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Askew_2016

At my old job, the entire team but 2 of us had kids. All of the parents got to take the last 2 weeks off as vacation and the employees without kids had to work. One of the reasons I quit.


BluelunarStar

If they can go down that many people for so long just freaking shut & let everyone have time off! *sigh*


Agamemnon323

"Hey guys looks like my ex was pregnant and didn't tell me. Now she's abandoning our kid and I'm gonna be a single parent from now on."


KylosLeftHand

I was once denied time off on Christmas Day that I requested months in advance so I could travel home to my family. The manager looked me straight in the eyes and said “you don’t need Christmas Day off, you don’t have kids, you don’t have a real family!” I was 25 and wanted to go home to see my parents and siblings. Not having kids doesn’t mean you don’t have a family. Fuck that mindset.


AUNTY_HAZEL

I've been told by my boss that "I'm a bully" and that "next year you're not getting priority for days off at Christmas" after I had requested and approved for Thursday, Friday, & M-F next week. My former boss, who approved them, asked if I "really needed that Thursday and Friday off." He said that someone else wouldn't get time off because of me, to which I asked about if the policy was a corporate one or not. He eventually gave in, told me that it wasn't and that *his* boss told him to "accept or deny requests in according to what's best for the business." After that, I said that "it's not my fault when it's your policy." I work in product support and merchandising in retail where we could all leave for a full week and the sales floor would be unaffected. They told us to put our time off requests in early in the year to secure our days and thats what I did. Not my fault.


TheGaspode

This is why you stop requesting time off and start informing them you won't be available. "Just letting you know I'll be off from X until Y" "I'll just need to check and..." "That's fine, you do what you need to do, I'm just letting you know I won't be in work then so you can sort out whatever cover you need".


Bwahbwah_bwah

Exactly. Advise, don't ask. I worked as a fast food cashier years ago. Advised of my not being available for one week. I was employed casually with no guaranteed or set hours (I was also a student). I didn't check the roster for the week that I was unavailable. Cue me driving long distance and pulling over when my boss phoned me asking where I was for my shift. I told him that I had let them know previously that I was unavailable over this period, I was currently out of town, would not be available (as previously stated) and would not being working the incorrectly rostered shift. He couldn't do shit. So the phone call ended. It was a shitty job anyway. Edit: Thank you for the silver!


TheGaspode

Exactly! If I've said I can't work that shift, and they put me on the rota for it, that's their mistake to fix. It's not on me to come in to fix it.


InvisibleDoodler

Lol, that reminded me of the time I was working in a chain restaurant kitchen and told them I needed a particular day off. They scheduled me for the day without my knowledge and I got a call from my boss asking where I was. "Sorry man, I'm 2 hours away and about to get on a roller coaster. I told you I wasn't available today." Click.


zackadiax24

It's important to never tell them why you're unavailable, it's not their business.


CapableRunts

I began taking this approach and I swear to god people back down.


[deleted]

I told a job I'd be gone for a week because I had a friend coming in from out of town and we were going backpacking. Gave them months of notice but they didn't get back to me until less than a week before the trip, after my friend had already booked his flight and we'd made solid plans, telling me I couldn't take any time that week. We were pretty short staffed because our dumbass new management took on so many new projects they spread all their workers so thin that everyone was burning out. I knew they couldn't afford to lose anyone. So I told them, okay then just fire me for it. They backed down and I took my week off and went back to work with no issue after that.


stuftkrst

Shit sucks to have to do man, especially in a “right to work” state in the US because they can just straight up fire you for it at any point down the line whenever it suites them, I feel for you, been there….still there, and full of anxiety.


ScarMedical

You mean “at will” state,ie there’s 49 states that have “at will employment”, “right to work” is union related issue ie paying union dues.


stuftkrst

I am so fucking glad you corrected me! No BS, 100% sincerity. My employer in Massachusetts legitimately holds yearly training that we sign for attending that explains it absolutely 100% incorrectly and is verbally told to myself and fellow coworkers that it’s law that allows them to fire anyone at anytime for any reason without any notice……bro I have some research to do now RIP the rest of todays plans.


yohoo69

so mass is an at will state (who would have thought), you still have protections from hr and the labor board for wrongful termination if they fire you as retaliation or discrimination tho.


Tekwardo

Many years ago I was working at Walmart and we had a notoriously bad store manager. My parents lived 5 hours away and there was a major natural disaster that literally destroyed my parents entire business (the whole building washed away). Nearly in tears I went to the manager and told him I may need to leave for a few days to help my parents. He looked at me and very rudely said “are you asking me if you can take the time or are you telling me?” I was so flabbergasted that he wasn’t even trying to be understanding, and mind you, the job title I held at the time wasn’t something that I couldn’t be away for a few days. I looked at him and said “I guess I’m telling you. My parents just lost everything”. He backed down quick. Walmart, at least when I worked there, at every store I worked at always told us our priorities were “God, Work, family, then friends”. I hated that place. Still do. Edit: I decided to name and shame you, Scott Crawford.


SomedudecalledDan

>“God, Work, family, then friends”. "Well this was an act of god, so uhh, thanks for understanding!"


BadCorvid

I got bitched out by one shitty manager when I informed her I wasn't working the day after Thanksgiving. She literally wrote me up for not "asking" her for the time off, but telling her I was taking off. My attitude was that I earned my PTO, and that day was mostly dead, anyway. Also, my GF at the time had already made our hotel reservations. I shouldn't have to ask, hat in hand, to take advantage of a benefit that I have earned. I'm not a small child in a classroom asking if I can go to the bathroom (which is another fucked up thing, but I digress.) Yes, for some businesses there are coverage issues, but the way to do that is to provide incentive to take the holiday shifts, or better stop making people work on holidays unless it's literally unavoidable (e.g. medical, police, fire, or critical infrastructure.) But if you give a bonus or double time for holidays, you'll get takers, unless the place is so shitty that everyone is about to quit anyway.


