Suck it up Princess

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Help me understand the logic here.

A couple of my friends work for a company. They are paid hourly but the company can not guarantee 40 hours per week. Some weeks they are not working much but other weeks are so full their overtime pay is insane, so it all works out. Both of them signed a contract with the company and have been working there for two years.

Now friend one, lets call him George, had just taken about three weeks off so he could take a course (which has nothing to do with his job, it was a rock climbing course) and do work with another company (technically the competition for his job). He wants another week off so he can take another course (again nothing to do with work) and his is livid that his boss has a problem with that.

Umm he signed a contract with a company to work for them from one date until the next. He agreed with the terms and conditions, and now he thinks that they should bend over backwards so he can do whatever the hell he wants. Oh yea, and he just had THREE WEEKS OFF where the company had to hire in replacements who don’t know the gear and the technology as well and the clients get the short end of he stick.

Is there ANY occupation where this would be ok?

Friend two, lets call him George (hey I like the name, give me a break) has the same kind of deal going on contract wise. He wants all of February off so he can go work for the competition, and he just told them this two days ago.
Now I can understand his wanting to leave a bit more because according to the current schedule he is only booked for about a week out of the month, so sure he needs to eat, and obviously if the company cant keep him employed then what is stopping him from finding work.

His boss is upset about him wanting to leave as well. Oh yea did I mention that this is at the same time as the other George’s course, so the only two employee’s who know what they are doing work wise want the same time off. So yea, the boss is not happy. And yes George is pissed off about that as well.
I just don’t understand why they can think that they can take huge chunks of time off of work at the drop of a hat and everyone will be hunky dory with it.
And with the COMPETITION of the people who they has worked with for two years!
I just don’t get it. :confused:

2

Sounds like george needs to find a new job, one where the workload is a little more stable, so he isn’t tempted to find work with a competitor.

However, I can see what he’s thinking…his boss seems to think it’s totally cool to have George on a string for him to jerk around at his whim…“George, this week I need you for 5 hours, but 1 week next month you will need to work 100 hours.” I mean, when work wasn’t exactly pouring in at my job at the bank, they still paid me for 40 hours. If I was hourly and they let me know when I’d come in, I sure as hell would be working for the competition (or anyone else).

3

But it sounds like George and George knew the lay of the land when they signed the contract, and were okay with it. I’m imagining that time off is negotiated with the employer and the employee, not just taken when it’s convenient for the employees (and especially not both at the same time).

4

If George 1 is taking vacation for a month, and George 2 is needing to pick up some more hours to keep food on the table during the same month-- why can’t George 2 simply fill in for George 1 as well as his own shift?

Maybe this isn’t a good time to suggest logical answers, but there we are.

5

Which one? :smiley:

6

Perhaps George 2 should suggest to boss that he should be paid a retainer? After all, he’s got to eat and got a mortgage or rent to pay, so he can’t be sitting around doing nothing.

7

But that’s the deal he agreed to - a feast or famine type of job. If it’s not working for him, he needs to re-negotiate, which might include quitting altogether. It isn’t right for him to agree to a contract then renege on it by not working when the employer needs him.