Poll of the Day > Something at work has been frustrating me and I don't know what to do.

(+) Yeah! (+)

I've had things happen at work in the past I didn't like, but that was when I worked at wal-mart where they truly didnt care, being a massive corporation with millions of employees. Now, I work in a store with 6 employees total so I actually feel like my voice might be heard if I have a complaint.

I've been working there for two years in the same store. Last august, a girl transferred from another store to mine. The other 3 employees are neither here nor there. this mainly concerns my boss, this girl and myself.

My boss is a generous man and lets us go home early from time to time, while still being paid as if we were there the whole time. He's done it to me before, and all of us. However, I've been noticing, for the past 1-2 months he has let that newer girl go home early every single day. I benefit from his generosity once in a while, never every day.

She works in the mornings 99% of the time, and I work nights 99% of the time. Its easier to let the morning person go home early, but not the night person sometimes, because there is closing tasks that need done. However, my complaint isn't that I want to go home early more often. I'm fine with....going to work and actually working the FULL time, because thats what you do(you low expectation havin' motherfucker). If he tells me to go home early thats cool but by no means do I expect it and would never ask. This generosity isn't being applied equally when I get it sometimes and she gets it every single day. That is my complaint. Make it equal or don't do it at all is how I feel.

The worst was, two weeks ago on a busy saturday, my boss was on vacation and sent a text message to the assistant manager saying that that girl could go home early. I suspect he is making these decisions with his dick, because why else would he care to send an employee home early when he is on vacation and not even working? He's never sent the assistant a message before to send me home early, and even though he likes me, it just never would happen like that.

So, the frustration comes in how her and I are not being treated fairly. I don't want to punch a gift horse in the mouth. Going home early, WITH pay? thats a win-win scenario. I don't even dislike this girl by any means, my issue is with my boss not applying this generosity evenly. I have zero desire to go to HR or anything. Nobody needs to get fired because I'm frustrated.

But...I am frustrated. I guess I just need to talk to my boss about how this makes me feel. I've tried to just put this aside and not care, but its getting harder to do the more blatant the favoritism gets(like the busy saturday I mentioned). We both never are done at the same time, so its never been a situation where we're both done at the same time and she gets to leave early and I cannot. And he has been awfully generous to me before. Not every single day, but maybe once a week or every couple of weeks. I've worked mornings in the past with him where I had to stay the whole time, which is fine.

I feel like I have a beyond valid complaint. What do I do? I guess I need to talk to my boss about how I feel, but what do I say? how do I say it? I don't want to risk harming my relationship with the guy, but this is getting a little out of hand how he's acting.

What if your boss wants to do her? You could ruin his entire plan

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See, I feel like this is the root of the problem. I feel like he does want to bang this girl or whatever. Knowing that makes me feel bad for my boss, because.....yikes. And knowing that actually makes me a tad less angry, because its an explanation that makes sense, even if its still shitty.

How about mine your own business as it no way effects you.

Yes it does. Not having her there working the full time means there is more work I have to do. It's not a huge difference overall. some days we're pretty slow without much to do, but on that busy saturday? coulda used her for an extra hour and a half. Now, having more work to do isn't a big deal since its work and thats what you do, but some days when he lets her go home early it doesn't make any sense.

Maybe she has a legitimate reason and was hired anyway with this knowledge because she is a family friend or family?

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There is no legitimate reason for her to be let go early with full pay every day. If she needed to go home early and had a reason to not be able to work until X every day, you'd reduce her hours and spread them around to other people who can work. And she isn't related to anybody in the store.

Maybe she has some other responsibility and your manager decided to bend the rules and cut her a break? Still favoritism but maybe there is a good reason for it like sick animals idk

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I highly doubt it. She worked the entire time while he was on vacation outside of the saturday when he sent the assistant a message saying she could go home an hour and a half early, and even on that day she didn't seem to expect it.

And again, if she has some pressing issue she needs to leave an hour+ early every day, you reduce her hours and give them to people who are actually going to be present and working.

Is she hot?

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just for added context my manager lets another employee and the assistant manager go home early very often(the 6th employee I mentioned really doesnt factor in as he's only there like 1-2 times a week). BUT the other employee shows up early literally every day, and the assistant manager is lazy and useless, so even I agree, when he gets there(if she is morning and he is night), tell her to go home because he, an actual competent manager, has the store covered. These two people also have different job titles than I and have combined been working for this company for 40-50 years.