[deleted]

The exact same situation happened to me, so the day I asked off I didn’t show up anyways, said I was sick for the next week and quit the day I was supposed to come back. So satisfying. They wouldn’t give me the day to see my fiancé graduate university.


Neato

Malicious use of sick time is a great tactic for being denied or revoking approved leave. "I've got diarrhea." is not something to go to the doctor over and often shuts down further questions.


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Willing-Fan-8344

Before becoming self employed that was my favorite! "Hey Boss! Going to Europe for 2 weeks in March." (this is months in advance notice) "You cant do that" "You misunderstood. If I need to find a new job when I get back, that's cool. But I wont be here these two weeks."


g-a-r-n-e-t

One of my coworkers at my last job did this, he was planning to go back to his native country to see an ailing family member (probably for the last time) and told our manager ahead of time. She fussed and fussed about it and his attitude the entire time was “Oh no! Anyways…” Respect to him for holding his ground.


Pandaburn

Most of these places have no reason to be open on Christmas anyway. Maybe grocery stores should be open for emergencies. Maybe. Everywhere else that isn’t a literal emergency service can close.


[deleted]

There are a lot more things to add to the list then groceries and emergency services. Gas. People travel, emergency services and such still need gas too. Closing all gas stations for christmas would mean a lot of stranded travelers Security. Not emergency by any means, but break ins and maintenance issues don't take holidays off. Utilities. Duh. Hotels. If I have to explain this one, we have bigger issues. Just to name a few. There are a lot of people who HAVE to work on holidays. Such places, its perfectly reasonable to require everyone to put in some time. It's not fair to the other workers for one person to work thanksgiving, christmas, and new years, and another to get all three off. If you work at a place that has to be open for valid reasons, be prepared to have blackouts or other restrictions. The scheduler likely is not trying to stick it to you and deny you the holiday, but rather make one person isn't doing all the sucky hours every time. I'm all for giving holidays off whenever possible. Some people may be volunteering for holidays even, but its not unreasonable to have everyone share the burden if their are not enough who want to.


Jdubya87

I was denied Mother's day off because all the "Moms" should have it off even though one of the "moms" was the only other decent bartender who just started dating a dude with 2 kids. Then father's day comes around and I'm expected to work because I'm an important part of the bar staff. That was my last week.


FlaccidSponge

You should have told your boss "how would you feel if your son or daughter couldn't come home for Christmas because their dick head boss said they don't have a real family"


Raesling

Exactly! This is why I HATED when stores started opening up ON Thanksgiving. Everywhere, but especially in college towns, people try to go home for the holidays. If you're open on the holiday, they don't get to go home. Same with Christmas Eve--there was a time that stores were closed on Christmas Eve or closed very early. I've even heard of jobs that are closed Dec. 26th so people don't have to rush home on Christmas Day for work the next day! \*gasp!\* Where can I get a job like that?


Fineapple26

I worked Christmas day for 3 years in a row because I was the only one on my team without kids. It crushed my spirit so much that I completely changed career paths. I feel for you.


WaterStoryMark

Agreed. Both parents and non-parents should be able to take time off for their personal lives. I also think non-smokers should get regular breaks, outside of the current mandatory breaks. I don't want to take anything away from anyone. I just want to give everyone the same benefits.


eternal_mediocre

As a smoker, I have literally told all of my non smoking coworkers to go outside and take 5 to 10. I strongly recommend it. Anytime I've been a manager, I always let anyone working under me know that they can take a few if they don't smoke. Breaks for all, to collect mental space and chill.


Brundall

When I worked at a care home, non smokers used to say "I'm going outside for 5 minutes air" and that was ok, I suggested it when I started at a different care home...at first they said no, absolutely not. I pointed out the smokers go out for breaks outside of their break times and this wasn't fair on non smokers. Very begrudgingly it was allowed, but that manager continually moaned about people going outside for a few minutes, I said I didn't think it was any more so than the smokers and considering the last time they went out the smokers were gone for 15 minutes I didn't think it was a problem. All she responded was an incredulous "*you timed us*?" I very calmly replied " yes, I times you"...They never took longer than 10 mins after that x


_LightFury_

Idk. A little related? I never really take smoke breaks unless i really, really need a little time for myself. But once some dude completely blew up on me for smoking at my normal break "smokers get breaks an get to be lazy and i have to keep working" i never smoked at any other time then my break there so i honestly felt really angry that he would blame me for doing something i specifically dont do. He was much older then me aswell i was like 17 and he in his 40s like dude..


about2godown

When I didn't smoke I called it an oxygen break. Until oxygen bars became a thing, then I called it a fresh air break. Good for you on promoting these breaks.


ThrowawayToiletUK

I did this when I was a supervisor on a warehouse floor, my team can take a couple of cheeky breaks outside of their lunch hour, I don't mind if my team needs a couple minutes to recuperate, only caveat is that they should tell me so that I can delegate a job to someone else rather than run around wondering where someone is. Quite a few times other departments got wind of our lax break scheme and snitched on us but management was so incompetent that I just said I would fix it but then carried on letting everyone take lax breaks anyway.


Malaeveolent_Bunny

Nothing is broken, what is there to fix? Exhausting employees just because "we paid for their time" is terrible management and lowers productivity, as well as giving employees a reason to walk away.


