This "short-staffed" nonsense is taking it's toll.

I don't remember the last time I had a day off.  I know I worked every single day last week, several of those days were thirteen or seventeen hour shifts.  My ONLY day off, my boss put me on call and guess what?  I got called in.  The week prior I had 32 hours of overtime.  That's a good 72 hour work week.

And then comes this week.  I'm supposed to be working today and tomorrow but happily gave up the shifts when a co-worker who knew I was exhausted offered to take them.  My next scheduled day off is this coming Wednesday, and guess what again?  Boss has me on call AGAIN.

He won't make anyone else go in for a first shift after working second the day before.  Second shifters get off at nine PM and first shift starts at five AM.  He also won't make anyone else work third shift, getting off at six AM, and then come in for second shift later that day, starting at one PM.  Only me and the co-worker who knew I was exhausted and took the shifts from me.

Knowing how much I'm working and knowing how exhausted I am, he decided to let us work short this weekend.  This means I, along with everyone else (and expected us third shifters) now have to take on more work to compensate, or else first shift will get behind with the excessive work load.  Oh, and when he's back to work tomorrow?  We magically have all of the people we need to work, when we could be short again and just pull him, having him help us with the draws.

He doesn't do this sort of thing when certain people are working.  It only seems to be with those of us who are genuine good, hard workers.  He's abusing our strengths and I'm starting to break down over it all.  I am tired of having to take on extra work so others can have a smooth, easy going shift.  I'm tired of everyone expecting me to do it, too and getting pissed off at me when I tell them, "SORRY.  MY SHIFT ENDED HALF AN HOUR AGO.  FIND SOMEONE ELSE!"

I don't want our patients to suffer because we're all too exhausted to function properly and I've been making a few mistakes lately that I really should not be making because I'm so tired.  But damned it, when I tell him I'm being stretched too thin he says, "Just hang in there until we can get the internal positions filled and get some more contingents in here," or, "You've got to be a team player.  You guys will work it out."

One of my co-workers, another third shifter who understands all of the ****, said she chewed him out recently on the draw load and how much he expects third shift to take on so first shift can have an easy day.  He said nothing, just turned red and ran to his office to hide.  We bend over backwards at night to make the morning draws as easy as possible so first shift can get a good start, and even when they have the dream work day, they still leave **** for second shift to clean up.  I know.  I work all shifts.  So either I'm lucking out and only working on those beautiful, easy first shifts or someone is seriously slacking off.

The money is great and will come in handy later, but hell, I'm too tired to spend it.

*sigh*  Rant over.

Sigh....  I wish I still had to worry about working extra hours.  I'm being laid off in April along with 25,000 other employees who work for the same company. 

Nothing like having a secure job for 19 years and then all of a sudden having to depend on your savings and what little I can get from the unemployment office.  I feel fortunate that I have a low mortgage and enough in savings to get me by for a year.  I don't know how the average family is coping with job losses.  I hope the economy turns around soon.

EDIT:  Cellulite~, I'm not dismissing your rant.  I understand completely.  I use to put in 10-12 hour days on a regular basis and came in on weekends and sometimes on nights (I'm in HR for a Fortune 50 company, or rather WAS).  There was no such thing as work/life balance at times and it was a struggle.  And it was especially frustrating to see co-workers who managed to do their 8 hours then get out of there.

But gosh I'm going to miss that paycheck along with the benefits and great medical insurance.

Keep pluggin along...take any extra time you have to pamper yourself and spend a few minutes with your husband.  Also if others who are good workers can switch and swap shifts a bit to ease the strain on each other that will help a lot.

Your boss sounds like an ass.  A year ago I would have recommended finding another job if you were this overworked, but at the moment, employment has quite a bit to recommend it.

Ugh, I know how you feel. I'm working every day for the forseeable future, and guess what? My boss is late getting my paycheck to me AGAIN! AND, I recently discovered I only get paid for the time I was scheduled, not the actual time that I'm working. HELLO! That's ILLEGAL! But what can I do? Quit? Where the hell am I going to find a new job?

