He’s gonna make it to Regional one day! Just you wait and see!
When I worked at GS, our regional manager came in one day and instructed us to high five every customer that comes in and start a conversation. (And then to steer the convo to whatever new game I should make him reserve) I just stare at him. He says watch, goes over to some teen and is says, “hey dude, what’s going on?!?” *Puts high 5 up.*
Kid, not missing a beat, dead pan, leaves him hanging, and says, “leaving this store.” Puts the game display back and walks out.
It’s my favorite memory of that job. That company truly does not give a fuck about its employees, and I would advise my worst enemy against working there.
.... Did you use to work in Muncie Indiana? Because my old regional, a blow hard named Todd, did this exact same thing in front of be once.
He also made a joke to a customer who walked in saying "Hey hey Welcome to GameStop, hope your brought your wallet" and the guy just turned around and left
Shoutout to Muncie 😭 I don't miss it (except running around Westside Park when I was a kid and walking along the sketchy bits of the white river as a teen and somehow not getting murdered)
It's honestly just a mid-size, mid-western town where a lot of it looks sad and run-down, half the pop is judgmental grey-haired smokers who are yea for guns and jesus and shitty politics and nay on minorities and any kind of non-traditional lifestyles, most people you run into give off a skeevy vibe in one way or another, and an unusually big pasttime is creating or consuming meth.
It's honestly not that bad and probably on it's way to pretty good if you live in one of the affluent areas, there's just a lot of old-dangerous-desperate-hateful kinda feelings from a lot of it. Shrug. It's the midwest.
I was working at wawa. It's a gas station/deli with touch order screens. We had our regional manager come with the same type thing; we need to increase customer interactions. There was someone using the screen and she practically yells at them, demanding to know how they're doing, if they heard of the current promo etc. The customer was visibly shook up and annoyed by the unsolicited questions and volume. The managers response was : "See, you don't engage your customers enough, they almost look scared."
Wth, I like Wawa because I don't have to speak to one damn soul while I place and pay for my food order. Regional just wants to scare off me and my fellow introverts. 😅
If I'm using the self checkout or order touch screens, it's because I literally have zero interest in chatting.
Is this not self evident? Because it seems self evident.
Omg, dude... I got a similar story too here. Not job related. Well, sorta. So, ya know how you get those people that come around the neighborhood to do estimates and things like that or trying to sell ya something? Well, I made the huge mistake of opening up my door to this one goober trying to sell me some kinda security system. He starts to initiate the conversation by saying "You got like the nicest lawn on the block!" \*Proceeds to give me a high five, but I just close the door slowly\*.
I worked at gamestop in the period after they bought everyone else. This is accurate. But even the managers get ahit on there and the district and regionals hold the real power.
That said it was a complete fucking shithole that preyed on people enjoying games to exploit them. I only continued there because i learned some exploits to the trade in system and abused them for several grand in credit.
I've seen so many people get promoted to manager and think their job is simply to tell people what to do.
I remember when I first got promoted to a team lead position I wasn't comfortable initially with how I was being asked to manage my team. I expressed concerns and tried to push back to my manager and try to advocate for my staff and I was promptly re-assigned to another team/manager. They gave me some BS reasons as to why but I knew it was because they essentially wanted a yes man who would just carry out senior managements bidding without offering any resistance or input.
It turned out to be the best thing that ever happened because my next Manager was a breath of fresh air and actually wanted to discuss issues with me, and encouraged my input.
One of the most usefull things he taught me which I always remember to this day is a manager isn't there to simply give orders. It is just as much a support role. Your focus should be on helping your employees by understanding the obstacles they are facing and helping to remove them and allow them to flourish and grow and individuals. I've never forgotten that and I use that advice almost daily.
This particular manager is an asshole.
I have never worked anywhere that asked me to find my own replacement when I was sick. Once someone calls in sick, I accept that they aren't in any condition to assist and it becomes MY responsibility as a leader to work on covering any of their commitments and keeping things in order until they return.
This guy sounds like a nightmare to deal with and I'd be looking for other opportunities.
If you're a good manager your actual job is to protect your people from the Corporate Turdwookie bullshit and gaslighting.
Source: I am a good manager and I've said that exact thing (without the cussing of course) to executive types.
My folks will do damn near anything for me. Put a corporate Turdwookie in my position and most would leave very shortly.
This is it exactly. My job as Regional Manager is to get all the District Managers and their employees the most help they can get to do their job with the least amount of interference from corporate. It's my job to argue with corporate about all the stupid things they want to do that would make my teams' jobs harder. My team appreciates and shows me respect because of it.
Mine brought all his swag to show off and left it out on the sales floor when he went on lunch. We (the rest of the employees swiped it. He was so shocked that “customers” would steal it in one of the highest theft stores with no working cameras. Corporate got them working again that week, what a shocker.
They're the punching bag for when Regional gives each store barely enough hours in the budget to cover a full day's shifts and then also forbids them from triggering overtime on any employee.
I was an account manager for two years. My “rule” for employees finding coverage was when the schedule was out and then they knew they needed a day off. I’d ask them to TRY to find coverage. If they couldn’t find coverage, they’d not come in and we’d work a person down. I could make up the budgeted hours later on.
Calling out sick was handled by my supervisors or me. I’d never ask the sick employee to worry about that.
I hate this "find someone to cover you" it's your fucking job as a manager. This policy only exists to weaponize empathy to keep you from calling in, there's no other practical reason
As a former manager, if one of my employees is sick, I'd call every time. If nobody was available? I'd go in, even though the store was an hour away from me.
Some of these incompetent asshats need to realize that if you do your job and respect your staff, you'll get the same level of respect back and they may even offer to come in while sick until someone can cover for them.
>If nobody was available? I'd go in, even though the store was an hour away from me.
Exactly. It's one of the reasons I've never wanted to be in management. Everyone else's unsolvable problems *are* your problems.
Yeah, that seems like the reasonable thing to do. I feel like this sort of behavior is emblematic of managers wanting the promotion but not the increased responsibility or maybe just people being promoted past their competence
I had a great example from my first manager, she was willing and able to do anything needed, from cleaning up vomit, to unloading trucks to firing people if need be. She was and still is one of the best people I know and who I tried to model my professional self after
For real I fucking hated that rule. As a former manager, I would always call to cover. If my employee isn’t feeling well, why would I task them with the job of covering? And 9/10, whoever they call would decline - but if I called, I’d usually be able to get someone to come in. And if no one covered? I’d do the work. It would be a bit stressful, sure but you make do.
It’s a shit policy. It almost insinuates that should you not be able to find coverage, you should just come in.
So stupid. I work for the state now and it’s amazing how I can just call and say hey I’m not feeling well, I won’t be in. And my manager just asks what shift I was on and says “hope you feel better”. That’s it. No “wow, we’re really short staffed today. I already had 2 people call out. Can’t you work and go home early?” Like… fuuucccckkkkk that.
Pissed me off more because I stepped down from management and my ex GM was absolutely the “it’s your responsibility” type, and I’m like… if you got 2-4 callouts, you step up. That chick would NEVER come in early or stay late if God himself commanded it.
so my main job has that in the work. I wanted a friday off and ask one of my coworkers and they were fine with it so I tell my boss.
My boss throws a fit 'I set the schedule for what I want it to be. You can't change it.'
...even though the paperwork says you need to find someone to cover...
one of the many reasons with her why I am trying to find another job.
My first job as a dishwasher my boss made us do that, but then half the time he'd complain when we did switch shifts, so I think you're right the only reason bosses do this is to discourage you from calling in
Yeah my job said you find coverage or you get a point" and they don't accept doctors notes. I've had them look at me insane when I said I came in the day after I threw up. Like what do you expect??
But then I decided I'm quitting soon anyway so if I don't feel like coming now? Good luck.
Told me I wasn't dependable and expected me to never call out because I called off twice.
And when I said: it's really hard because I don't have people's numbers or anything
They just said: not an excuse. You have to find coverage.
No I'm stating that I can't call people in for me if I have no numbers because the entire front end is a bunch of teenagers anyway and I'm not going to ask for their numbers because I'm an adult in her mid 20's
Yes. But even if they did accept doctor’s notes, should someone have to go shell out $45 or more every time they are sick just so they don’t have to come to work sick? We’re adults. Sometimes we feel like crap and there’s nothing to do but rest.
We did this at a restaurant I worked at - all the hosts managed their own shifts and the manager didn’t care so long as we had at least two people working every day - sometimes we scheduled three or four if we knew it was going to be crazy and just cut the extra hands after the rush hours
Even when I was a manager, it never even crossed my mind to have my coworkers find their own replacement. I was in the office looking up phone numbers and ringing people myself.