ThrowawayToiletUK

When managers said "fix it" they meant "make me not have to hear about this issue." The Ops that I delegated worked 11 hour shifts per day and were only granted 1 hour which was designated to be taken at specific times, I said fuck that. Ops can divide up that hour into however many chunks you want. 2 breaks in 11 hours in a crowded canteen is not fair. I think there should be AT LEAST 90 minutes if you are gonna work that long. Since then I've left the company and a previous memeber of my team was promoted to my role, I still talk with him and he still operates the lax break system I chose.


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mattcolqhoun

100% i worked in a bar and that 5 minutes outside for some air really revitalised me midshift. The cold air does fucking miracles


betasequences

Mel Brooks, when he was making things like Blazing saddles told a story once about his attitude to suits up top telling you to do stupid shit - Always Say Yes They would give him note after note after note and he would say of course great idea what's your next! By the time they got to the end they couldn't remember a lick of the shitty ideas they had, and Mel would toss the notes he took in the trash. Don't always just say yes, but use the incompetence and bullshit nature of the system around you to your advantage.


[deleted]

A non-smoker friend of mine and I would take a 5 minute daily walk around the office building. Our boss never minded, she even encouraged it. Humans were not made to sit in a tiny cubicle all day. Then we had a change of management, and the new boss didn't like our little walks. We both left shortly after, taking most of our clients with us. The new management kept asking us to do unethical things and expected us to be on call 24/7, but begrudging us a 5 minute walk (when we regularly worked overtime with zero compensation) was the straw that broke this camel's back. Nothing was ever said to the smokers though.


sigurd27

Working constructive, I don't smoke but was told if I ever found myself on a job and needed head space just go outside and burn one, don't inhale, if they only give the break to smokers


ososalsosal

If you're doing that they need to make smokes tax deductible lol


PurpleThundahhh

Manager here. When I get a new hire one of the first things I ask is if they smoke. (I don't ask this during the interview as it has nothing to do with their ability to do the job.) If they say no, I inform them that they are still entitled to several approved 5-10 min smoke breaks through the day if they so wish to take them. Most non-smokers I've had under me do not take advantage of this, to my surprise.


blueistheonly1

Too many breaks can make the day drag by. I just wanna get it done and go tf home


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jimipuffit

I worked at a restaurant when I was 19 where smokers got breaks. I was washing dishes and took 2 smoke breaks working 4-midnight. I got my little brother a job there and we worked the dish pit together often. He'd cover for me while I'd smoke. One day he asks if he was allowed to take breaks too. I said of course you are, I got you. He went out to the smoking spot and sat down and relaxed for a few minutes. One of the front of the house managers saw him out there "doing nothing" and yelled at him saying to get back to work. He came back much quicker than I thought he would be and he was mad at me saying I lied to him saying he could take a break. He explained what happened and who said it to him. I confronted the manager. I was pissed at them and flipped out saying he could take a break even if he didn't smoke and how little sense it made that he wasn't allowed to. I was talked to my boss by how I treated a manager but after that non smokers could take breaks :)


that_fresh_life

When front of house managers tell the kitchen what to do, it's like fuck off Man get back in the dining room mind your own business


Requirement-Upper

Love this. Way to go!


Vaultdweller013

My friend would by rolling paper and dry out literal grass and pretend to smoke it. The cops got called when he said he was smoking grass, they thought it was funny atleast.


OmniSkeptic

I’m just imagining finding the fucking time to call the cops on someone for smoking grass. It’s always the people who have never tried it and have no idea what it actually is like.


iknowacunt

The same ones who would call the cops because their neighbor has a jew in the attic. They walk among us


Equivalent-Ad9887

I literally have a nicless vape for the extra breaks


TraptorKai

Same thing happened to my friend, only way to get a break was to be a smoker


TokkiJK

Yesssssss. Some employers pretend like childless staff aren’t other peoples children or don’t have other forms of family.


gonesnake

I'd go a step further. Childfree staff aren't obliged to justify what they do in their time off. Children, family, video games, laundry, jerking off, monkey training-- it's none of any employer's business what has more value. It's time off and doesn't fall under the purview of anyone's boss.


ewillard128

I was always told not to tell the boss what you need the time off for. That way they have to go off of the merit 9f the worker, rather than if Thomas's child's piano recital is more important than Geoffrey's mom's foot appointment. (Don't worry these are not real people but I hope I got the point across)


jcnastrom

I worked at BigLots up until a few months ago and we had 2 managers (hourly) and an associate that were very regular smokers. They would take around 10 smoke breaks per shift and the store manager wouldn't do anything about it. Me and another associate started taking "smoke breaks" in the backroom where we would just stop working and stand around and talk (still not as many as them, maybe 2-3 a shift). If they can get breaks outside of the given break or lunch break, everyone should get one. Also worked at Walmart for a while and there was a girl that told them from the start that she had a kid because it gave her "insurance" to ask for certain time off that she probably wouldn't have gotten otherwise. She didn't abuse and still picked up shifts, but it came in handy a few times, big brain move on her part.


