<p>I created a new screen name for me because I don’t want anyone to recognize who I am. I’m looking for advice about how to deal with my current job situation.
I’m new on this job about 10 months. I took this job because the commute is short and the salary is pretty decent. It’s a job with the government. The work ethics is low. It seems to be that people make their best effort to avoid work. I’m the kind of person who enjoys working, so I’ve been doing about twice of the work that other people in my position are doing (I’m a cpa). I work faster and I’m good at what I’m doing. Therefore, my boss keeps giving more work and responsabilities. My issue about this situation is that my boss does not like me (for better works to say it). My boss does not gives me credit for all my hard work even though she knows that I work more than others. I had very good work reviews for the time I’ve been working there. My boss makes it really hard for me to take time off for doctor’s appointments and time that I need to take related to my children’s school activities. This boss is also very unflexible about the work schedule and does not allow much deviation. I cannot get to work early and leave a little bit early. I got into trouble already because I had to take time off (some hours during my work day) because of doctors appointments and my children’s related school activities. She made the HR person to contact the HR department complaining about my schedule being too erratic. Someone else told me to contact the contact person for my union. This situation does not make sense to me. I wonder what would be the best strategy. I don’t want to be the one doing most of the work. And, I’d like to be able to take time off for my doctor’s appointments and be more activie at my kid’s school. I know the job market is bad. So I need to keep this job until I could swith to a different deparment or until I find a better job outside the goverment. Besides, I don’t want to have such a short job history. Any words of wisdom? TIA</p>
<p>My experience is that different bosses and workplaces have VERY different attitudes about worktime flexibility. I don’t have any good words of wisdom, except maybe to start looking for a new department in the same organization at the 1 year mark of your employment. You won’t change your boss on this. The question is whether other bosses in other departments are more flexible about this. You will have to sound them out about it. Is your current boss a parent? Non-parents (or parents with a stay at home spouse) often really don’t get this issue.</p>
<p>I can say this as a full time working parent. I would like to be more involved in my kids school, too, but it is very difficult to do when you work full time. Over the past 15 years of having kids in school, I have had better luck doing “spot volunteering” (one time events, like chaperoning the 6th grade bike trip, and taking a vacation day to do it) than trying to do a regular volunteer shift at the school. I was my older D’s scout leader for after school meetings for several years, but due to my work schedule we only had after school meetings once a month, then we got the troop together for some other activity on a weekend day each month. And even that was tremendously challenging logistically.</p>
<p>Government jobs are often set up so you have to take leave time to be out of the office for any reason during the workday. My ex-H has a government job, and his is like that even after 30 years of service. However, he has a long track record in the same department and an understanding boss. So in the summers when our drop off and pick up time for our kids varied, he was able to adjust his work schedule to do it (start a bit later and leave a bit later than usual). But he had to adjust it for the whole summer and be consistent. Doctors appointments are usually covered under medical leave policy when you have a union in a government job, so I can’t see why that is an issue with your boss unless it is excessive.</p>
<p>I would say that you are not in a very good position when your boss is contacting HR and you are contacting your union rep… that does not imply that any trust is being built between you and your boss or that this will get better.</p>
<p>Although the job market is not the greatest, one thing I would encourage you to do is consider self employment. If you REALLY want the flexibility you seem to desire, I recommend it. Of course there are downsides to that (benefits, building a CPA practice up), but I can tell you from personal experience that going into business on my own was the best thing I ever did as a working parent for my family. If you are not ready to take that step on your own, consider looking for a job with a small CPA firm that might offer more flexibility instead of this government job. Unless you already have a checkered job history, moving after a year one time isn’t going to cause a problem with your resume. And if you haven’t seen the inner workings of a small (just a few person) CPA firm, it would give you some background that might give you the confidence to start your own practice in a few years.</p>
<p>I think your boss feels threatened by you. You might get his job. Can you talk with his bosses, informally, so you have some credibility with them?</p>
<p>I’ve never found the answer to rotten bosses. You’d think in this economy they’d be out of jobs.</p>
<p>You said this is a government job. In my limited experience, the written policies for government jobs tend to be better than in private industry, but managers have less ability to be flexible about those that exist. IMO, your attitude is probably unreasonable given the constraints your boss is probably working under. </p>
<p>Do you have time sheets? Even if you don’t, your boss may have to certify that you worked X numbers of hours that week. If you didn’t, you are asking him to perjure himself. </p>
<p>Some government jobs have “comp time.” If yours does, slow down your pace, rack up comp time, and use it to do your errands etc. </p>
<p>If you do have a union, I’d talk to it, but not to make a complaint. I’d ask what the rules are and how flexible the boss can be. You may find that he can’t be.</p>
<p>Intparent, thank you so much for sharing your experience with me. Self-employment is not an option at this point, but I’m considering the possibility.
