Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
I submit for discussion ...
This is from someone on my FB friends list ... She is upset because she's been told by her new boss to either reschedule a vacation she was supposed to go on next week and keep her job, or go on vacation and lose her job. She has only been at the job for a couple of weeks (I think) - she is definitely still in her probationary period, but I think she started just before Christmas. She said she told them about her vacation before she hired on and it was fine. However, someone with a longer tenure is also out of the office and another co-worker has had a family emergency. I think she's supposed to leave tomorrow. FB friend believes her boss is being unreasonable to expect her to reschedule at the last minute.
WDYT? She didn't take a new job because she wanted to leave her old one - she left because the old job went to a part time position (not sure if that was her choice to leave or theirs, but she was UE for a few weeks between).
WWYD in her position?
Discuss. :-D
Re: I submit for discussion ...
I think a lot of this depends. First off, would I be upset they said I could take the vacation and are now reneging? Absolutely, but...
What kind of plans are these? Will she lose money by not being able to get refunds from plane tickets, etc?
What kind of job does she do? Is it a pretty specific professional position that isn't in high demand, thus making it difficult to find another position? How hard was it to find this new job? If she does something that a lot of places hire for (like a receptionist or something) and she can find another job within a few weeks, not as big of a deal.
What happens if no one is in the office? Does the boss just get pissed because they have to answer the phone or are important things not getting done, like payroll?
When I first got my job in B-more I gave them two dates that I needed to be gone for vacation (aka flying back home, with tickets already purchased). If they had reneged, I probably would have quit, but I am young and stupid. We had already lived for a month without me having a job and we would've been able to survive longer just on DH's salary. My salary then went entirely into savings or towards student loans.
I don't know what she does for a living, but I don't really think it matters. She's been there a very short period of time and been told that she has to decide - job or vacation - because a co-worker has had a family emergency. If she chooses to take the vacation and give up the job, more power to her. But does that give her a right to get angry and demand that they let her go on vacation anyway? Is her vacation more important than a family emergency?
Put it another way - if it was your family emergency or the vacation of a co-worker you barely know who's been around for less than a month, which would you consider more important?
I don't know how hard it was for her to find the job - she's not a close friend, but she does have a daughter to support and a house payment to make. And considering the economy still sucks in many areas, the question I'd be asking in her position is, "Do I want to go on vacation or do I want to feed my daughter?"
I think but am not sure, that this is one of her half-marathons. It isn't like she can reschedule it for a month from now, but at the same time, she's done something like a dozen of them all over the country this year alone.
I get the impression she's mad because a couple of us have told her she doesn't have much to go on, being so new to the job. I think she got REALLY mad at me but ... whatever. Reality sucks, but sometimes you just have to do what you have to do.
If it's for something like a half marathon, skip it and go run around the block. Seriously.
I don't think demanding them to let her go on the vacation is an option. I approached from the "Am I selfish enough to quit" perspective, not "Are they being unfair" perspective. I don't blame the employers at all. I assumed the family emergency person gets to go regardless. Family emergencies trump vacations.
Hell yes she should just suck it up if she needs the job to keep up with her bills.
Her dad told her to see if she could compromise then she comes back and acts like the boss made the decision for her. Earlier it was "Make a decision to go and not have a job or stay and have a job" ... now it's "They wouldn't even let me try to get a different flight" ... so I'm not sure if she's saying that just to save face to her dad, or if the boss really did do that.
Still, I would have just said, when approached by the boss, "Well, this sucks, but I totally understand that you need me here. Can I reschedule this for another time?" But then, I guess I'm a door mat like that.
It would suck to have to reschedule vacation time, but what can you do? It's not like the family emergency can be postponed. Somebody has to take one for the team, and it's usually the new guy.
I would complain about it to my friends, but not to my coworkers or boss. I don't think I would have gotten to the point of "take vacation or keep your job" with the boss.
Okay ITA with Rachel too. I guess when I first responded to this I thought the boss came to her and said "So and so has a family emergency, so you can't take your vacation unless you feel like not working here anymore." But who would actually do that?? I am being dumb. Sorry.
What I was going to say is that it depends on the circs. After nearly 2 years of unemployment, I finally got my job, and it'd take a lot - A LOT - to give it up. Did I mention A LOT?