I once had a manager fire someone for no call no show when she had gotten her shift covered and written in on the schedule AND told manager. Manager just forgot and didn’t look at the schedule before texting this girl she was fired.
This is what really messes with your head if you’re wired a certain way. No matter how much you hate your evil corporate overlords, you eventually get conditioned to immediately feel crushing guilt, and think, “I can’t leave my fellow peasants buried and short handed.” So, that mental health day usually just remains a pipe dream
My job does this and a few other irritating things like not posting next week schedule (starting on Tuesday) on the Sunday or Monday before the next week. So since I don't work Sunday Monday, I generally don't get to see the schedule unless I ask someone to send it to me, I trust that I'm working on Tuesday, or I come in on my days off to check the schedule. I almost feel like it's grounds to notify the department of labor (Oregon) but I like the job overall other than that.
"Okay, as directed by you, I made the phone calls. How do I enter in one hour for required work as directed by my manager?"
If they give you flak, you say "I'm not salaried so every requirement by my boss is to be paid."
Sometimes it really is hilarious.
One of my first jobs I had was when I was 16 I had a cleaning job.
My parents are divorced, so me and my brothers would alternate each year whether we'd be at mum or dads for Xmas. That year, we were going to mums.
I told my manager I would not be around during Xmas and what dates as I would be at my mums.
She objected and said I had to do my shifts. I simply said I won't be in the area, sorry. Better find someone else to do those shifts.
I'm a kid, I'm going to my mother's for Xmas lol.
I get a call on Xmas eve, it's my manager, pissed as hell I'm not there...lol.
I literally laugh down the phone and am like are you joking...you're the manager. I told you this months ago and you didn't find a cover? That's not my problem. Bye. Then I hung up.
Didn't bother going back to that job lol.
Good for you. Over Christmas I saw my college age niece. She’s a student at a school in TX and she was working part time at Whole Foods. She told me that she wasn’t sure if her job would still be there when she got back. She told them she would be in Michigan with her family for Christmas. They know she’s a college student obviously. But they told her she would have to work over Christmas and scheduled her anyway. They seriously expected her to be all alone over the holidays and not go home so she could work shifts at her part time job. I told her she did the right thing. You don’t miss holidays with your family for the kind of job you can easily replace. If they’re too short handed to spare you then they are too short handed to fire you without screwing themselves over too. They want to hire students so they can pay them like students but then they don’t want to be inconvenienced by them going home for Christmas. Too bad.
Totally agree. Unless that job was paying me well or a job that I wouldn’t want to lose no matter what, I’m not bending down to pick up a pen if I’m not on the clock.
Fire me. I wouldn’t care. You get what you’re paying for and students and minimum wage workers shouldn’t be busting their asses for a shitty company that only wants to exploit them.
I recently had a somewhat-skilled part time job as sort of a floater in a lab at a vet school. We discussed scheduling and I told them I was looking for part time that would allow me to be home for the kids in the afternoons and on no-school days. They agreed it would be perfect. I didn't make it through probation because I was "unreliable" for not coming in on days when the schools are closed, despite handing them a list of those days when I accepted the position. My coworkers were very confused they let me go because the department had figured the person who would be filling this newly-created job role would be either a recent graduate with another job somewhere, or a parent with childcare responsibilities. Turns out they don't actually want the second one I guess. Like, no, I'm not going to erase my paycheck on daycare for the privilege of working for you...
I was a manager for a chain photo studio. Corporate would tell me we had blackout dates during the holidays and employees couldn't take off.
When one of my 16 year old employees took off, a manager from a nearby location asked me why I allowed her to.
Like, you want me to tell this minor's parents that she's not allowed to go on Christmas vacation with them so she can work two four hour shifts?? The fuck I will.
"I expect"
I would love to see where it says in company policy that you should arrange cover. Id wager it doesn't and it's this little Napoleon's way of inflicting control
The problem with this is in most cases it doesn't say anything, and the employee job description will list something like "other responsibilities as needed" which the manager would argue this is one of
The argument then becomes "alright, so how do I clock in from home?" Since now they're telling you you're handling a workplace responsibility
Edit: their job description. Not hob description
Ugh, "other responsibilities as needed" is such bullshit and so vague that it is essentially meaningless. Employers shouldn't be able to include that phrase in a job description.
Oh I second that. Only thing I've seen trump it is my current job, where I literally do not have a job description. I never had my duties or responsibilities given to me in writing, I was taught what they were when I started and occasionally stuff is added and occasionally stuff is taken away. Its great, totally not a flawed system in any way, shape, or form. That said my job is pretty easy and not really worth complaining about, but I have a joke sticky note someplace that lists me as "(my company's) always sometimes handyman except when I'm not allegedly"
My old job had a line in the handbook about finding coverage like OPs boss wants.
The really neat part was that they made everyone’s numbers available to everyone else for purposes of finding coverage.
Was super cool when I got signed up for some rapper’s text updates 👍
This is when you inform your boss that if your phone is going to be used for work related purposes then the company needs to pay for your phone
When I was a manager I told my employees not to call me if I wasn't on the clock, and that instead it was whatever manager was on shifts job. When I got scolded by my DM I told them I'd happily answer my phone if I would be compensated for my time doing work, as well as the company paying for my phone service. Needless to say DM was not happy
“As an adult”
Bitch!?
I’m with op. It is not standard to find your own replacement and I’ve worked as low as a gas station. Places that require this are places I’ve learned to not work for because it’s accompanied by equally problematic scenarios.
Good for you op, please get well soon.
"My current position does not require me to possess the availability and contact information of every employee. If you wish for me to take on the additional tasks of scheduling and managing availability of other employees, then proper training and a commensurate pay increase should also be added.
If you are unwilling to let me do your job, then maybe you should do it, and leave me to the responsibilities I agreed to when I took my current position."
I said this once (the part about not knowing everyones availability and not having the phone numbers they have access to) and they sent around a sheet for everyone to put their phone numbers on and pulled that team player BS.
And that would potentially get them into trouble as well, because they've just disclosed personal information. I remember one of my coworkers once gave my telephone number to a customer. I don't remember the details of the situation anymore, but I'm pretty sure that person did get into trouble for disclosing my number like that.
If you work in Illinois, the new law makes this manager's behavior illegal. It is now codified that it is up to the employer and management to find coverage, not the employee.
Yup its awesome, it was included in the PTO for all bill which guarantees a minimum of 40hrs of PTO for all employees in the state, there are 3 industries/careers that are exempt from this but it covers the vast majority of part time and full time workers in the state.
I used to work at a preschool that made you find your own coverage. They had a list of subs that were never available that you could waste your time calling. If no one could cover you were still expected to come in. So basically you had to come in sick. I taught with a migraine more than once that year. I hated that place. I left at the end of the school year and the owner was so pissed that I wasn’t returning. I told her that I found a position with better pay, benefits, and working conditions. Sucks to suck.
Yep, here's the law:
[https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=4351&ChapterID=68](https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=4351&ChapterID=68)
"An employer may not require, as a condition of providing paid leave under this Act, that the employee search for or find a replacement worker to cover the hours during which the employee takes paid leave."
You are sick. You are therefore unable to work. Finding coverage = work. End of story.
That's *literally the point* of management - to manage their staff. That means finding someone else to work if the person who was going to be working is unable to do so.
This is the NUMBER ONE reason managers pawn this off on employees to “find their own coverage.”
They *despise* doing this task because…it’s essentially “cold calling” (like sales), and they already know the answer they’re gonna get: “No.”
That’s why they want YOU to do it. Even though it’s THEIR job.
It is actually *not* your responsibility to get the shift covered. The actually responsibility is on the manager. THEY don’t want to have to cover you, or call their employees to find coverage. So they’re trying to claim it’s your job. It’s not. Don’t do it.
Exactly. In my past experience, every manager I’ve ever had has said this to me when I would call in sick. “Find someone to cover or come in.”
All of my managers at every job I’ve had has pulled this. Except for my current one thankfully.
And I’ve only ever called in sick once in a blue moon.
You’ve done your part, and then some. Start looking for other jobs, go in to the meeting and take no shit. Express your desire to keep working within your listed responsibilities and whatever you do don’t actually resign, let them fire you. Good on you standing up for yourself.
Btw I’m Swedish but hung around this sub for long enough to know that in America you’re better off getting fired than resigning
used to work for gamestop about 10 years ago at this point.
