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Need advice before I talk to my boss (long-ish)
How much notice do you think is appropriate for your employer to require you to stay after business hours for additional training (1-2 hours after-we close at 5)?
What about to work a special event on a weekend? (All day Saturday-type event-we are not open on Saturdays).
I regularly receive less than a week's notice on the weekend work (4 days to be exact for the last two times) and had to say no to both-once I was out of state and already had travel reservations, and the second, I volunteered for a friend's major fundraiser and have a significant role. I also typically receive 1-2 days notice on after hours events, but I often already have plans for those evenings and find myself scrambling to make it to as many as I can (for example, I coach a local high school team and go straight from here to practice, and I keep my niece and nephew one night ever week or two).
Also, what would you do in this situation...
Mandatory inventory twice a year-Friday night and Saturday morning. Last inventory, January, I asked him two months in advance to confirm the weekend of inventory so I could put it on my calendar and make plans around it (since I know he tends to wait until the last minute). He confirmed it in writing. A month and a half later (so, two weeks out), you receive an email about inventory, and the weekend is different than what he told you. You have inflexible plans for the correct weekend (coaching obligation). You went to him with the confirmation and he says, "I was wrong, oops." So, you do what you can with your plans and get there for Saturday but miss Friday night.
So-for the next inventory, June, you ask months in advance for the date and it's the weekend you are a bridesmaid for a good friend-so Friday night is the rehearsal and Saturday morning is getting ready... he is already frustrated with you for making the last inventory complicated even though he was the one who offered the compromise because it was his mistake. How do I address this??
Re: Need advice before I talk to my boss (long-ish)
If your position does not normally require you to work these kinds of hours, I would say you should be given at least one month's notice. But even then, you may have a vacation scheduled. These types of things should be on your company/boss's calendar far enough in advance to realize his employees may have prior commitments. I don't think you've done anything wrong here, and you're more than entitled to say no when you have prior commitments.
That being said, there are some positions that simply require you be available on nights and weekends. If your job is one of those jobs that generally uses a significant amount of "after hours" time, then I would suggest ensuring that all of your weekend and evening commitments are clear to your boss and OK with that person as well.
For the occassional training, I'd say 2-4 weeks. Depends on what it is... in-house, or elsewhere.
For weekend special events... 2 months... your boss knows these come up. It's not a last minute thing. I would print out those emails and show them to him, not budging on the "new" date.
Is there a master calendar at your work? In the break room or shared office area? It may be time to invest in one and write these events on for everyone to see (no changes by one person if everyone knew weeks/months in advance). If you use Outlook (or other such program), perhaps having that also put on there for everyone to "accept" would help as well.
We all use outlook to schedule events, and my boss actually schedules these thing 2-4 days in advance and expects us to be there. When I was first hired, I asked specifically about work hours since I am a high school coach-I needed to ensure that I could balance the two. It was my understanding at the time that these trainings would be before business hours and occur monthly... in the last 18 months, they have been after business hours and weekly.
I am frustrated about the weekend situation. I overheard my boss in conversation with someone regarding last weekend and he was expressing frustration that I couldn't work. It was a three day local home show (I'm in the housing industry) and he asked me a week in advance. I had already booked travel for that weekend.
I want to sit down with him when he gets here today and discuss this, because I'm afraid it reflects poorly on me in his eyes, but I have a hard time believing that less than a week's notice should be appropriate REGULARLY. An exception from time to time, fine.
Is this a place you see yourself at long term? I'm trying to gauge the level of needing to "suck it up and work it" versus fighting on the schedule.
I'm an adjunct prof at a local university, so my hope is for that to eventually become full time, but this job allows me to stay plugged into the industry so I want to stay as long as I can.
I can make the weekday stuff work, so I guess I do "suck it up" in a sense. I cancel practice or my husband leaves work early (we keep my niece and nephew a few times a month) or something. It's irritating but I do it. In fact, I am only here part time, and I have even attended these meetings/trainings on days that I don't work-so I know he can't fault me for not making an effort there.
It's the weekend stuff that's so ridiculous, IMO. Today is Tuesday-he just asked me this morning if I could work 9-2 this Saturday at an event, hence why I want to talk to him. Of course, he never came in today so I'll have to wait.
This is the outline for your expectations vs. reality conversation that you need to have. Come with some solutions-if you give me XX weeks notice I will be able to better prioritize; if it's before work hours I will be there; if you offer a telework option I can do it from my travel.
There is no "notification standard" to hold your boss to-like it or not this stuff happens, and you should set clear limits with the boss so they know how far in advance you need to know so they can do their best to accommodate you without impacting their needs. And in return, you should remain as flexible as possible to accommodate their schedule without severely impacting your needs.
I have worked for a small private medical office and a large county office. At both places, we were given AT LEAST 6 months notice for things like inventory and special weekend events. It sounds to me like your boss is very unorganized. I'm not sure if it's his business or there is someone above him, but I would definitely talk to his supervisor (if there is one) about your issues. There has to be some sort of organization and planning. If, however, he is the owner, then people who own businesses get to run them how they choose. Unfortunately, this place may not be a good fit. I worked for a place that was not a good fit and left ASAP.
To answer you original question, I don't think it's asking too much to have these sort of things calendared a few months in advance (maybe suggest planning them out for each quarter). Your probably not the only person with this issue, either.
After reading your other posts, and seeing that you feel that you need this position to advance in your career, I would probably bite the bullet and work the extra hours as often as possible. Or proactively address the situation with your boss. Instead of focusing on how you dislike the current arrangement, offer up suggestions that you feel would better the situation for you and your co-workers. Like I said, your probably not the only one feeling this way.
DS1 born June 2008 | m/c at 9w March 2011 | DS2 born April 2012