’t happen, you will NEVER get promoted in any way, shape, or form. (Unless there’s nepotism or something similar involved.)
You are entitled to your annoyance but it’s not clear that it’s Cindy you should be annoyed with. Odds are she’s just slacking but possibly there’s something you don’t know about her or it is the fault of the company for not being prepared to deal with a circumstance like this. Or maybe you know someone who would like Cindy’s job which could be available soon.
As it happens, Annie would probably know more about Cindy’s life than I would.
I will explain this further point that I didn’t think was relevant, since you are so obsessed with it.
Cindy is close friends with yet another coworker, let’s call her Tina. Tina often drives Cindy to and from work, and they occasionally go out to lunch together.
Tina and Annie and myself share a large cubicle at work, Tina and Annie spend a lot of time talking with each other about family and friends as they work. They do this mostly in Spanish, so most of what I overhear is unintelligible to me.
I’m no MAGA thug, so the Spanish speaking doesn’t bother me. But you can see that, yes, Annie might know second-hand something about Cindy’s life that I don’t. That’s why I asked Annie if Cindy was having problems.
I should also mention that in the past, one of Cindy’s teenage sons was having behavior problems in school so bad that Cindy was taking him to a social worker at the school’s direction. Every week, once a week. Guess who was covering the front desk for those three hours?
Now I covered all that plus other absences without complaint because Annie covers the morning gap without complaint.
Thankfully, Cindy’s son seems to be doing better. But the surprise afternoon appointments continue. I haven’t kept count, but I estimate about twice a month I’m spending three and four hour shifts at the front desk. Plus two and three half days of her planned days off as well, which I did count from the calendar book.
And now, during closing week, Cindy takes a planned three days off? Yeah, they are manager approved, but Cindy knows what closing week is like. There might not be any work rule violations, but it’s damned inconsiderate, unless there was a good reason.
So yes, I asked Annie if Cindy was having family problems. I figured Annie might know if something was wrong, because Annie talks extensively with Tina, Cindy’s buddy.
No, I wasn’t hoping for juicy gossip nuggets. I was trying to find out if Cindy had a good reason for needing three days off during our busiest week.
Remember, Cindy also processes invoices as part of her job. So closing week affects her job performance as well.
But whether or not she has a good reason to be absent is irrelevant to your complaint–which is presumably that you are being stretched too thin. That’s why people are telling you to drop this line of inquiry and just focus on how you can serve the needs of your employer while maintaining your sanity. Cindy’s life ain’t got nothing to do with this.
I flat out told my boss, in Annie’s presence, that I could not catch up Big Vendor, do the closing work, and sit in for Cindy all at the same time. Annie, perhaps trying to diffuse the situation, asked playfully, “Why not?”
Boss started laughing and agreed, “Yeah, why not?”
I backed off and smiled weakly. Minimized again. Thank you, Miss I-Don’t-Mind-Sitting-Up-There.
I love how I’m the villain in all this. Even here.
Well, sure - which is why I specified not to do that if it will effect your job. But I should note that your work experience is not identical to mine.
In point of fact I could get away with the advice I gave at my job, because I am a unionized civil servant with a moderately broad but still officially circumscribed list of job duties and I give not a single shit about promoting :). Also, I’m competent with a slightly leveraged skill set, generally well-liked and don’t bitch to management much which gives me ammo for the rare occasions when I do. But I realize far too few people fit into that category these days.
I admit I haven’t read every word of this thread, but there’s something I don’t get: If Cindy takes approved time off during closing week, why doesn’t management hire a temp to cover the desk?
Bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha!!! That’s hilarious!
Oh wait, you’re serious?
Then- screw them, let them take their turn and piss & moan.
And here you go again, bashing the wrong person. Why are you unable to see that you need to be directing all your ire at your boss, not your coworkers? By asking “Why not?”, Annie might have been trying give you the opportunity to lay out your beef and make some suggestions. But instead of doing that, you backed off. I know how it feels to feel like you’ve been painted into a corner. It sucks. But backing off was not something Annie made you do.
I’m not making you out to be a villain. I just don’t understand why you seem to be so pissed off at the wrong people. Your boss is the only asshole here. Not Annie. Not Cindy.
Because Annie and Tina and even Personal Sacrifice Lady have gotten on my case at different times for talking back too strongly to the bosses. “It makes you look too aggressive,” they tell me. Far be it for me to speak my mind to the higher ups.
In this case, my boss had earlier sent me an email telling me that all the statements for Big Vendor had to be cleaned up by Friday, period. No fucking way, I knew for a fact. it was Wednesday of closing week. There was no way I could get that done in two days with everything going on.
When I told him I needed at least part of next week to get it done, he started arguing with me, saying “They want their money! They want their money!” Like his kneecaps would be broken if this wasn’t done by Friday. That was when I flat out told him I couldn’t do those three things at once.
When I told him that was when Annie made her little joke. I know that she said it, trying to lighten the atmosphere, and it did. It calmed the boss down by making him laugh. Didn’t help my case out though.
So now, because I spoke up, I do have next week to get this done. I thought I would have all of Thursday and Friday to juggle the closing work and Big Vendor. But no. Surprise! Cindy’s off Friday too! I found this out a half hour before I was due up at the front desk, as I described at the beginning of this thread.
I look too aggressive indeed. To quote Alice in Wonderland, “‘That’s nothing to what I could say if I chose,’ said the Duchess.”