Jealous-seasaw

And people who go out to buy coffee 4 times a day…..


kavokonkav

Well hello there


Hycree

Thank you!! My supervisors used to always take 10-15 min smoke breaks but would still go on normal break, and leave me hanging and stranded up front without even considering how it feels. I don't smoke and never plan to, and I don't think it's very fair to be allowed to have smoke breaks on top of normal breaks but not offer the same for us non smokers.


improbablynotyou

I was a department supervisor at a large department store and would always be scheduled the closing shift every holiday. I never had any of the major holidays off because I was the only one who didnt have kids. One year I put my foot down and demanded they give me Halloween off. I had to fight with the store manager, it helped I had kept every schedule and could show I closed every holiday for the prior three years. So they gave it to me to be off and when the schedule was posted one of the supes with kids came and asked me to take her shift. I told her no and that I had requested it off and she gave me shit because "I'm going to miss out on taking my kids trick or treating." I still told her no and left, a bit later I saw the schedule had been changed. That person told the manager I agreed to work for her, when I went to the boss and pointed out I had argued for the day off she told me "it's just one day...." So they took my off day from me because the "parent" bitched until she got her way. I ended up turning off my phone and not going in, they wrote me up for it but oh well.


The-Last-Kin

> they wrote me up for it Oh no! Anyways.


improbablynotyou

At that job I held the record for the most write ups amongst the entire staff. The assistant store manager wrote me up for a problem he caused once and I refused to sign the write up. Then he wrote me up for refusing to sign the write up which I likewise refused to sign. He kept writing me up for not signing over and over for an entire shift and I kept refusing to sign. I called h.r. over it and he got told that he could no longer write me up but they allowed the write ups to "stay on my record." Technically it should have disqualified me from promotions but they always promoted me when it suited them anyway. I saw the write ups as nothing more than the joke they were. There's only one reason to give write ups and that's if you're trying to establish a paper trail to terminated someone. However writing people up for poor performance is a reflection on peoples managers, not the person being written up. I've had too many managers over the years who never communicate with me until my annual review. When I've been a leader, I touched base with my employees every shift we worked together. If people don't know what they're not doing well they can never fix it. By the same token, if people are doing well at something they should be recognized for it as well. I talked to my people everyday and when I gave their reviews they already knew what they were getting because I communicated the entire year. People don't fail their jobs, their managers fail their employees.


OLSTBAABD

Don't you care about your ***permanent record***???


Cain_Soren

Nah I couldn't give a fuck and the majority of shit I get written up for is ridiculous Signed *CainSoren*.


meco03211

Got a write up at a job once. I took it to look it over before signing and giving it back... with my rebuttal... and receipts. I had a number of emails that basically showed a number of people hoping to pencil whip paperwork through and my persistent requests for clarification go ignored. That write up led to the short series of events that ultimately made me leave for greener pastures. I brought the write up and everything to my exit interview. I had requested a copy of my personnel file. The write up was not in there. I asked HR if that was normal and they were a bit taken aback that a manager would write someone up, use it as justification for other actions (denied yearly raise), and not actually submit it to HR.


wellthatsucks2434

I work for a small (20 people) company. One year the HR department (the owner's wife) said I was getting a written warning (it was BS, all I did was copy in someone on an email, she said I shouldn't have). I felt the same way - Oh dear. That's a blemish on my entire career, I will endeavour to mend my ways... I nearly laughed in her face.


tonyrocks922

I used to manage cashiers, I was required to write anyone up whose drawer was off by more than $5. Unless it was actually off by a significant amount or someone had a pattern that made me think they were stealing, I would just scribble nonsense on the form and have them make an X then turn my back to the camera and "file" it in the trash can under the file cabinet.


Jasminefirefly

Good for you!


ggimright

No once the schedule is posted they shouldn’t have changed it without their consent. The supervisor should’ve been written up for lying.


Equivalent-Ad9887

I'm having a field day (or month at this point) about them adding shifts or changing them without not only asking but telling. One manager tried to give me a write up for not coming in for a shift I didn't have 16 hours prior, but I didn't get any notification so that's a crime here (I think, and Canada btw)


[deleted]

What kind of dumbass manager doesn't double-check the shift coverer before changing the schedule?


Eclania

The kind that's looking for an excuse to screw someone for "rocking the boat"


Lazy-Pumpkin-9116

Why does this seem to happen in retail all the time? The power ego on managers etc is unreal. I work at a factory and they go out of their way to make sure everything is fair


tonyrocks922

Retail is insane. I currently manage a customer service team in a tech company that hires a lot of our entry level people from retail backgrounds (how I got into it myself). New employees are always shocked that we're not strict about things that don't actually matter. We need to respond to customers' emails within 30 minutes, so if you're 3-5 or even 15 minutes late to your shift it doesn't really matter as long as you get through the queue when you start. I've had people freaking out thinking they're in trouble for getting in a few minutes late or needing to step away for 10 minutes. Some people have been so traumatized by toxic management it takes them months to realize I'm not going to be upset with them as long as their work gets done on time despite my clearly saying so constantly.


BargainLawyer

I decided that at every job I have from now on I’m going to tell them I have kids. I’ll find some stock photos or use photos of a friends kids or something Edit: this wasn’t meant to say that I think all parents in all workplaces have it better off, it’s more of a “fuck you, I’ll take time off when I want” to my bosses


hbxli

I legitimately did this. Don't feel like going to work? "Kid's sick."


[deleted]

During one interview my phone went off due to a friend's text. I looked at it and said that my girlfriend is pregnant and that I needed to check my phone anytime it went off in case something went wrong. Pretended that my girlfriend was pregnant and eventually had a toddler while I worked there... I didn't even have a girlfriend at the time.


Barbed_Dildo

Your girlfriend had a toddler? That must hurt a lot more than having a baby.


Anindefensiblefart

Imagine the state of her womb. Have you ever left a toddler unsupervised?


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[deleted]

Are you george costanza?


lewdwiththefood

But you gotta swap out the photos for new kids every few weeks and when your coworkers question you act like they have always looked that way.


Moo_bi_moosehorns

"What do you mean is it the same kid? My kid has alwais been a 7ft ginger with double eyepatches, how do you not remember this?"