Just hang in there. Hopefully this economy will turn around soon and we can all have our choice of jobs. In the meantime, I wish you the best!

Original Post by danaofdoom:

Ugh, I know how you feel. I'm working every day for the forseeable future, and guess what? My boss is late getting my paycheck to me AGAIN! AND, I recently discovered I only get paid for the time I was scheduled, not the actual time that I'm working. HELLO! That's ILLEGAL! But what can I do? Quit? Where the hell am I going to find a new job?

Just hang in there. Hopefully this economy will turn around soon and we can all have our choice of jobs. In the meantime, I wish you the best!

Document this, it is a labor code violation both the late paycheck and the unpaid hours.  You may decide not to follow up on it, but without the documentation you don't have options at a later time.

I agree with Sara. Where it comes to patient safety your boss is really taking some grave risks that he can't talk straight when someone dies. If you are starting to make serious mistakes there is a chance that you may have to call in sick??? But I wonder if that doesn't bring you more problems than you have now.

This really worries me. In my country you can call the health inspector anonimously but I don't know if that is an option.

Jo

I assume you don't belong to a union?  If you do, go to your union rep.  If not, can you go to his supervisor about this?

Bad bosses suck.

If i were you.... i would write a letter outlining exactly the sittuation (no judgement, just simple statements of the issue). Approach it from a stance that you are both on the same team trying to accomplish the same goals (a strong functioning workplace). Lay out the problems with the current sittuation (unable to continue with quality work under such demanding schedule) and point out options (dividing the workload out among more employees, not just you and the other).

Explain your role and your contribution to the organization... and be understanding of his sittuation (short budget).

If he does value you as one of the strongest workers (which is why he is giving you such a high workload) then say that is what you believe, and if that is the sittuation, say you would like a pay increase to compensate you for your efforts and extra value to the company (if you are being asked to do more than other employees, you should be paid like it).

Then, give the letter to him and at the same time tell him you would like to have a meeting with him to discuss the letter after he has a chance to review and consider it.

Meet with him and discuss the sittuation and the problems in the letter and ask for his feedback on the issue (no yelling, no acusations, just simply discussing it as two people working towards the same goals).

If he is not open to this type of discussion and simply says "deal with it". You move onto HIS boss (or HR, depending on the organization structure) and do about the same thing. Only this time detail exactly what your bosses response to your concerns were. People at the higher levels dont care about the intra-personal drama....they simply want the company to function well.... meaning they will be more open to making compromises to keep you from leaving (because that would just mean hiring and training someone new, higher cost and lower efficiency...you are far more valuable because you have been there a while).

Its all business.... handle it in that way. Negotiations are important so both sides can find a common meeting place for things to continue smoothly. Be proffessional and document / save everything as you speak or meet with people.

Just make sure you have decided what you want to happen. If its higher pay? Or more time off? Or whatever else you think is needed to fix the sittuation (maybe longer breaks or a coffee machine in the break room).

I am in a union, which is what greatly screws me over.  Everyone else is flying in under the radar, getting by with the union guidelines.  It's us overachievers that're actually making a difference in the place and getting the work done at a rate they want.

I've talked to the boss so much about what needs to happen.  He insists he knows what's best for the department, but he works with the department from a tiny, closet-sized office.  We're the ones that're there 24-7, handling situations on a regular basis that he doesn't (which is why he's in such disbelief when we tell him of the situations and how often they occur), and the bottom line is, until he, and the rest of the department listens and decides to really work as a team, some people are juts going to be over-worked or patients will suffer.

It's not fair.  I'm stuck in limbo.  I can either slack off like everyone else, do the bare minimums, and put even more work on the few of us who actually haul ass to get the job done efficiently and effectively, or I can work myself sick and hope everyone gets old, quits, and we hire in new workers that I get to train.

I may not have been at this job for a full year, but I know what the hell I'm doing more than some people there.

*rips out hair*

I'm looking for a job!  Let me know if they're hiring!!! 

I've sent out 60 resumes so far and no luck.  So much for a college education!