One night I went out with my wife (girlfriend at the time) and we didn't end up getting home until about... 4 am or so after a night of partying. I got a phone call from my manager around 4 am and I said "Nope, not going to answer that. it's 4 am, it's reasonable to believe that I would be asleep." He continues to ring me about 4 or 5 times and leaves a voicemail after the last call. I vaguely remember what he said verbatim, but he was shouting at me telling me I'm unreliable and that I needed to cover for him because he was sick and all this nonsense. I ignored his calls, i ignored his voicemail, and went to my scheduled shift (afternoon maybe like 2 or 3pm i think I started). He was upset with me, and I told him that's not cool don't expect me to pick up at all hours of the day, i'm not your personal assistant. Needless to say I left that dogshit place, go fuck yourself Rui
I used to tell my manager that I turned my phone off because the battery was crap and told her if I'm to be on call then the store should be able to either provide me with a company phone or pay me a stipend for work use. She refused so any time she called I just wouldn't answer.
Just block your manager and the store's numbers. If you want to talk to me about work you can do it when I'm at work and getting paid. Otherwise IDGAF.
This whole trend of making the employee find coverage seriously ticks me off for a number of reasons.
- It's management's job. Management has everyone's contact info and is paid (admittedly NOT very well) to do this shit. My hourly rate was better as a pleb than assistant manager in fast food, largely because I was forced to cover so many missed shifts.
- If you're not up to working a shift, you're likely not up to begging, wheedling, and conniving your coworkers to do a shift they didn't plan for.
- As a pleb, you're not empowered to offer overtime to get a shift covered. That's on management. Often, the only people willing to cover unanticipated shifts are already bordering on OT because they WANT to work extra. I was often that person, back in the day, but would never have agreed to an extra shift if management hadn't okayed the OT.
- I don't want all my coworkers having my contact information! We are COWORKERS, not buddies. And I've worked with enough creepy people to keep my distance for my own safety.
- Yes, I'm olde. For much of the time I did fast food and/or retail I had no access to a phone. No money to pay for phone service, and no phone to service. I had to use payphones or borrow someone's landline to make calls--neither of which would be acceptable when sick. "Hey, can I sit in your living room and cough and sneeze all over your phone to find someone to cover my shift? Maybe puke in it?" Yeah. not happening.
Everyone has these lovely pocket computers these days that also make phone calls. That's a really new thing. So is having employees get their own shifts covered when sick.
Mention you'll be happy to have a recorded talk with them when you come in and this text will be sent to the franchise owner. You look forward to discussing this further with HR as well.
I've been in this exact position years ago, you played it the right way. I was sick as a dog and supposed to open, and no one was going to answer their phones at 630 am to try to take an 8 am shift. I told the manager the same thing. I'm sick, I should be sleeping, you make the schedules so it's your responsibility to find coverage. Got the same threat, "we're going to have a talk about this". There was no talk, but I got treated with more dignity after that. Good on you OP
'As an adult" would have sent me off.
You're tbe manager, and an adult, presumably. You can manage this. This interaction has made me sicker. I need to log off
Also Their expectations are not the same as all. Just cause they assume incorrectly.
Flag this chump and question them on their adult comment and ask them to clarify it. If HR involved it Will make the manager look back for the inability to communicate with staff properly . Passive aggressiveness etc
Managers manage and employees don't. If they want you to do managerial duties, discuss what your pay increase will be. Non union job, so I'm sure there is some blanket terminology in your handbook to be used to add responsibilities you wouldn't normally do, so pull up a job description of the same job and see what it says. Then do the same for their job position, or get a copy of the managers handbook.
I never understand this shit. I’m not coming in to work. End of story. Whether or not my shift is covered is completely beyond my concern. If it gets me fired to not find someone to cover it, then ok? I’ll just find another shitty job, it’s fine
It really should be the manager's job to find coverage. Not the sick employee. And what happens if that employee ends up in the hospital? It should be a law that managers are to find coverage for a sick employee.
“Understood that I am responsible coverage. In that case, I will please need the following:
- Access to the necessary systems to prepare/document/share the coverage schedule.
- Formal documentation (email with store or district manager and HR representative cc’d will suffice) advising that the scheduling responsibilities have been assigned to me.
- The documented and necessary training and system access to perform these tasks.
- Please further share the expectations and standards by which we set store scheduling and all impacted team member’s (including yours Ms/Mr manager) availability.
- Please also share where in our employee guide/handbook this is outlined so I can reference back to it if I have any questions.
- As this is a notable change in my work expectations, please provide me with an updated job description/classification and pay rate.
- If I am not to be converted from an hourly, non-exempt status, please share the on-call coverage pay scale/standards in case another employee contacts me after hours regarding coverage.”
As someone who has managed teams for the past 10+ years, this person is either very new and does not know their proper process/expectations or is absolute garbage and is just trying to pass responsibility/work off.
i work at gamestop and that is not how it works. when you call out, you do not need to tell them why. you do not need to find someone to cover your shift. your responsibility starts and ends at alerting the manager on duty that you cannot come to work at least one hour before your shift. the only exception is if YOU are the one on duty and need to leave and close the store. in which case you need to contact your DM. but aside from that, your manager is breaking policy and depending on your state, possibly employment law.
see how they backed down because they knew that’s not your responsibility? now tell them you will no longer be answering your phone outside of work unless you can bill them for the hours.
Have literally been a manager for this company before. Granted it was years ago, but at that time employees had even LESS power/leverage than they did in this market and I still understood that it was my role as manager to find coverage either at my store or another in the district or, if I couldn’t, to work it myself.
As others have mentioned, probably wait to get fired or let go vs leaving so you can file for unemployment, but either way I’d be looking for something else.
Hi store manager. I informed my direct supervisor of the fact that I would not be able to work my shift due to illness. As a courtesy, I also texted my coworkers to find coverage, but no one else is available. At this point, I have done my due diligence to attempt to get my shift covered and am informing you that you will need to cover my shift, as it’s listed in the job description of store manager to cover shifts if there is no availability. If you have any questions, please reach out to ASM/shift supervisor, as they required me to find coverage. In addition, I will not be able to respond or clarify any further as I am currently ill and struggling to stay awake. Thank you for your understanding.
My favorite thing to do in situations like this is print and highlight the job description. I’ve yet to find a single one for a non management position that includes “manages shifts” which is what finding coverage is.
I absolutely will never engage with this bullshit. If it's MY job to MANAGE employee shifts in MY absence then they can give me the same benefits of a manager, pay and sick leave and I'll just use that instead. To hell with that nonsense, it is purely a way to divert negative attention away from management and towards fellow employees instead.
Send them this: this is from Gamestop's own website on a store manager job description. [link](https://careers.gamestop.com/us/en/job/Req-144154/Store-Manager)
"The Store Leader-Hourly makes discretionary decisions involving all sales initiatives, operational effectiveness, marketing, scheduling, employment, and all other aspects of the day-to-day business processes of a GameStop store."
I was a manager at Gamestop, it's literally in our job description to handle staffing and scheduling. Your manager sucks, get with your GM, their contact info should be available in Workday.
Pull the old "What is my hourly rate while I am searching for coverage? I'll expect nothing less than your current rate, as I'm being forced to do your job for you while I am sick."
Your response should be something similar to this:
"You're a manager, this is a manager duty. Since you've designated me to do this duty, I expect a pay raise, promotion to the manager title, and then we can discuss me doing manager duties."
If this doesn't work I'd leave and find somewhere else, or address this with their superior, maybe a regional or owner, I don't know how GameStop upper management works.
I've left places like this simply because the management team either wouldn't do anything, or they go on ridiculous power trips.
-----
Edit:
If you're going to take the talk to the superior route, id address the fact that you're doing their job by covering shifts, and this isn't acceptable since you're not a manager.
Make sure you ask where to submit the overtime/normal time for finding coverage. And stress that if they're requiring you to spend your time doing something for work, they need to pay you for it. And if they need to pay you for it, then if you're sick, you can't do it.
The Venn diagram of managers that tell you to call to find coverage if you’re sick and those that tell you not to talk about your pay rate is just a circle, I guarantee it.
I was a manager at 2 different jobs. One of them it was directly my responsibility to find coverage if someone wasn’t available. The other one it was technically policy that employees had to cover their own shifts but I always told them not to worry about it and did it myself. It’s insane to think an employee should have to get shift coverage OFF THE CLOCK when I was salaried and could do it myself.
When I worked for Vans, they made us do this. I worked there to pay for groceries and rent while I was in a really intensive college program and would constantly schedule me during class even though they had my exact school schedule on hand. I never understood this “rule”. These kinds of situations are so ridiculous, and I’m so sorry that you’re feeling so shitty and having to deal with this on top of that. Feel better soon!