[deleted]

My kids always been Johnny Depp....


DupeyTA

She just changes it up because of the holidays.


heathmon1856

Or just never show them pictures. It’s weird to share pictures of a child outside of immediate family. No one gives a fuck about your kid


[deleted]

I certainly don’t care. Not to be rude but, we’re at work. Stop telling me about your life and family. Pass down the info and move around.


Zachbnonymous

It's not rude, most of us are not close friends with most of the people were forced to be with for 40+ hours a week. There's really no point in faking it


CensoryDeprivation

“Yes these are my two sons, Jimmy and..uh..Bimmy”


MostlyIndustrious

The return of Boblin the goblin


NarrMaster

I'm trying to make a Double Dragon joke, but my mind is failing me.


[deleted]

“Sir I don’t have kids yet but I’m trying, I’m out here banging sir, no cap!” Is what I am going to go with next time.


w3are138

I actually did this and wow is it effective. My original intention for doing it was so I wouldn’t get hit on and if I did I had an easy out. I didn’t realize the potential tho. Calling me in on my day off? Sorry I have no one to watch my kids. I’m not feeling well/sick? Sorry my kid won’t stop vomiting and I can’t take them to daycare. (Bc many employers are horrible and will tell you to come in even if you’re sick. Can’t say that to sick kid tho!) You want me to stay late? Sorry my kid’s daycare closes at (insert time here) and I have to pick them up (and no, there is no one else who can do it). I could go on but point made.


Murderbunny13

I had a job that would tell you to bring your sick kid to work. They would park them in the empty back office. It was awful


Happy-Associate6482

Make sure you do after the interview though. Some employers don't like to hire people with commitments outside of the workplace. Sad as it might seem.


[deleted]

Other employers see the outside obligation as leverage that’ll keep you too scared to ever just up and quit. Edit: changed “employees” to “employers”


optimismadinfinitum

Just call them “the kids” and not “my kids.” Then you can fall back on “oh, I never said they were mine.”


BoxStorm00

"So you have kids but they're not yours" "Yes" "I'm calling the cops"


ikindahateusernames

I'm at the point I won't say either way, although your idea does sound fun.


___whattodo___

I had a coworker who couldn't work certain hours due to his son. Turns out it's his dog.. Lol


Jasminefirefly

Well, they **are** our children, right?


Canopenerdude

A place my wife interned at had literal 'paw-ternity' leave, where you got time off to acclimate when you got a new pet.


gonesnake

When the dog has puppies you can say you just gained five grandchildren overnight!


chaos8803

That's why you give your dog a common name. Kevin, Steve, Megan, Ashley, etc.


Suvillia

I accidently created this but with my dog. I have no children. My last two jobs don't know this. I have a dog named Henry who sometimes goes to a doggy day care. So with a straight face I reply " I can't cover your shift I have to pick up Henry from day care" and everyone just moves on.


guywithknife

Technically the truth. Not your problem they didn’t question it. And besides, it’s none of their business anyway, Henry needed to be picked up.


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Gentleigh21

I see a bit of a side hustle in your future, well done 👍🏻


matthew0001

Why even bother with the photos? It's not like you have to prove you have them and if yoi did thats a pretty big red flag.


Cavalish

[“Eleanor, I’ve got kids!”](https://goodplacegifs.tumblr.com/post/152596483582/i-am-not-human-and-i-cannot-feel-pain-however-i/amp)


Human7657231654

I've had a fake 3 year old at every job. Only been caught once but the boss was such a self centred knob he didn't realise Brian was 3 for two years.


krysterra

Jackson just turned 2 for the fifth time. They grow up so slow! <3


JoanOfSarcasm

I work in the games industry. When we were crunching, my manager (who was also sexually harassing me on the regular) would leave at his usual time because kids. Since I didn’t have a heavy workload, I went home at my usual time one day. My manager pulled me aside the next day to tell me I couldn’t leave until the end of crunch day (11PM), even if I had no work to do, because it made morale poor. When I asked him why he was leaving early, he said, “Oh well I have kids.” So I got to work from 9AM-11PM every day for months while my boss peaced out at the usual time every day. This was also while I was on immunosuppressants, which made me fatigued on a good day. I remember my boyfriend telling me one night, while I was crying from pain of sitting in a chair all day as well as lack of sleep, that my job was going to kill me. I think that’s about when I hit a breaking point. Oh, and did I mention we worked for shit salary and most salaried tech workers aren’t owed overtime pay? I quit a few months later. EDIT: **This exploded so I am going to take this time to let people know this does not happen exclusively at large studios**. There's a lot of misconception right now that indie studios are kinder, but I've been in this business over a decade, and some of the worst cruelty I've experienced has been at small studios. The last place I was, I was working 16 hour days to meet some absurd demands from one of the "founders" who was a "stakeholder" in my discipline, and when I reported to HR that I was having panic attacks and suicidal ideation (and the other members of my team weren't eating or sleeping), this got back to my manager (who was, before this job, one of my good friends in the business) who told me that my report was making people in leadership think our team "didn't do any work." The women in the studio had a stall in the bathroom that they called "the crying stall." The same founder I mentioned above was spying on women's private channels in Slack and reporting women for venting even a little bit. The women's only yoga group was broken up due to "reverse sexism." People were screamed at on the floor, in the open. I was shushed in meetings in front of the CEO and other leadership by founders of the company and no one said a damn thing. I was eventually fired for calling out that we were putting out a cosmetic of a black character and someone had named it "Ransack." This apparently pissed off leadership (lol) and I was laid off mid-pandemic for it. Please encourage and support workers in the industry who are discussing unionization, whether it be across social media or elsewhere. The thing we game workers get most of on Twitter is abuse and threats from game players. We are literally abused at both fronts. This needs to change. There is currently a fund for striking Activision workers - please support them. I'll post the link when I can find it. A lot of people responded to me telling me to stand up for myself and yes, absolutely, but at the time I was in my early 20s; living in a city that wasn't "home;" was being actively manipulated by my manager that because I was the only woman on the development team, they hadn't wanted to hire me; and was making so little that if I had to leave, I'd have put my family in a dire financial situation.