HR, HR, HR.

I don't know anything about unions. I don't know if they nullify the awesomeness that is HR. But HR people can be magic. They can be counselors, they listen to rants, they know secrets about how the system works and what higher ups listen to problems and which ones not to bother with. I'm sure if you have hiring problems they are a little stressed right now, but you seem to have an awesome attitude -- if you can pull it together and go in there with an "i love being a team player but i'm at my wits end and i'm afraid patient care will start to suffer" attitude, they might be able to help in one way or another. You might be surprised.

I had an issue that I thought was intractable by any official means -- my supervisor was just basically a d*ck, what can a hospital, or any business, do about that? But HR was great, they pulled off this unbelievable maneuver where they essentially put on a fake workshop for me and my coworkers, just to get the supervisor to reveal his toxic personality in their presence, and then forced him to take more otj training and get counseling because he was essentially a workplace hazard/lawsuit in the making. And none of us had to stick our necks out by filing a complaint. Genius! HR people are smart, see if they can help.

Original Post by smwhipple:

Original Post by danaofdoom:

Ugh, I know how you feel. I'm working every day for the forseeable future, and guess what? My boss is late getting my paycheck to me AGAIN! AND, I recently discovered I only get paid for the time I was scheduled, not the actual time that I'm working. HELLO! That's ILLEGAL! But what can I do? Quit? Where the hell am I going to find a new job?

Just hang in there. Hopefully this economy will turn around soon and we can all have our choice of jobs. In the meantime, I wish you the best!

Document this, it is a labor code violation both the late paycheck and the unpaid hours.  You may decide not to follow up on it, but without the documentation you don't have options at a later time.

 I was in one of those when working one call center.  Our phones were on 8-5 and we werent allowed down time from taking calls to do the required followup work.  Some could be done during the call, stalling but no way to cover it all and it caused customers to get lousy service too.  Coworkers would heat their lunch and return with it to their desks to continuing working their lunch hour plus staying usually another 30 minutes after work.  There was no down time, burnout was high and moral horrible.

Finally in a team meeting, I asked our supervisor when we were supposed to do followup from calls?  She stammered and finally said when she was a 'rep' she did it during her lunch.  I pointed out so does everyone else and asked if management was aware of this since not paying employees for hours worked was illegal.  I knew management knew- theyd walk through seeing us eating lunch and working at our desks, but was looking for a solution rather than calling them out.  Still, my coworkers looked at me like I'd just told the emporeor he had no clothes and one joked it had been nice working with me.

They did change the schedule to allow us a minimal amount of paid time after phones shut down and of course it was presented as if a luxury carrying great warnings of not abusing it. With unemployement as it is, cant imagine the stuff many employees are putting up with versus not finding other work.

I hear ya, same boat here (not as many hours as you tho). I also write the schedule for my company. We are so short staffed. We HAVE been hiring for a while now. Get a few applications here and there. Where are all these people that need jobs?? Economy?? Hiring here, make very decent living here, don't need a college education here...where are all the employees?? Where are all these people that need jobs??

Yes, I do feel fortunate that I have over-time every week and have lots of hours to work, I really, really do. Just need a few more employees so all the staff is not stretched so thin.

O, and whenever you have "shifts" working together...everyone thinks every other shift does nothing...not to say this is your case but a very common *itch.

kaufmkk,

I just looked at your profile. Too bad you live in IL, I'd hire you :)

sometimes you have to let the wheels fall off the car before the driver gets around to doing something about it.  CD, i suggest you have a family emergency or a sudden illness and force the issue, because by picking up all the extra slack, you just make it easier for them not to get off their asses and hire.  they're called "management" for a reason; make 'em manage.

gotta put ourself first .

"Short-staffed" to me is a **** code word that means some manager is trying to save a few bucks and look good to his/her superiors come budget time, by screwing over the staff.

I just left an office where, during regular functioning, there should have been 6 staff members.  In the 6 months that I worked there, one position was vacant the entire time and no one posted an ad to hire to fill it. Everyone else picked up the slack.