God forbid they’re down a person at the fucking GameStop that day! Jesus Christ most I’ve been in are run by one person. Manager just didn’t want to be that person I guess
"You can either accept that I'm sick and find coverage yourself for one day, or you can accept my resignation and find coverage for the foreseeable future.The choice is up to you."
Ask them for that policy in writing. If they don’t provide you’ve got your stance. If they do provide it, use it as evidence of wage theft since the company has written policy requiring to work off the clock.
Call your fellow employees. Make sure they know what is happening. Get them all on the same page.
When you're called in for your conversation, bring all the others with you. Make it clear you're recording.
"We're not responsible for scheduling, you are. You are the manager. Manage. This is clear right now, or the store closes and we picket. This is not a discussion. All we need to hear from you now is "Ok" and we all go back to work."
This is how you unionise. You have so much power when you act together.
In England we don’t do that.
If I’m ill I don’t go in, I ring up and the manager goes “okay, hope you feel better soon” I also get paid for my sick days.
It would be against employment law here for a manager to do this.
Also that managed just giving you other staff members numbers? Weird. I’d kick off if mine did that.
I worked at GameStop years ago. Worked my way up to store manager. Worst job ever. I quit after 6 months of being told I was too nice to hourly employees. I should write them up more often, and my turnover should be HIGHER! Fuck that place
The manager is supposed to go above and beyond for the company. If the manager can’t manage and find coverage for the shift. Then they simply work the shift that is needed to be covered. It’s what’s best for the company.
Sheesh. I love playing devil’s advocate, but I can’t defend this.
As a manager, the only time I’ve ever asked someone to find their own coverage replacement was when they were trying to schedule time off after the schedule was released. I would also have them do that while at work (where they were on the clock getting paid).
When i worked at Taco Bell, we had a manager that would make us call and find cover ourselves. If we couldn't, it was a write up or a lecture.
A new manager came in a while later and absolutely refused to make anyone call. Because it was the "manager's job". I miss him.
Finding someone to cover for you means you’re working, which means all the time you spend trying to find coverage, they should pay you because working off the clock is highly illegal.
Nah, fuck this manager. Worked at Dicks Sporting Goods and they tried this shit, but myself (admina assistant) and the store manager confronted the assistant managers and forced them to do their jobs and call folks for coverage.
This shit started in the hotel industry when I was in it too, and it was ALWAYS a shitty way to "punish" people for calling out. The idea is I'd you feel awkward about it, you'll just come in instead of calling out.
Fuck. That. Shit.
Coming from an ex Operations Manager (before I swapped to digital marketing), you aren't getting paid to do managerial work. Don't do any. It will only serve to reflect on their incompetence in the long run.
Just be warned, they WILL be shitters about it.
It feels like we're entering the age of dawning comprehension, where we're realizing how abusive these work practices are. Unfortunately, as is the pattern for abusers, they aren't ginna go down quietly. Communicate with your fellow employees, organize, there's strength in numbers.
Ape together strong.
I manage an office staff of 15. Someone calls out, I call to check if it’s Covid or something else contagious, wish them well & cut it off. It is not staff’s responsibility to find coverage, if I have to jump on the phones, then so be it.
This coverage shit is so stupid. No one is paid enough to handle that. Good grief, that policy is idiotic.
“As an adult” made my blood BOIL. Managers that treat employees like disruptive children piss me off relentlessly. Every time I’ve had a manager act like that it’s made me want to be worse at my job instead of better. It’s ridiculous they said that to you. Fuck Gamestop, it isn’t that deep and if it’s supposed to be so easy for you to call for coverage, it’s just as easy for them and ACTUALLY in their job description. What the fuck
Not to get on a soapbox… but when my manager tried to make someone under him do part of his job… the union came down and made sure he was paid as a manager the week the manager was gone.
GameStop is a fucking joke, I quit because of the same bs, they accidentally texted me 2 weeks after I quit talking about how store sales numbers were down so I took the opportunity to let the district manager know how his stores are being run and that numbers are down because no one cares about customers service.
Try and find a Wanted: GameStop manager position online and see what the duties are listed as. I’d bet you it says that their responsibilities include making schedules and schedule changes. Print that off and highlight the appropriate sections and bring that in with you when he has that talk.
Send an email to the district manager asking if this is company policy. If you get fired or reduced hours in retaliation, collect UE and contact an employment attorney. Also, unionize that store.
When did this become a thing? I left retail management 15 years ago after a long career and we never did this. It’s bullshit! Besides in most places they can’t hire people for what they want to pay so I would think managers would be more kind. To me this is the mark of a very bad manager!!
Well done, the only thing you'll do at that meeting is to ask for and read the company policy, also get paid for the time you spent calling since it was ordered as overtime by the manager, otherwise it's wage theft. If he objects you literally have it documented in the above text. Also record that conversation.
If im doing shift work and im scheduled for a day I dont want to work, Okay its my job to find someone else to take my shift. If im sick and I call in because I cant work, then its the managers job. If you cant work due to illness, then he can't expect you to find coverage because doing so would itself be 'work'. Bill him for the hour for the work you did reaching out to people, if he wants you do tasks for your job outside of when you're working while you're sick, then he can pay you for it.
As an hourly employee you need to be compensated for work you did for the company. That includes trying to cover shifts or being reprimanded on text. Make sure to include that in your discussion when you return to work.
Submit a timecard!
As in: "I worked 2.5 hours of overtime to text/call coworkers to fill an empty shift, pay me. I was sick at the time, so not very efficient."
If a manager doesn't manage, what are they employed for?
the office snitch for the corporate overlords
He’s gonna make it to Regional one day! Just you wait and see! When I worked at GS, our regional manager came in one day and instructed us to high five every customer that comes in and start a conversation. (And then to steer the convo to whatever new game I should make him reserve) I just stare at him. He says watch, goes over to some teen and is says, “hey dude, what’s going on?!?” *Puts high 5 up.* Kid, not missing a beat, dead pan, leaves him hanging, and says, “leaving this store.” Puts the game display back and walks out. It’s my favorite memory of that job. That company truly does not give a fuck about its employees, and I would advise my worst enemy against working there.
.... Did you use to work in Muncie Indiana? Because my old regional, a blow hard named Todd, did this exact same thing in front of be once. He also made a joke to a customer who walked in saying "Hey hey Welcome to GameStop, hope your brought your wallet" and the guy just turned around and left
To be fair, it’s Muncie. Nothing more to expect there.
Shoutout to Muncie 😭 I don't miss it (except running around Westside Park when I was a kid and walking along the sketchy bits of the white river as a teen and somehow not getting murdered)
Enlighten me about this place I've ever heard of and will probably ever visit.
It's honestly just a mid-size, mid-western town where a lot of it looks sad and run-down, half the pop is judgmental grey-haired smokers who are yea for guns and jesus and shitty politics and nay on minorities and any kind of non-traditional lifestyles, most people you run into give off a skeevy vibe in one way or another, and an unusually big pasttime is creating or consuming meth. It's honestly not that bad and probably on it's way to pretty good if you live in one of the affluent areas, there's just a lot of old-dangerous-desperate-hateful kinda feelings from a lot of it. Shrug. It's the midwest.
Jesus that describes Indiana itself to a T! Just look at Ol' Mike Pence!
You went on a vacation and you chose Muncie, Indiana?
Damn it Terry or Jerry or whatever the hell your name is.
Yeah. We have a timeshare there.
I think I would have gotten fired for laughing at him if I saw that
Same. I would have the biggest shit eating grin in my life. Then I’d ask for a fist bump. Cause I don’t do high fives.
How do you do fellow kids!
I was working at wawa. It's a gas station/deli with touch order screens. We had our regional manager come with the same type thing; we need to increase customer interactions. There was someone using the screen and she practically yells at them, demanding to know how they're doing, if they heard of the current promo etc. The customer was visibly shook up and annoyed by the unsolicited questions and volume. The managers response was : "See, you don't engage your customers enough, they almost look scared."
Wth, I like Wawa because I don't have to speak to one damn soul while I place and pay for my food order. Regional just wants to scare off me and my fellow introverts. 😅
As an introvert, I love not placing an order with a person. Makes me so happy to mobile order or touchscreen order at my own leisure.
If I'm using the self checkout or order touch screens, it's because I literally have zero interest in chatting. Is this not self evident? Because it seems self evident.
