Jeeze, I remember seven ‘tardies’ in that short of a period being grounds for serious reprimand in high school, and we weren’t even getting paid to go to there.
Shit, you’re growing another Otto!
My main concern is when people in similar situations as Otto start suing motherfuckers willy nilly.
Only a matter of time though.
This happened to me once-the car broke down on the way to work, and I was only scheduled for four hours. My mother and I were stranded on the side of the road for well over an hour, and by the time I finally got home (in a tow truck!), my shift was half over. I called and let them know and appologized. By that time, I was in no condition to go back to work-I was hot, sweaty, filthy from standing beside the car, and to be presentable I would have had to jump in the shower and start all over and by the time I would have been ready to leave, my shift would be over.
But that was the ONLY TIME something like that happened.
Of course, towards the end of my “career” at KrapMart, I started having to call in sick quite frequently due to panic attacks. Which is why I quit-because I knew I couldn’t be reliable.
YMMV
Oh, and btw, I agree, Otto, you’re being a shithead.
In my case, I was probably worse than you-the thing is though, I admit I was a shitty employee, which was why I quit.
You know, Otto, I’ve been in that “new manager” position, the one promoted up from the ranks. It really sucked. I hated it, and I didn’t do particularly well to start off. One week I’m on the floor, and the next I’ve got to hand down orders and write-ups to the folks I used to be joking with in the kitchen. It was Not Cool.
But I discovered something. The folks who don’t show up on time, and who cop an attitude, they actually make the job harder for everyone, not just the manager. And things like being late, that don’t seem like a big deal to you, they do in fact cause problems or there wouldn’t be a lateness policy.
Speaking as someone who’s had to deal with all sorts of employee behavior, I can say with some confidence that if you were all that at work your supervisor wouldn’t give a shit about the two medical tardies. Questioned by her superiors, she would explain that you were in fact the best thing since crunchy peanut butter and would only have been late for a legitimate reason. Because people who are the best thing since crunchy peanut butter at work make her job easier, and right now she doesn’t want anyone making things harder for her, being a new manager is stressful enough. She could hate your guts and think you’re Satan’s minion, but if you were doing everything you could be doing at work and giving her no trouble whatever she’d rather keep you on than not unless she’s totally braindead–which isn’t entirely out of the question, of course, but I hope you see my point.
People who don’t give supervisors trouble aren’t just helping supervisors, either–they help their co-workers. When Reggie, rest his soul, would come in for a shift I knew I didn’t have to worry about him. He was always on time, and if I found him on the back dock smoking I knew without even looking at his station that it was either ready to go, or in a state he could manage within an appropriate time. I knew this because for years he had done absolutely everything as various supervisors had asked, had been on time, never caused problems, and always handled his station well. Since I didn’t have to check up on him except cursorily, I had more time to do things like train the new kids a little better, or deal with diplomatic situations when a waiter came up against a particularly touchy and intimidating cook. When none of the folks like Reggie were on the schedule, I knew the shift was going to be screwed unless a miracle ocurred. Sometimes it did, and not infrequently one of the new kids would show signs of turning out, eventually, to be like Reggie–confident and competent at their job, someone I would look forward to working with.
The thing is, I cut Reggie (and the other waiters like him) a lot of slack when he had a few unexcused tardies. Hell, I cut him all the slack in the world when it came to taking breaks, because I trusted his judgment. And while I’ve met managers who were petty and short-sighted, still I have to suspect that this manager has a reason other than personal dislike, or being a new manager, for calling you on the late thing. I’m going to suggest something you’re not going to like. Try to help the new manager do better–by not giving her reasons to worry about you, even if they seem petty and useless to you. I can almost guarantee that if you do that, not only will she eventually get to be a better manager once she gets her balance, but you’ll find that you have a good deal of leeway as an employee, because she’ll know your value. Focussing on how hard it is for her to adapt to her new role, and complaining about it, won’t help anyone, you, her, or your co-workers. But if you’ve got a perfect record and she turns out to be useless or full of it, well, you’ve got that perfect record to fall back on. Right now you don’t have that perfect record, so work on getting it.
Otto, it looks like everyone here continues to agree that it’s entirely your fault and no-one elses, and worthy of an official reprimand, if you’re late returning to work because you’re in the middle of an MRI which your boss knows about already.
I disagree. I think that if you make your best effort to get to work on time (which, if you’re getting an MRI, you can’t really do) that’s the best you can do. You’re not a child - I assume you’re a low-wage-slave of some sort and your autonomy is one of the things you surrender for that paycheque. Your rights are not as important as getting the job done. This seems to be how things work. Many of us get spied on, are not subject to health and safety regulations, are prevented from using the restroom, etc. My own experience has been that the greater the hourly wage, the more liberty you get. For minimum wage I had to sign in and out to use the bathroom and otherwise account for every moment in my day. Many of these moments were spent covering for the manager who said he’d be back in the store by such-and-such a time, and wasn’t. As my pay increased I wasn’t spied on as much, I began to be treated more as a person (instead of just a ‘worker’) but still noticed that people above me seemed to have a lot more time at work to chat and go for coffee and surf the 'net, etc. I think that once people move up in the ranks they forget how demeaning these outrageously excessive expectations placed upon us can be.
Again, I emphasize that the excessive expectation is to be able to go to the doctor when necessary, without putting your job at risk. We all agree - me, Otto, everyone else in the thread - that being ten minutes late because of traffic is inexcusable.
Everyone else seems to have missed the part where you took responsibility for your legitimate tardies. Maybe you should write bigger next time.