Two weeks after I started, another employee became seriously ill and went on an extended leave of absence. The manager did not take any steps to fill her position (didn't hire a temp, anything). Everyone else was expected to pick up the slack for her job as well.

Just before I left (end of contract which I chose NOT to renew), two other people resigned because they found better jobs.  They gave two weeks notice. Leaving ONE person to cover SIX positions while the manager finally realized he had a staffing problem.

Right after that I heard that last person had a serious (legitimate) family crisis and had to leave for a few days very suddenly - they had a handful of temps in with no one to train them (heaven forbid the manager have any idea what the office staff worked on!) I really hope HIS boss noticed the chaos.

Original Post by sherea:

kaufmkk,

I just looked at your profile. Too bad you live in IL, I'd hire you :)

I might send you a note if I don't find anything within six months, sherea!!!  The outlook for jobs in Illinois right now isn't very good.... thank you very much, Rod Blagojevich!

FYI -- I work in HR (at least for a couple more weeks).  We have different overtime rules depending on if you are on the salary, management or hourly payroll.  Only our hourly employees are represented by a Union.

The rule for management employees (which I am/was) is that you only get paid overtime if you work an 8-hour increment.  In other words, unless your boss asks you to put in a 16-hour day, you won't get paid overtime.  There are exceptions, of course.

Employees who put in lots of overtime fall into a couple of categories as to why they do so (they were told to, need to in order to get the work done, etc.).  Strangely enough, because you are always putting in lots of overtime doesn't mean you are going to get recognized for being a good or dedicated employee.  Sometimes supervisors will think of it as having an employee who just can't get things done.... a lazy employee per'se.  It's kind of a double-edged sword. 

Hopefully cellulitedelight's company uses Performance Reviews so it can be documented that she is indeed a good employee, and that she needs more support.  Not that it does much good.....  I always get good performance reviews but nonetheless, I and 25,000+ of my co-workers will be on the street soon.  (get out the violins) 

One thing that helped me when I was working tons of overtime, was to visit our Employee Assistance counselor.  By doing so, it not only helped me with dealing with my emotions and the whole work/life balance thing, it also gave me leverage to go to my supervisors and to say 'Hey! I need help with the workload!'

Good luck.  Work/life balance is critical to good emotional health, but with the economy as it is and companies laying off employees left and right, it makes it kind of a predicament!

I would've responded sooner but I just got off of work.  I yelled at Boss today about the trauma pager, understanding it may be third shift's responsibility to carry it until 6 AM when we have to start our morning draws at 4 AM (giving us 2 hours to finish our morning draws when everyone else gets 4 hours and an extra person to help!).  Ultimately I accepted that we have to keep the pager until 6 AM and keep bending the rules to start our draws an hour early, then chewed him out when he suggested having the morning people's helpers help us.  I told him to look at every single half-shifter that comes in regularly and tell me, in all honestly, who would get off their lazy asses to actually help someone.

He was silent and I stormed off to do my draws.  We're down two people who're on medical leave, one person desperately needs to go on one, and I also told him my hours have to be cut severely as of now.  I'll finish working my schedule for this week, but beyond Easter, no moe double shifts, no more wacky work hours.

Eventually I'm going to have to explain to my co-workers, when they're coming to me and asking me to come in a little early to relieve them that I can't.  My health will not allow it and they're just going to have to work their job.  And for every person that bitches to me about how tired they are, they can work my schedule.  And don't tell me you used to do it years ago, try doing it now with the resources we have that drastically slow us down and with all of the **** we have to deal with now as opposed to 40 years ago when you first started.

I can't WAIT until we hire more people.  *growls*

Ugh.  I have two hours before I have to go back in.

good to hear you stuck up for yourself ;)

Yeah. I stuck up for myself so well that I got roped in to working this morning, and I'm on call tonight.

I've decided to turn off both phones and declare any attempts to call me in to be an April Fool's Day prank.  I can't even remember the last time I slept decently.

*sigh*  Only half an hour and I'm home freeeeeeeeee.