So i'm not mad at his treatment of them, because to me, it makes sense. They deserve it. One for being early every day, the other for being stupid and useless.

This girl isn't stupid or useless, doesn't come in early or do extra work, etc. So we're on equal footing except not in actuality.

argonautweakend posted...

Make it equal or don't do it at all is how I feel.

If you don't expect it then I see no issue here. It seems to me your jealous this new gal is getting a bigger bite of the pie than you. Before this new gal came into the picture you were happy enough to go early when told you could so you have no real room to moan here.

But...I am frustrated. I guess I just need to talk to my boss about how this makes me feel.

So what you're saying is you want to ruin it for others because you are getting less privileges.

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Since this new girl entered the picture I havent been getting let go early more or less often, its roughly the same amount as before. And yes, I will not lie, I have been the beneficiary of it in the past. But I wouldn't say I am jealous. I don't care about being let go early. If it happens, thats cool, but I'm also fine with going to work and working. Like you're supposed to.

I don't want to ruin it for everybody, hence why I would never consider taking this to HR or anything like that, because that would get people fired and that would be bad. But I get frustrated when this happens because it is every single day. if it was roughly as equal as everybody else i would have no problem with it.

argonautweakend posted...

I'm also fine with going to work and working. Like you're supposed to.

That's all that matters. Just think yourself lucky you have a job where you can go home early now and then.

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And not get the slightest bit annoyed when blatant favoritism with no good reason for it means everybody else has to do more work?

argonautweakend posted...

And not get the slightest bit annoyed when blatant favoritism with no good reason for it means everybody else has to do more work?

You would be working regardless and again have taken this privilege yourself before and still do. Sure you can get hot and bothered but I don't see the point other than "it should have been me!".

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argonautweakend posted...

I would never consider taking this to HR

That's good. Because HR is not there to help you. They are there to protect the company. Don't ever let them convince you otherwise.


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Yeah, going to HR would be bad because I'd be admitting to accepting the favor. But even if I wasn't at risk for being punished, nobody needs to be punished becasue I am mad. People could lose their jobs, and thats not something that needs to happen. As frustrated as I am, I do like these people.

is she hot

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lol

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a 6 employee store has a hr department?

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Theres 500 stores total.

this isn't a mom and pop operation.

holy that was a quick response

so it is a massive corporation with millions of employees

the op was misleading

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Well, in a way it was. I guess I didn't mean so much company size. Of course, wal-mart is much bigger with thousands of stores. But I should have clarified store level. I never kept track, but at least 50-100 people worked at my particular wal-mart when I was there, with plenty of managers of all sizes. I never felt like any of my complaints there would have mattered in such a huge operation. Indeed, I went to the GM of my WM store detailing a customer I see cheating the store out of money every day and they never did anything about it.

This store has 6 people total.

If you went to HR, they probably fire the manager and the lady for stealing.

If you complain directly to him, he may react favorably or unfavorably.

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Employees are either assets or liabilities.

The fact you are planning on saying something about this and ruining it for everyone indicates you are a liability. That is why you don't get to go home early as often. Be an asset.
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you should bang her and then tell your boss about it

Happy women's day.

Do you even know that she is getting paid for the time she is not there? How could you? Maybe she goes home early and only gets paid what she worked.

dedbus posted...

Happy women's day.

I have a friend who has seniority over a female coworker by like 6 years. They both applied for something. She got it, he didn't.

Happy womens day!

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It bothers me that we dont know if shes hot or not.

Regardless, just mind your business and dont make trouble. Its not worth it.

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Even if you don't do anything someone else probably will.

To go out of his way to email a supervisor about it pretty much means to me they are banging, and it's not going to be kept under wraps for long. Such blatant actions don't stay secret.

If you're that worried about it, then ask if you can leave early more often.

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Kinda bumping this topic because I havent done or said anything since yet and things are still the same, preferential treatment continues and while I am not thinking about this all the time, it still weighs on my mind.

I know what her hours are and everything because we all sign the same sign in sheet when we come in and leave, so I can see what she is being paid for, as well as everybody else who works there. every day her schedule is listed at he actual shift time, every day she gets cut early with pay otherwise the sheet would reflect that cut. Thats the same way he handles it when he lets me go home early(which is about once every 1-2 weeks on average).