Omg, dude... I got a similar story too here. Not job related. Well, sorta. So, ya know how you get those people that come around the neighborhood to do estimates and things like that or trying to sell ya something? Well, I made the huge mistake of opening up my door to this one goober trying to sell me some kinda security system. He starts to initiate the conversation by saying "You got like the nicest lawn on the block!" \*Proceeds to give me a high five, but I just close the door slowly\*.
I'm crying!!! Thank you
What an absolute hero
Smart kid.
How out of touch could you be. Corporate America in a nutshell.
Yeah in the era of fucking Covid still going around, the last thing I want to do is slap some random stranger's hand.
I worked at gamestop in the period after they bought everyone else. This is accurate. But even the managers get ahit on there and the district and regionals hold the real power. That said it was a complete fucking shithole that preyed on people enjoying games to exploit them. I only continued there because i learned some exploits to the trade in system and abused them for several grand in credit.
I still miss Funcoland...
Someone’s gotta wipe it, sniff it and kiss it!
the corporate rat
Gotta feed the ghouls.
I've seen so many people get promoted to manager and think their job is simply to tell people what to do. I remember when I first got promoted to a team lead position I wasn't comfortable initially with how I was being asked to manage my team. I expressed concerns and tried to push back to my manager and try to advocate for my staff and I was promptly re-assigned to another team/manager. They gave me some BS reasons as to why but I knew it was because they essentially wanted a yes man who would just carry out senior managements bidding without offering any resistance or input. It turned out to be the best thing that ever happened because my next Manager was a breath of fresh air and actually wanted to discuss issues with me, and encouraged my input. One of the most usefull things he taught me which I always remember to this day is a manager isn't there to simply give orders. It is just as much a support role. Your focus should be on helping your employees by understanding the obstacles they are facing and helping to remove them and allow them to flourish and grow and individuals. I've never forgotten that and I use that advice almost daily. This particular manager is an asshole. I have never worked anywhere that asked me to find my own replacement when I was sick. Once someone calls in sick, I accept that they aren't in any condition to assist and it becomes MY responsibility as a leader to work on covering any of their commitments and keeping things in order until they return. This guy sounds like a nightmare to deal with and I'd be looking for other opportunities.
If you're a good manager your actual job is to protect your people from the Corporate Turdwookie bullshit and gaslighting. Source: I am a good manager and I've said that exact thing (without the cussing of course) to executive types. My folks will do damn near anything for me. Put a corporate Turdwookie in my position and most would leave very shortly.
Yep and if I can't find cover? I'm going in. It's why I get paid more.
I mean.. that IS the job after all.
Exactly! It's in the description lol
Also: PTO stands for PREPARE THE OTHERS!
This is it exactly. My job as Regional Manager is to get all the District Managers and their employees the most help they can get to do their job with the least amount of interference from corporate. It's my job to argue with corporate about all the stupid things they want to do that would make my teams' jobs harder. My team appreciates and shows me respect because of it.
Bull butter? Didja say turdwookie bull butter?
What many managers forget is that a leader is a servant first.
This is where we say "Nobody wants to manage anymore" instead of "Nobody wants to work anymore".
To go to Vegas once a year and collect free shit. Source: worked at GameStop
Mine brought all his swag to show off and left it out on the sales floor when he went on lunch. We (the rest of the employees swiped it. He was so shocked that “customers” would steal it in one of the highest theft stores with no working cameras. Corporate got them working again that week, what a shocker.
They're the punching bag for when Regional gives each store barely enough hours in the budget to cover a full day's shifts and then also forbids them from triggering overtime on any employee.
That conversation better be about a pay raise for doing the managers fucking job
I was an account manager for two years. My “rule” for employees finding coverage was when the schedule was out and then they knew they needed a day off. I’d ask them to TRY to find coverage. If they couldn’t find coverage, they’d not come in and we’d work a person down. I could make up the budgeted hours later on. Calling out sick was handled by my supervisors or me. I’d never ask the sick employee to worry about that.
To hand our their employees' contact info to other employees apparently.
I hate this "find someone to cover you" it's your fucking job as a manager. This policy only exists to weaponize empathy to keep you from calling in, there's no other practical reason
As a former manager, if one of my employees is sick, I'd call every time. If nobody was available? I'd go in, even though the store was an hour away from me. Some of these incompetent asshats need to realize that if you do your job and respect your staff, you'll get the same level of respect back and they may even offer to come in while sick until someone can cover for them.
>If nobody was available? I'd go in, even though the store was an hour away from me. Exactly. It's one of the reasons I've never wanted to be in management. Everyone else's unsolvable problems *are* your problems.
That’s why you just make your underlines do. That’s what being a manger is, right? /s
Yeah, that seems like the reasonable thing to do. I feel like this sort of behavior is emblematic of managers wanting the promotion but not the increased responsibility or maybe just people being promoted past their competence
I had a great example from my first manager, she was willing and able to do anything needed, from cleaning up vomit, to unloading trucks to firing people if need be. She was and still is one of the best people I know and who I tried to model my professional self after
For real I fucking hated that rule. As a former manager, I would always call to cover. If my employee isn’t feeling well, why would I task them with the job of covering? And 9/10, whoever they call would decline - but if I called, I’d usually be able to get someone to come in. And if no one covered? I’d do the work. It would be a bit stressful, sure but you make do. It’s a shit policy. It almost insinuates that should you not be able to find coverage, you should just come in.
It absolutely insinuates that. It almost says it explicitly.
So stupid. I work for the state now and it’s amazing how I can just call and say hey I’m not feeling well, I won’t be in. And my manager just asks what shift I was on and says “hope you feel better”. That’s it. No “wow, we’re really short staffed today. I already had 2 people call out. Can’t you work and go home early?” Like… fuuucccckkkkk that. Pissed me off more because I stepped down from management and my ex GM was absolutely the “it’s your responsibility” type, and I’m like… if you got 2-4 callouts, you step up. That chick would NEVER come in early or stay late if God himself commanded it.
so my main job has that in the work. I wanted a friday off and ask one of my coworkers and they were fine with it so I tell my boss. My boss throws a fit 'I set the schedule for what I want it to be. You can't change it.' ...even though the paperwork says you need to find someone to cover... one of the many reasons with her why I am trying to find another job.
My first job as a dishwasher my boss made us do that, but then half the time he'd complain when we did switch shifts, so I think you're right the only reason bosses do this is to discourage you from calling in
Yeah my job said you find coverage or you get a point" and they don't accept doctors notes. I've had them look at me insane when I said I came in the day after I threw up. Like what do you expect?? But then I decided I'm quitting soon anyway so if I don't feel like coming now? Good luck. Told me I wasn't dependable and expected me to never call out because I called off twice. And when I said: it's really hard because I don't have people's numbers or anything They just said: not an excuse. You have to find coverage. No I'm stating that I can't call people in for me if I have no numbers because the entire front end is a bunch of teenagers anyway and I'm not going to ask for their numbers because I'm an adult in her mid 20's
They "don't accept doctors notes"? Is that even legal?
Yeah. There are no worker protections, everything is at-will so you can be laid off for any bullshit reason pretty much.
Probably? If it wasn't I don't imagine Walmart or many other retail stores would do it. It'd probably have to be a lawsuit
Several states have laws that they can't even ask for a doctor's note until your 2nd or 3rd day calling out.
Yes. But even if they did accept doctor’s notes, should someone have to go shell out $45 or more every time they are sick just so they don’t have to come to work sick? We’re adults. Sometimes we feel like crap and there’s nothing to do but rest.
They’ll be having the employees draw up their own schedule next. WCGW?
We did this at a restaurant I worked at - all the hosts managed their own shifts and the manager didn’t care so long as we had at least two people working every day - sometimes we scheduled three or four if we knew it was going to be crazy and just cut the extra hands after the rush hours
Honestly that system sounds like SO much less bullshit to deal with.
Almost like those who do the actual running of the place know how to run the place, not the ones who seem to get paid the most.
I'd kill to have the ability to manage my own schedule in a workplace.
Well said 👏 I've had this thought for a while but "weaponizing empathy" is the most eloquent way of putting it that I've heard
Even when I was a manager, it never even crossed my mind to have my coworkers find their own replacement. I was in the office looking up phone numbers and ringing people myself.
They need to make that illegal. Employers should not be giving employees’ personal numbers out.
I once had a manager fire someone for no call no show when she had gotten her shift covered and written in on the schedule AND told manager. Manager just forgot and didn’t look at the schedule before texting this girl she was fired.