When I started this job, the day I was told I had the job, in fact, I told my boss that I had pre-existing plans to go to MA on December 18-19 (this firm has mandatory Saturday morning hours in the winter months) for a college friend's holiday party. He said fine, and that plans like that are plans. Had he come back later and told me I couldn't go because another person had a family emergency, I'd have been really disappointed, but I'd have sucked it up.
If I had a week in PA scheduled, hanging out in B&Bs and going to the pretzel factory with Eric, I'd also have been really disappointed, but sucked it up and rescheduled.
If I had plane tickets to Ireland, I'd be more than disappointed, I'd be upset, maybe even angry. And then I'd be on the phone with Eric, telling him we need to reschedule and on the phone with Aer Lingus finding out what it'd cost to reschedule the flight. Then I'd be talking to the boss about who was going to reimburse me for the lost money, because while I understand a family emergency, there's no way someone else's family emergency should cost me a couple thousand dollars in plane tickets. And then I'd reschedule.
If it was my best friend's wedding in Colorado? I'd fight to go to Colorado, "family emergency" be damned. But my friends come very high on my list of priorities. Higher than most other things.
If it is, as you say, a half marathon? I say suck it up and keep your job. But then, that's from the perspective of someone (me) who doesn't believe in running unless a psycho is chasing me with a machete. A large machete.
Face Painting Blog | Body Art Blog
Legal Blog
I think I'd only be really pissed off if I had an extremely expensive vacation planned where I would be up to lose a lot of money for a last minute cancellation.
Unfortunately in this crappy economy, you have to take a lot of stuff from jobs. I've heard that even though the economy is starting to rebound, people should expect that companies may not give you PTO, medical benefits, etc. Just the American work way I guess.
I would be pissed too, if it was somthing big that I had a lot of money invested in, but I would be talking to the boss about finding a way to reimburse me for money lost or money for rescheduling.
But if it really was just a 1/2 marathon, I would just suck it up, really some jobs are really hard to come by.....trust me I know.
Planning and Married Bio
My Randomness Blog!!
I almost had to reschedule our trip to Vegas when I moved departments two months before the trip, but at least I had time then to save money and cancel reservations. Having to reschedule last minute like this would've left me heated - and while I wouldn't have been rude about it, I would've brought it up with my boss and clarified that, in the past, I'd had permission to take this trip. When you're the new guy though, you're the new guy...that's how H wound up not being able to come home for Christmas [and we lost close to $200 on the plane ticket].
But, the economy sucks. I would NOT quit my job just to reschedule a vacation. Even if I lost money, it'd be better than being unemployed. No way.
Face Painting Blog | Body Art Blog
Legal Blog
If it was an expensive trip with lots of planning where I would lose out on tons of money by canceling, I would be fuming!! If it was something where I was going to stay with family and drive and I was out no money, then it sucks, but whatever.
If she got permission ahead of time, they need to honor it. They can hire a temp worker to come answer phones for a day - people/employers do this all of the time!
So, yes, personally I would be very angry if they made me cancel a trip...
However, unless she has this OK for vacation- in writing- with her offer letter- yikes...I don't know.
Sure, I think they should honor it, but they don't have to unless it was part of her formal offer.
Face Painting Blog | Body Art Blog
Legal Blog
That's weird. I've never accepted a job without an offer letter.
I've never even seen an offer letter. I thought they were urban legend...
Most Fortune 500 corporations use offer letters. Even when you transfer within the company to another department, offer letters are often sent.
Anyway ... I don't think she answers phones or anything like that, and I've never worked at a company who called in a temp for a couple of days.
My personal stance on this particular issue is, she should have just said, "I understand. It's unfortunate, but I get it. I'll be here." Instead she tried negotiating (according to a later comment she made) and was told not to come back. I guess maybe I'm the odd man out here, but knowing how difficult it can be to get a job these days, I would have just sucked it up and cancelled the trip.
I've never had anything canceled, but in law practice, even judges ate courteous enough to work around attorneys' vacation schedules. Seriously. I just had a judge schedule a trial for our wedding anniversary, and I mentioned it because I was amused. The judge apologized and I told her it was no big deal, I wouldn't be taking off the day anyway.
As for this person, she got fired for trying to negotiate?! Sorry, that's not cool. Yes, an employer cam screw an employee. And yes, an at will employer can fire for almost any reason. But to fire someone for trying to negotiate? She's not really wrong for trying, and for them to do that is serious overkill. They're a bunch of bastards.Face Painting Blog | Body Art Blog
Legal Blog
Face Painting Blog | Body Art Blog
Legal Blog