Also, I don't want to leave early more often. My idea of equal is you simply stop giving this girl every single day, because some days it makes no sense at all and hurts the store. That's it. I'd be happy with just that. Yesterday, in the coronavirus panic, we were very busy. I was working until 7PM, her 9. I did not get let out early but thats okay. It was so busy I would have told him no if he had tried, because thats just boneheaded.

Today, they were both in the morning and both left two hours early because "we got our asses handed to us" according to the manager. The evening is always busier than the morning so if thats the justification they want to use to leave early that is flat out bogus and doesnt make sense since we all are getting our asses handed to us in the coronavirus panic.

Now, I know my manager values me as an employee, and he likes me. I feel like my only option is to just have a talk with him about how I feel. This preferential treatment is making me sick, I almost want to see if I can transfer to another store, though a much more logical route from my standpoint is to enter into "shift running" which is like a floating management position where you work all over. Its the next step up. That way I could spend less time at this store and distance myself from the situation, and get myself on a track to being a real manager somewhere down the line.

I'm going to see what happens next week(likely more of the same), and the week after I will talk with the assistant manager(when she comes back from vacation) to see what her thoughts are, making it clear I do not intent to do something stupid. I just want to see what she thinks because I feel like she might also be annoyed at how the GM is acting with regards to this girl. This is more for me to gain some clarity and NOT to get another voice on my side with which to use as ammo. Then after that, I just need to have a talk with the guy in a responsible, adult manner and let him know my frustrations, and that his behavior is making me want to leave to go a different store(but again making it clear I do not intent to go to the district manager or HR). He *should* be concerned his actions are alienating one of his best employees(that he's managed over the years being a manager - based off of the novels of stories he's told me about shitty employees he has managed in the past), but who knows?

Ask her on a date.

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You need to understand life isn't always equal and fair, sack up and deal with it. You bring it up and no one goes home early and you're the douchebag or you'll be looking for another job.

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This girl is married(and so is my boss) and besides that I have no attraction towards her.

My manager has zero power to fire me, and I don't think he's like that anyways. I don't want to ruin it for everybody, and realistically it shouldn't because my issue is only with my bosses treatment of one person, and nobody else.

get ready to look for a new job or at least a new store my guy

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Date the bosses wife.

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So you think raising my issue with my boss about preferential treatment because he wants to bang one of the employees will cause me to be on the outs, huh? I feel like that would be a gross mishandling of the situation, and not the right course of action if we're acting like adults but it does occur to me that is one possibility that could arise.

Honestly sounds like she manipulates the manager and that power is going to double up on you if you try to go against it. Its the same as when victims get trashed after retaliating against bullies.

But you already found your solution:

"though a much more logical route from my standpoint is to enter into "shift running" which is like a floating management position where you work all over. Its the next step up. That way I could spend less time at this store and distance myself from the situation, and get myself on a track to being a real manager somewhere down the line."

Just persevere and focus on developing and promoting yourself. One of the hallmarks of a good leader is navigating situations like this so you can actually correct them when you're in charge. Co workers are going to be shit but whats important is not that your superiors see how shitty they are or how not shitty you are but how valuable you are and can be so you have to be your own hype man.

That is likely the best course of action, and if this is the catalyst that pushes me to improve myself then it could be a blessing in diguise. I love working at my current store. I like my manager a lot. But working here makes you lazy(small store, not super crazy[coronavirus being an exception], management is very lax). Its like being in single A baseball. Maybe I need to push myself into AA, AAA and finally the Bigs.

It wouldn't deliver the "justice" I want, but sometimes the best victories aren't so notable.

As far as her manipulating the manager...It could be a possibility. I don't know. Its obvious something is going on, but I don't know what. My first instinct is that my manager has a crush on her or something and is making decisions with his dick. But to be honest, whatever the reason, I ain't looking to get to the bottom of some weird bizarre love triangle(cue New Order)

The last thing I wanna say here, and then i'm going to give this a rest for good most likely is that I have zero issue with my manager, or this girl, on an individual level. They are both fun, funny, great people to be around. They seem like reasonable people and don't seem like assholes who would double up on me and get me fired(which they don't have the power to do themselves). My reading of these people(mainly my manager) is that maybe I talk to him about it like an adult and he realizes how he is acting, and things get better. Maybe shit is deeper than that. I don't know. Can't speculate on stuff I don't know.

Anyways, thanks all for the insight. I also spent an hour ranting to my mom about how I feel. I do feel much better for having done so. I now have a fairly level head, and we'll see what next week brings, but I don't want to necro this topic again for shit that could happen days from now, so this is about it.