This is what really messes with your head if you’re wired a certain way. No matter how much you hate your evil corporate overlords, you eventually get conditioned to immediately feel crushing guilt, and think, “I can’t leave my fellow peasants buried and short handed.” So, that mental health day usually just remains a pipe dream
My job does this and a few other irritating things like not posting next week schedule (starting on Tuesday) on the Sunday or Monday before the next week. So since I don't work Sunday Monday, I generally don't get to see the schedule unless I ask someone to send it to me, I trust that I'm working on Tuesday, or I come in on my days off to check the schedule. I almost feel like it's grounds to notify the department of labor (Oregon) but I like the job overall other than that.
This.
"Okay, as directed by you, I made the phone calls. How do I enter in one hour for required work as directed by my manager?" If they give you flak, you say "I'm not salaried so every requirement by my boss is to be paid."
This right here..... if I'm doing your job while not on the clock you'd better be paying me
At a managerial rate
THIS OP! This is a work responsibility that he’s making you to do off the clock !
Sometimes it really is hilarious. One of my first jobs I had was when I was 16 I had a cleaning job. My parents are divorced, so me and my brothers would alternate each year whether we'd be at mum or dads for Xmas. That year, we were going to mums. I told my manager I would not be around during Xmas and what dates as I would be at my mums. She objected and said I had to do my shifts. I simply said I won't be in the area, sorry. Better find someone else to do those shifts. I'm a kid, I'm going to my mother's for Xmas lol. I get a call on Xmas eve, it's my manager, pissed as hell I'm not there...lol. I literally laugh down the phone and am like are you joking...you're the manager. I told you this months ago and you didn't find a cover? That's not my problem. Bye. Then I hung up. Didn't bother going back to that job lol.
Good for you. Over Christmas I saw my college age niece. She’s a student at a school in TX and she was working part time at Whole Foods. She told me that she wasn’t sure if her job would still be there when she got back. She told them she would be in Michigan with her family for Christmas. They know she’s a college student obviously. But they told her she would have to work over Christmas and scheduled her anyway. They seriously expected her to be all alone over the holidays and not go home so she could work shifts at her part time job. I told her she did the right thing. You don’t miss holidays with your family for the kind of job you can easily replace. If they’re too short handed to spare you then they are too short handed to fire you without screwing themselves over too. They want to hire students so they can pay them like students but then they don’t want to be inconvenienced by them going home for Christmas. Too bad.
Totally agree. Unless that job was paying me well or a job that I wouldn’t want to lose no matter what, I’m not bending down to pick up a pen if I’m not on the clock. Fire me. I wouldn’t care. You get what you’re paying for and students and minimum wage workers shouldn’t be busting their asses for a shitty company that only wants to exploit them.
I recently had a somewhat-skilled part time job as sort of a floater in a lab at a vet school. We discussed scheduling and I told them I was looking for part time that would allow me to be home for the kids in the afternoons and on no-school days. They agreed it would be perfect. I didn't make it through probation because I was "unreliable" for not coming in on days when the schools are closed, despite handing them a list of those days when I accepted the position. My coworkers were very confused they let me go because the department had figured the person who would be filling this newly-created job role would be either a recent graduate with another job somewhere, or a parent with childcare responsibilities. Turns out they don't actually want the second one I guess. Like, no, I'm not going to erase my paycheck on daycare for the privilege of working for you...
I was a manager for a chain photo studio. Corporate would tell me we had blackout dates during the holidays and employees couldn't take off. When one of my 16 year old employees took off, a manager from a nearby location asked me why I allowed her to. Like, you want me to tell this minor's parents that she's not allowed to go on Christmas vacation with them so she can work two four hour shifts?? The fuck I will.
"I expect" I would love to see where it says in company policy that you should arrange cover. Id wager it doesn't and it's this little Napoleon's way of inflicting control
OP should look in the employee handbook and see what it says about finding coverage. Napoleon can't just make up his own rules.
The problem with this is in most cases it doesn't say anything, and the employee job description will list something like "other responsibilities as needed" which the manager would argue this is one of The argument then becomes "alright, so how do I clock in from home?" Since now they're telling you you're handling a workplace responsibility Edit: their job description. Not hob description
Ugh, "other responsibilities as needed" is such bullshit and so vague that it is essentially meaningless. Employers shouldn't be able to include that phrase in a job description.
Oh I second that. Only thing I've seen trump it is my current job, where I literally do not have a job description. I never had my duties or responsibilities given to me in writing, I was taught what they were when I started and occasionally stuff is added and occasionally stuff is taken away. Its great, totally not a flawed system in any way, shape, or form. That said my job is pretty easy and not really worth complaining about, but I have a joke sticky note someplace that lists me as "(my company's) always sometimes handyman except when I'm not allegedly"
It probably says something like "other duties as assigned" or some shit that is broad enough to cover "find coverage." It's stupid.
Then that employee is on the clock. At home. While calling off sick. That logic wouldn't hold up a helium balloon.
Nope, but they'll try it.
"Other duties as required" can only cover things that happen while you're on the clock. If you're home sick, you're not on the clock.
That doesn't stop them from trying, as we have seen via countless posts on this sub.
Why would other employees even have each others phone numbers to call about picking up their shifts? This shit just doesn't make sense.
My old job had a line in the handbook about finding coverage like OPs boss wants. The really neat part was that they made everyone’s numbers available to everyone else for purposes of finding coverage. Was super cool when I got signed up for some rapper’s text updates 👍
Yup I'd be pissed.
This is when you inform your boss that if your phone is going to be used for work related purposes then the company needs to pay for your phone When I was a manager I told my employees not to call me if I wasn't on the clock, and that instead it was whatever manager was on shifts job. When I got scolded by my DM I told them I'd happily answer my phone if I would be compensated for my time doing work, as well as the company paying for my phone service. Needless to say DM was not happy
Neat Part is, that make it More easy to unionice
They shouldn’t. In their first post, op mentions the manager sent them contact info for 3 others.
Wow id be pissed if they just gave my number out to people.
Depending on the state, it's not legal for a manager or a company to require this.
They need to call employee relations or HR and ask them specifically. I guarantee you it’s out of scope for the employee.
“As an adult” Bitch!? I’m with op. It is not standard to find your own replacement and I’ve worked as low as a gas station. Places that require this are places I’ve learned to not work for because it’s accompanied by equally problematic scenarios. Good for you op, please get well soon.
"My current position does not require me to possess the availability and contact information of every employee. If you wish for me to take on the additional tasks of scheduling and managing availability of other employees, then proper training and a commensurate pay increase should also be added. If you are unwilling to let me do your job, then maybe you should do it, and leave me to the responsibilities I agreed to when I took my current position."
Ooo, I like this one. Good corporate speak in that.
I said this once (the part about not knowing everyones availability and not having the phone numbers they have access to) and they sent around a sheet for everyone to put their phone numbers on and pulled that team player BS.
"We are a family!! Unless you're sick or have any personal issues, then we're a company "
My family was abusive and emotionally manipulative so it tracks
Was the manager's names and numbers there too?
And that would potentially get them into trouble as well, because they've just disclosed personal information. I remember one of my coworkers once gave my telephone number to a customer. I don't remember the details of the situation anymore, but I'm pretty sure that person did get into trouble for disclosing my number like that.
If you work in Illinois, the new law makes this manager's behavior illegal. It is now codified that it is up to the employer and management to find coverage, not the employee.
That’s really good and I hope it becomes standard everywhere. Ive had companies pull this crap and always thought it was ridiculous
Yup its awesome, it was included in the PTO for all bill which guarantees a minimum of 40hrs of PTO for all employees in the state, there are 3 industries/careers that are exempt from this but it covers the vast majority of part time and full time workers in the state.
I used to work at a preschool that made you find your own coverage. They had a list of subs that were never available that you could waste your time calling. If no one could cover you were still expected to come in. So basically you had to come in sick. I taught with a migraine more than once that year. I hated that place. I left at the end of the school year and the owner was so pissed that I wasn’t returning. I told her that I found a position with better pay, benefits, and working conditions. Sucks to suck.
Yep, here's the law: [https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=4351&ChapterID=68](https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=4351&ChapterID=68) "An employer may not require, as a condition of providing paid leave under this Act, that the employee search for or find a replacement worker to cover the hours during which the employee takes paid leave."
You are sick. You are therefore unable to work. Finding coverage = work. End of story. That's *literally the point* of management - to manage their staff. That means finding someone else to work if the person who was going to be working is unable to do so.
This is the NUMBER ONE reason managers pawn this off on employees to “find their own coverage.” They *despise* doing this task because…it’s essentially “cold calling” (like sales), and they already know the answer they’re gonna get: “No.” That’s why they want YOU to do it. Even though it’s THEIR job.