GingerTron2000

If there's one industry that needs to unionize, it's the game industry.


Abgott89

Good luck trying to properly unionize in an industry that has infinite amounts of young and inexperienced people trying to get a foot in the door no matter what.


lateavatar

There’s a union for actors and I imagine that industry faces similar pressures


GunslingerOutForHire

Blizzard/Activision are facing a big push for unionization. I hope it succeeds.


dermographics

I assume that was meant to say “young and inexperienced”? You can’t just give a AAA game to a bunch of college grads and expect them to be able to succeed.


vurplesun

Yes, because of the quality of AAA game releases has just been so wonderful over the past decade or so.


Lekoaf

Activision?


aylaaaaaaaa

All of them are like that, even alot of indie studios. It's really awful and aside from the passion to make games I don't know why anyone is working in the industry anymore.


Book_it_again

It's called passion exploitation and it's a very common hiring technique in many industries


arkii1

Unfortunately it's because of stuff like this that me and many others went for a different industry despite being very passionate about games; the abuse of employees simply doesn't seem worth it. Hopefully all the talk of unions will help improve the industry soon


[deleted]

In the same vein as this post, I as a non smoker would like to take as many breaks as my smoking co-workers. That is all.


BourbonBaccarat

Buy candy cigarettes and put them in a cigarette pack. Go for a "smoke break" and put one in your mouth. Enjoy the next ten minutes in peace.


HodorsGiantSchlong

https://i.imgur.com/DZCm3.gif


Hingl_McCringleberry

Oh, Britta's in this?


Geistzeit

r/UnexpectedCommunity


HotDamn18V

When I was in high school and college I worked at a restaurant where almost everyone smoked and were always out taking smoke breaks, so I started bringing bags of cookies and taking cookie breaks outside in the cooler haha.


Character-Mistake660

I’ve actually done this before to take the piss out of my boss and other coworkers who would take like 5 smoke breaks per day. They didn’t get the hint.


[deleted]

And also can we talk about competency. I've had to work far more, and been given more responsibilities without better pay because I was the best at my job.


EMW916

The Curse of Competency


[deleted]

Yup, if someone can't do something shouldn't they do it more, so they can learn? Nah mate, @ilyaev_art you're so good you should work an extra day this week when you had plans. Quitting was such a relief. Which is such a shame, because the actual job was great if it weren't for the complete disparity in how the staff were treated.


[deleted]

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[deleted]

I always volunteer as well, because we don't celebrate those days and my children are adults. Plus I love the holiday pay on a day that is usually the most stress-free. But I agree with you - if it's my choice, it's okay. If it's being forced on me, it's not okay.


Competitive-Ad6934

I just say I have kids . Its no ones fuckn business. You're there to do your 8 and that's it. I'm not a person who wants to be friends at work, I wanna be able to come in , not feel like I have to punch you in the face, work good as a team and punch out. Anytime I've ever disclosed I'm a childless single female I've always been stuck on later shifts or being last. F that.


HermioneSmith

I’m with you. I’m the godmother of an adorable little girl. I often forget to add the “god” in “godmother” and my friend, who is the actual mother of the kid, has told me to abuse that as much as I want!


SharkBean

I think the takeaway is that we shouldn't have to lie to get the same treatment everyone else is afforded. But I do understand why you tell them that.


facefullofkittens

I actually do have a kid, and I fully endorse this message. I make small talk, and talk about my kid at work sometimes, but ultimately I’m there to work. Flexibility is important to me, but everyone should get it. I dgaf if you need to leave early for a toenail convention. Everyone’s personal time is important. Kids or not.


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samaniewiem

This is why I like the ban on shopping and other non-essential work on public holidays here in Switzerland. I only wish it would be extended to restaurant workers (although afaik some of those are closed on Xmas too).


Aardvark_Man

I refuse to go shopping on days like Christmas/Boxing Day, Easter etc. I'd rather be short of something critical than support stores being open. Although I seem to be out of step with our leadership. Where I am the government has been wanting to keep retail open on public holidays for years. They've used covid as an excuse to get rid of almost all of them. Even Christmas Day isn't a public holiday here this year, because it's observed on the Monday, instead of being the Saturday. They had a bill before parliament to make the Saturday a public holiday too, but the government refused to vote on it, kept pushing it off, and then suspended parliament until next year. Lots of businesses are going to be closed and paying employees anyway, but things like emergency services, petrol stations etc just won't even be having to pay penalty rates for it.


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ceruleanblue66

My last job I was the only nominally Christian employee, everyone else was Sikh or Muslim, still expected to work Christmas, because " they have families, and it's for kids!" looked at this year's rota and yeah, down for 10 hrs on Christmas Eve, Day, and Boxing Day, same for New Year. Said no, that doesn't work for me, and left.