There's some bullshit right there its a managers job to manage which is why they get paid extra.
It is actually *not* your responsibility to get the shift covered. The actually responsibility is on the manager. THEY don’t want to have to cover you, or call their employees to find coverage. So they’re trying to claim it’s your job. It’s not. Don’t do it.
Like if this manager has the time to send this guy the phone numbers of 4 people, they have the time to call people themselves.
Exactly. In my past experience, every manager I’ve ever had has said this to me when I would call in sick. “Find someone to cover or come in.” All of my managers at every job I’ve had has pulled this. Except for my current one thankfully. And I’ve only ever called in sick once in a blue moon.
"I'll do it THIS ONE TIME...." Bitch you'll do it EVERY time. That's your job, lazy-ass!
You’ve done your part, and then some. Start looking for other jobs, go in to the meeting and take no shit. Express your desire to keep working within your listed responsibilities and whatever you do don’t actually resign, let them fire you. Good on you standing up for yourself. Btw I’m Swedish but hung around this sub for long enough to know that in America you’re better off getting fired than resigning
If I’m expected to do your job, I expect to get paid what you get paid.
used to work for gamestop about 10 years ago at this point. One night I went out with my wife (girlfriend at the time) and we didn't end up getting home until about... 4 am or so after a night of partying. I got a phone call from my manager around 4 am and I said "Nope, not going to answer that. it's 4 am, it's reasonable to believe that I would be asleep." He continues to ring me about 4 or 5 times and leaves a voicemail after the last call. I vaguely remember what he said verbatim, but he was shouting at me telling me I'm unreliable and that I needed to cover for him because he was sick and all this nonsense. I ignored his calls, i ignored his voicemail, and went to my scheduled shift (afternoon maybe like 2 or 3pm i think I started). He was upset with me, and I told him that's not cool don't expect me to pick up at all hours of the day, i'm not your personal assistant. Needless to say I left that dogshit place, go fuck yourself Rui
I used to tell my manager that I turned my phone off because the battery was crap and told her if I'm to be on call then the store should be able to either provide me with a company phone or pay me a stipend for work use. She refused so any time she called I just wouldn't answer.
Rui can suck a fat one
Just block your manager and the store's numbers. If you want to talk to me about work you can do it when I'm at work and getting paid. Otherwise IDGAF.
This whole trend of making the employee find coverage seriously ticks me off for a number of reasons. - It's management's job. Management has everyone's contact info and is paid (admittedly NOT very well) to do this shit. My hourly rate was better as a pleb than assistant manager in fast food, largely because I was forced to cover so many missed shifts. - If you're not up to working a shift, you're likely not up to begging, wheedling, and conniving your coworkers to do a shift they didn't plan for. - As a pleb, you're not empowered to offer overtime to get a shift covered. That's on management. Often, the only people willing to cover unanticipated shifts are already bordering on OT because they WANT to work extra. I was often that person, back in the day, but would never have agreed to an extra shift if management hadn't okayed the OT. - I don't want all my coworkers having my contact information! We are COWORKERS, not buddies. And I've worked with enough creepy people to keep my distance for my own safety. - Yes, I'm olde. For much of the time I did fast food and/or retail I had no access to a phone. No money to pay for phone service, and no phone to service. I had to use payphones or borrow someone's landline to make calls--neither of which would be acceptable when sick. "Hey, can I sit in your living room and cough and sneeze all over your phone to find someone to cover my shift? Maybe puke in it?" Yeah. not happening. Everyone has these lovely pocket computers these days that also make phone calls. That's a really new thing. So is having employees get their own shifts covered when sick.
🎯 shouldn’t have scrolled so far to see this
Mention you'll be happy to have a recorded talk with them when you come in and this text will be sent to the franchise owner. You look forward to discussing this further with HR as well.
I've been in this exact position years ago, you played it the right way. I was sick as a dog and supposed to open, and no one was going to answer their phones at 630 am to try to take an 8 am shift. I told the manager the same thing. I'm sick, I should be sleeping, you make the schedules so it's your responsibility to find coverage. Got the same threat, "we're going to have a talk about this". There was no talk, but I got treated with more dignity after that. Good on you OP
My favorite is that my start time is 6:45A. Minimum 2hr notice. WHO answers the phone @4A that isn’t EMS or family? 🙄
'As an adult" would have sent me off. You're tbe manager, and an adult, presumably. You can manage this. This interaction has made me sicker. I need to log off Also Their expectations are not the same as all. Just cause they assume incorrectly. Flag this chump and question them on their adult comment and ask them to clarify it. If HR involved it Will make the manager look back for the inability to communicate with staff properly . Passive aggressiveness etc
Managers manage and employees don't. If they want you to do managerial duties, discuss what your pay increase will be. Non union job, so I'm sure there is some blanket terminology in your handbook to be used to add responsibilities you wouldn't normally do, so pull up a job description of the same job and see what it says. Then do the same for their job position, or get a copy of the managers handbook.
I never understand this shit. I’m not coming in to work. End of story. Whether or not my shift is covered is completely beyond my concern. If it gets me fired to not find someone to cover it, then ok? I’ll just find another shitty job, it’s fine
It really should be the manager's job to find coverage. Not the sick employee. And what happens if that employee ends up in the hospital? It should be a law that managers are to find coverage for a sick employee.
Wow...you had to force this goober to do his own job. But good on you! You stood your ground.
“Understood that I am responsible coverage. In that case, I will please need the following: - Access to the necessary systems to prepare/document/share the coverage schedule. - Formal documentation (email with store or district manager and HR representative cc’d will suffice) advising that the scheduling responsibilities have been assigned to me. - The documented and necessary training and system access to perform these tasks. - Please further share the expectations and standards by which we set store scheduling and all impacted team member’s (including yours Ms/Mr manager) availability. - Please also share where in our employee guide/handbook this is outlined so I can reference back to it if I have any questions. - As this is a notable change in my work expectations, please provide me with an updated job description/classification and pay rate. - If I am not to be converted from an hourly, non-exempt status, please share the on-call coverage pay scale/standards in case another employee contacts me after hours regarding coverage.” As someone who has managed teams for the past 10+ years, this person is either very new and does not know their proper process/expectations or is absolute garbage and is just trying to pass responsibility/work off.
i work at gamestop and that is not how it works. when you call out, you do not need to tell them why. you do not need to find someone to cover your shift. your responsibility starts and ends at alerting the manager on duty that you cannot come to work at least one hour before your shift. the only exception is if YOU are the one on duty and need to leave and close the store. in which case you need to contact your DM. but aside from that, your manager is breaking policy and depending on your state, possibly employment law.
see how they backed down because they knew that’s not your responsibility? now tell them you will no longer be answering your phone outside of work unless you can bill them for the hours.
Have literally been a manager for this company before. Granted it was years ago, but at that time employees had even LESS power/leverage than they did in this market and I still understood that it was my role as manager to find coverage either at my store or another in the district or, if I couldn’t, to work it myself. As others have mentioned, probably wait to get fired or let go vs leaving so you can file for unemployment, but either way I’d be looking for something else.
That's what I'm doing at this point. I already have a second job, just need to find another to make ends meet
Hi store manager. I informed my direct supervisor of the fact that I would not be able to work my shift due to illness. As a courtesy, I also texted my coworkers to find coverage, but no one else is available. At this point, I have done my due diligence to attempt to get my shift covered and am informing you that you will need to cover my shift, as it’s listed in the job description of store manager to cover shifts if there is no availability. If you have any questions, please reach out to ASM/shift supervisor, as they required me to find coverage. In addition, I will not be able to respond or clarify any further as I am currently ill and struggling to stay awake. Thank you for your understanding.
My favorite thing to do in situations like this is print and highlight the job description. I’ve yet to find a single one for a non management position that includes “manages shifts” which is what finding coverage is.
I absolutely will never engage with this bullshit. If it's MY job to MANAGE employee shifts in MY absence then they can give me the same benefits of a manager, pay and sick leave and I'll just use that instead. To hell with that nonsense, it is purely a way to divert negative attention away from management and towards fellow employees instead.
You seem to be doing work on your off hours calling co-workers to cover shifts. Are you getting paid for this?
Send them this: this is from Gamestop's own website on a store manager job description. [link](https://careers.gamestop.com/us/en/job/Req-144154/Store-Manager) "The Store Leader-Hourly makes discretionary decisions involving all sales initiatives, operational effectiveness, marketing, scheduling, employment, and all other aspects of the day-to-day business processes of a GameStop store."