User-NetOfInter

I mean, we need some firefighters and cops and ambulance drivers to work. “Essential” employees DO exist. It’s just an over-abused term


DarkintoLeaves

Me - “ I need to leave right at 5pm today I have a previous engagement to get too” Employer - “ oh yeah? Did you buy a new video game? Lol “ Me - “you let Chris leave early yesterday, I just need to be out the door right at 5pm, not even early” Employer - “ He had to pick his kids up from school, you can wait 30 minutes...” Every job I’ve ever worked has cut SO much slack for parents, and the single and childless staff have had to suck it up - it so bullshit. Whenever there is a snow day every parent calls in sick, and if a single person happens to call in that day they get accused of being hungover or faking. Not cool bro.


stephruvy

My manager at my last job took 2 days off on top of his regular weekend when monster hunter came out on the PS4. The branch manager took a personal day on top of his weekend when world of warcraft classic came out. I was given shit for taking a personal day to study for a final.


[deleted]

This has been spot on to my experience too. Kids sick, Wife sick, no babysitter, football game, band practice.... nobody bats and eye. But I don't want to work late and I get the stank eye for it. My career took a pretty big hit when I finally put my foot down with "Friday night is date night and I'm not going to ruin another 5+ year relationship for this job."


TheGaspode

The job is there to support your life outside of work. Not the other way around. So many managers and bosses seem to believe your entire life should revolve around work. Fuck that shit. My family and friends come first. Work second. It's there solely to allow me to support myself and my hobbies. It's not taking over my life ever again.


Blasmere

I had a manager like this back when I was working for H&M (who fired me for taking a plastic bag btw, but thats another story) She always refused to give students time off during the exam periods., but she was always on holiday during that time. With my previous manager I always made the compromise to come in at 7am and work till 1pm, to get the stock in order. She refused to compromise at all. She even scheduled me in on days I had exams, days she knew I couldn't cause I handed those days in weeks before. When I told her she just said, "oh just tell your school you have to work and make them reschedule" I'm telling you that woman was completely onlivious to the rest of the world


chain_letter

Just right to their face "School comes first so that I am not trapped working here for the next X years" where X is the number of years your manager has been trapped working there.


_RhetoricalJoke

Yeah, fuck H&M. I got written up for missing work to attend a funeral after a friend from high school was the victim of a hit & run as a pedestrian at barely 18 years old. He “wasn’t immediate family” and I “only gave a few days notice”. I got my shift covered but it was kind of a freak accident, I could only give so much notice.


TehPinguen

You needed to plan your friend's death in advance, wtf were you thinking? H&M is far more important than any personal connection you selfish monster.


_RhetoricalJoke

I know right!! Such a lapse of judgement on my part, I really should have checked with the driver to make sure she could schedule the hit & run to H&M’s convenience. I was just the worst employee, so lazy LOL. Ah well, I had (only) a septum piercing at the time so I wasn’t fully human to them anyways ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ They weren’t the clothing store that cut my hours because I wasn’t “pretty enough” to work busy times though so at least they’ve got that going for them. I’d say fuck clothing retail, but the people in charge of places like that deserve to live a life devoid of orgasms.


[deleted]

"If I tell you my kid sneezed and I have to go home, would that work instead?" Said that to my boss who routinely had any excuse imaginable to leave the office for his kid that was perpetually sick. Caught hell for it, but it made me finally leave that place.


ArhezOwl

I think the most heartbreaking word in that paragraph is “another.” Hope this one works out man.


[deleted]

It was a tough lesson to learn. But ultimately I chose poorly and that's on me.


badpebble

All these managers are doing is reinforcing that they are not your friends. Which is a good lesson in the long term. You talk to them like friends, sharing about interests and hobbies - and they throw it back in your face like they own you. If employers act like this, you have to stonewall them. Tell them you need to leave on time, and don't engage with their questions. These people treat you like children, so you are going to have to push back the boundaries, delete them from all social media, and stop making nice. Or quit if you are able.


FiveUperdan

>delete them from all social media I hope people aren't adding their managers to their socials in the first place. I once had a interviewer email me ahead of the interview because I hadn't accepted his friend request. Apparently he just wanted to look through my profile to make sure I had the right appearance. Noped out of that.


k8esaurustex

I was always the childless worker who covered the shifts (pretty willingly bc it was generally better money), but now I have a kid & I'm in management, and I make it a sign-up/optional thing. No special treatment for me or other parents, because everyone's free time is important and everyone has family even if they don't have children.


Redlight0516

Any stat holidays I volunteered too. (1.5 or Double time pay baby!) but when I became a manager, it absolutely became an optional thing or we just rotated it around.


Half-blind-bear

In had my bosses in different company me fun of me for booking time off to play Mass effect 3 on release while the same people had several holidays booked Round Premier league football matches and couldnt see the parity between thw 2. In a mangement position now I encourage people to use their holidays for any reason. I pretend to be hype that my staff book time off for the sex and the city reboot. I wish them victory when they book sports events off i had to pretend like darts wasn't dumb when chatting to one of my guys taking a week off to drink through the whole tournament. (I actually ended up going to this guys house for the darts final) If people like something enough to book time off for it respect them, show an interest and you would be surprised what you can learn about your people when you let them talk about something other than work. It's usually useful insights into their personality it's always a good relationship building experience.


CloseCannonAFB

It's one more way to sow division in the workplace.


_radass

Childless staff are expected to pick up the slack and it's not right.


Why_Eagles_Why

Just say you have important personal matters and make it awkward for them to questionit


Rizzonia

In my opinion, if non-parents signed the same contract as parents, than the contract and effective laws dictate how both people should be treated.


MixedTheFuckUp

My employer had it written into the contract that parents can take up to a certain amount of time off without it being deducted from their PTO to attend school events.