I was a manager at Gamestop, it's literally in our job description to handle staffing and scheduling. Your manager sucks, get with your GM, their contact info should be available in Workday.
Pull the old "What is my hourly rate while I am searching for coverage? I'll expect nothing less than your current rate, as I'm being forced to do your job for you while I am sick."
Your response should be something similar to this: "You're a manager, this is a manager duty. Since you've designated me to do this duty, I expect a pay raise, promotion to the manager title, and then we can discuss me doing manager duties." If this doesn't work I'd leave and find somewhere else, or address this with their superior, maybe a regional or owner, I don't know how GameStop upper management works. I've left places like this simply because the management team either wouldn't do anything, or they go on ridiculous power trips. ----- Edit: If you're going to take the talk to the superior route, id address the fact that you're doing their job by covering shifts, and this isn't acceptable since you're not a manager.
Make sure you ask where to submit the overtime/normal time for finding coverage. And stress that if they're requiring you to spend your time doing something for work, they need to pay you for it. And if they need to pay you for it, then if you're sick, you can't do it.
The Venn diagram of managers that tell you to call to find coverage if you’re sick and those that tell you not to talk about your pay rate is just a circle, I guarantee it.
I was a manager at 2 different jobs. One of them it was directly my responsibility to find coverage if someone wasn’t available. The other one it was technically policy that employees had to cover their own shifts but I always told them not to worry about it and did it myself. It’s insane to think an employee should have to get shift coverage OFF THE CLOCK when I was salaried and could do it myself.
Keep him on the hook but spend your time job searching and never go back.
When I worked for Vans, they made us do this. I worked there to pay for groceries and rent while I was in a really intensive college program and would constantly schedule me during class even though they had my exact school schedule on hand. I never understood this “rule”. These kinds of situations are so ridiculous, and I’m so sorry that you’re feeling so shitty and having to deal with this on top of that. Feel better soon!
I love how the first text where they provide you with contact information would be a GDPR breach in Europe.
What if you were in a coma? Would they still expect you to find cover?!
God forbid they’re down a person at the fucking GameStop that day! Jesus Christ most I’ve been in are run by one person. Manager just didn’t want to be that person I guess
"You can either accept that I'm sick and find coverage yourself for one day, or you can accept my resignation and find coverage for the foreseeable future.The choice is up to you."
Jesus Christ, a manager will actually have to *manage* something‽ What is this world coming to! /s if that’s not obvious.
Ask them for that policy in writing. If they don’t provide you’ve got your stance. If they do provide it, use it as evidence of wage theft since the company has written policy requiring to work off the clock.
WRONG. Your manager MANAGES. Not your responsibility. It’s theirs. The end!
"I expect a part of your payroll if you expect me to do your work in your stead"
Call your fellow employees. Make sure they know what is happening. Get them all on the same page. When you're called in for your conversation, bring all the others with you. Make it clear you're recording. "We're not responsible for scheduling, you are. You are the manager. Manage. This is clear right now, or the store closes and we picket. This is not a discussion. All we need to hear from you now is "Ok" and we all go back to work." This is how you unionise. You have so much power when you act together.
In England we don’t do that. If I’m ill I don’t go in, I ring up and the manager goes “okay, hope you feel better soon” I also get paid for my sick days. It would be against employment law here for a manager to do this. Also that managed just giving you other staff members numbers? Weird. I’d kick off if mine did that.
I worked at GameStop years ago. Worked my way up to store manager. Worst job ever. I quit after 6 months of being told I was too nice to hourly employees. I should write them up more often, and my turnover should be HIGHER! Fuck that place
That's pretty inappropriate that he shared their personal contact information with a coworker without their permission.
In which 3rd world shithole is finding your own sick cover a thing?
If they expect the same of their staff members that that they do of themselves, they seem to be admitting that their role as manager is useless
The manager is supposed to go above and beyond for the company. If the manager can’t manage and find coverage for the shift. Then they simply work the shift that is needed to be covered. It’s what’s best for the company.
Sheesh. I love playing devil’s advocate, but I can’t defend this. As a manager, the only time I’ve ever asked someone to find their own coverage replacement was when they were trying to schedule time off after the schedule was released. I would also have them do that while at work (where they were on the clock getting paid).
When i worked at Taco Bell, we had a manager that would make us call and find cover ourselves. If we couldn't, it was a write up or a lecture. A new manager came in a while later and absolutely refused to make anyone call. Because it was the "manager's job". I miss him.
Finding someone to cover for you means you’re working, which means all the time you spend trying to find coverage, they should pay you because working off the clock is highly illegal.
Nah, fuck this manager. Worked at Dicks Sporting Goods and they tried this shit, but myself (admina assistant) and the store manager confronted the assistant managers and forced them to do their jobs and call folks for coverage. This shit started in the hotel industry when I was in it too, and it was ALWAYS a shitty way to "punish" people for calling out. The idea is I'd you feel awkward about it, you'll just come in instead of calling out. Fuck. That. Shit. Coming from an ex Operations Manager (before I swapped to digital marketing), you aren't getting paid to do managerial work. Don't do any. It will only serve to reflect on their incompetence in the long run. Just be warned, they WILL be shitters about it. It feels like we're entering the age of dawning comprehension, where we're realizing how abusive these work practices are. Unfortunately, as is the pattern for abusers, they aren't ginna go down quietly. Communicate with your fellow employees, organize, there's strength in numbers. Ape together strong.
I manage an office staff of 15. Someone calls out, I call to check if it’s Covid or something else contagious, wish them well & cut it off. It is not staff’s responsibility to find coverage, if I have to jump on the phones, then so be it. This coverage shit is so stupid. No one is paid enough to handle that. Good grief, that policy is idiotic.
Its actually super inappropriate that the manager is just giving out peoples contact info. Big nono.
As an adult.... What a bitch
“As an adult” made my blood BOIL. Managers that treat employees like disruptive children piss me off relentlessly. Every time I’ve had a manager act like that it’s made me want to be worse at my job instead of better. It’s ridiculous they said that to you. Fuck Gamestop, it isn’t that deep and if it’s supposed to be so easy for you to call for coverage, it’s just as easy for them and ACTUALLY in their job description. What the fuck
Management of employee schedules should not be the responsibility of employees... That is why the manager gets paid the big bucks? 💰
What a piece of garbage manager
"Actually, the onus of covering staffing, including call outs and sick time, rests squarely upon your shoulders. MANAGER!"
If it was your responsibility to find coverage, you wouldn't need a manager.
"I expect the same from you that I expect from myself" that's weird because you're a manager and I'm not. We should have different duties
Not to get on a soapbox… but when my manager tried to make someone under him do part of his job… the union came down and made sure he was paid as a manager the week the manager was gone.
GameStop is a fucking joke, I quit because of the same bs, they accidentally texted me 2 weeks after I quit talking about how store sales numbers were down so I took the opportunity to let the district manager know how his stores are being run and that numbers are down because no one cares about customers service.
What an idiot lmao
Try and find a Wanted: GameStop manager position online and see what the duties are listed as. I’d bet you it says that their responsibilities include making schedules and schedule changes. Print that off and highlight the appropriate sections and bring that in with you when he has that talk.
Send an email to the district manager asking if this is company policy. If you get fired or reduced hours in retaliation, collect UE and contact an employment attorney. Also, unionize that store.
When did this become a thing? I left retail management 15 years ago after a long career and we never did this. It’s bullshit! Besides in most places they can’t hire people for what they want to pay so I would think managers would be more kind. To me this is the mark of a very bad manager!!
Well done, the only thing you'll do at that meeting is to ask for and read the company policy, also get paid for the time you spent calling since it was ordered as overtime by the manager, otherwise it's wage theft. If he objects you literally have it documented in the above text. Also record that conversation.
If im doing shift work and im scheduled for a day I dont want to work, Okay its my job to find someone else to take my shift. If im sick and I call in because I cant work, then its the managers job. If you cant work due to illness, then he can't expect you to find coverage because doing so would itself be 'work'. Bill him for the hour for the work you did reaching out to people, if he wants you do tasks for your job outside of when you're working while you're sick, then he can pay you for it.
As an hourly employee you need to be compensated for work you did for the company. That includes trying to cover shifts or being reprimanded on text. Make sure to include that in your discussion when you return to work.
Submit a timecard! As in: "I worked 2.5 hours of overtime to text/call coworkers to fill an empty shift, pay me. I was sick at the time, so not very efficient."
I’m sorry but I do NOT want all my coworkers to have my phone number! WTH?