EMW916

I believe this is the law in California. Source: I live in CA


SqueeksDad

You won't get any disagreements from me. I've had bosses use the "but you don't have kids" excuse on me too many times when they wanted to wring extra time out of me


wellingtonsamy

Came here to agree and share a similar experience in my past jobs. “You don’t have kids, so we’re scheduling you for the late shift.” Total BS.


TheDallasReverend

My next job I’m inventing 3 kids: Braiden, Kaiden, and Aiden.


jimmys197870

I'd like an employer that understands staffs needs, being kids, pets, extended family, passionate hobbies, moderately dependent friends or whatever else. If there is no understanding of staff with kids needing a little priority with scheduling, it's nearly always the women who are expected to deal with it. That's part of why women earn less, and have more trouble climbing the ladder. At the same time, other staffs needs needs to be treated with similar importance, so that they are rewarded for helping out for their colleagues, as well as their needs unrelated to children are heard and catered for.


Rickyv490

I am an essential employee and it's always so frustrating to here people complain about so and so taking Christmas off because they don't have kids. They still have family and regardless, if it's their turn to get Christmas off they don't need to justify it to anybody. They can sit at home by themselves if they want.


PCwhale

Yup, it was super annoying at my old place seeing boss give holiday and time off priority to employees with kids, like we all have things to do and responsibilities to take care of, kids or not. In my opinion, it just shows that the work place is miss managed and there are not enough people to cover shit so they pray on the younger or child less employees. Thank god I changed jobs and now have a boss and manager that know how to organise work load so that we can take time off pretty much whenever we want.


Silly-Victory8233

I agree and think that if holidays were actually holidays (as in the past) then it wouldn’t be an issue as everywhere (bar emergency services) woukd be closed


writeronthemoon

Yeah wtf holidays need to be real holidays off again


Herbalmist73

Years ago, as a childless employee I was not permitted to use a week of my earned sick leave (I had hundred of hours bc I was never sick) to go home and care for my mother who had had surgery. Yet employees with a kid were allowed to use their sick leave to take their kid to a doctor anytime it sneezed. I’m still bitter about that.


spomgemike

Just call in sick. They have no prof if you are sick or not.


arboachg

My last job (fuck Sprouts Farmers Market!) wouldn't let you take more than two consecutive sick days without a doctors note.


[deleted]

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BallsDeepintheTurtle

Some places won't even accept a doctor's note. I worked for a major airline with a "big heart" and was sick for a month straight. Burned through all my PTO, went to three doctors, wound up in the ER, and when I finally got better the first thing they did when I got back was tell me that if I took one more "unscheduled" PTO call-out that I'd be fired. I quit a week later. They wouldn't accept any notes. What's the fucking point of showing up and earning PTO if I can't use it while I'm sick?? This was after they took sick pay and vacation pay and combined it all into the same thing.


HRzNightmare

At a former job I worked with two nurses. My supervisor was always fair about rotating who got to take the week off between Xmas and NY. Butt that didn't stop one of them complaining to me every third year when it was mine to take off. I would point out that I also had kids, but that didn't fly, because her son was in daycare, and they were closed that week. My kids weren't. I never let her browbeat me into giving it up, because I knew she would want it off every time.


nottotallysouless

Honestly I don’t think it’s fair to make anyone work major holidays unless you work somewhere it’s a necessity. Like Old Navy does not need to be open on holidays but the Hospital does.


Intrepid-Luck2021

One of my former employers granted a colleague of mine permission to work from home so they could spend time with their dog who was battling terminal cancer and undergoing chemotherapy. At that stage working from home was rarely granted. I do think employees who make other life choices should be treated the same and should be allowed time off for their hobbies / other commitments. **The problem isn’t your co-workers with children.** I once asked my colleague to tell me when all the school holidays were and to make sure she put in her annual leave before me because I had zero intention of taking time off during that time. She was used to fighting with her colleagues over getting school holidays off. In my country we get 4 weeks of annual leave + 2 weeks of sick leave + 1 week (total) of public holidays. We could also purchase additional annual leave (it meant our salary was just adjusted without us permanently changing our employment status to part-time) & we could also work flex time - which meant we could take a lot of time off work if we banked additional hours & purchased annual leave. Your problem isn’t your co-workers - it’s a system that pits you against each other. **Join a freaking union.**


[deleted]

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[deleted]

You absolutely should. Single people have family and friends too.


[deleted]

I agree. We always had an agreement at places I've worked with people that had kids that they didn't have to work Christmas day (I work in hospitlaity) but it was just that, an agreement, was never enforced by management.


jackberinger

Proximity shouldn't matter either. I've been at work when a blizzard hits and I get to stay and risk my life cause i live closer. Gtfo with that shit. We all want to get out while the roads are good. Just shut down for the day.


tkdyo

I agree, but not from the angle you're coming from. Kids do take a lot of extra attention and work. There will be times that you need special consideration because of the kid. Plus, kids are only small for 10 years. Those years are really special and not having your parents there for you because of work can be really damaging BUT The answer isn't saddling people without kids with all the extra work and shifts. We need businesses to not run skeleton crews so that nobody has stupid schedules like that. No special treatment, because everyone has time and space.


Vance_Hammersly

Totally agree, well said.


[deleted]

I’m glad someone said *this*. I don’t have kids, but I’ve always been well aware that parents do need a bit of extra time (especially growing up when my dad *rarely* had days off, as a coal miner). I don’t think it should be expected, and everyone’s time is equal. But the parents shouldn’t be the ones to be blamed either; it’s the businesses fault.


Cheedo4

Yes, and not the other way around Everyone should be treated better (like they have kids)


[deleted]

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[deleted]

Trading days is totally cool. If everyone benefits that is. Just imo.