I used to work in small companies that offered a lot flexibility, but the pay was low.
I was thinking the same about the one year mark to find something better. I’m a very healthy person, but need to see many types of doctors. And since I’m new I couldn’t take sick time during the first 7 months of work. So when I was able I had to catch up with all my appointments.
You’re right this boss doesn’t trust
E. Maybe she’s thinking I’m lying about my doc appt.
I’m in a very bad situation with this boss. And I need to find a good strategy to survive until I find something else.
Again thank u.</p>
<p>Treetopleaf, I don’t think my boss feels threaded by me since she’s in a very good position with the department head.</p>
<p>Is there any way to schedule your appointments for after work/evenings? I know some docs may not offer evening appointments but mine does and instead of using comp time or vacation, I try to schedule a 6:00+ appt.</p>
<p>Good luck trying to find a happy medium.</p>
<p>I thinks it’s quite possible that your boss values your work ethic and work product (hence the very good reviews), but at the same time finds your need for so much flexibility to be unacceptable. When I was a boss (a nice one!), a school event other than graduation or a mandatory teacher meeting was not an acceptable reason for being out of the office (I myself missed a lot of school events–it’s part of the territory of being a working mom), and unless an employee had a serious medical condition, I expected most medical appointments to be handled during personal time. Regardless of how much work you accomplish, it’s not unreasonable to expect that you be in the office and available to your boss and co-workers during working hours. I think it’s unlikely you’ll find another job with the kind of flexibility you (and most everyone) would like, and you need to revise your expectations.</p>
<p>Do you take the doctor appts and kid’s school activity time as PTO (paid time off - i.e. vacation) or do you take it as ‘comp time’? If you’re taking it as PTO then your boss should allow the flexibility, especially if you’re careful to schedule around important meetings and deadlines, and HR might be able to back you up. If you’re expecting to take that time off as some sort of ‘comp time’ then are you really putting in enough extra hours on a consistent basis to cover it - over and above the ‘normal extra hours’ expected of everyone? If not then that’s probably an issue regardless of how efficient you are during the hours you’re working. some managers are fixated on clock time and a worker who takes an unusual amount of time off to go to doctor appointments and other personal items can stick out in a negative way.</p>
<p>If you’re currently following the ‘comp time’ model then meet with your boss and offer to take the time as PTO instead and see if that smooths things over. Meanwhile, start looking for openings in another department and at other companies. There are companies still hiring people regardless of the generalizations one hears.</p>
<p>I notice your English is not great; I’m assuming English is not your first language. For that reason, I’m wondering if you have communication issues with your boss. Does she need more notice than you’re giving her? Is she counting on you to meet deadlines that you don’t seem to understand? Are you following the office procedures for requesting time off?</p>
<p>As others have mentioned, your boss may not have any control over whether or not she can give you any flexibility.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your very helpful comments. I’m thinking that maybe i’m too old to start a new job because this job feels too restrictive. During the first six months of my employment i was not allowed to any sick time, so I couldn’t go to the doctor. The only time off I could have was non-paid. So after six months I have around 12 different doctor appointments. I’m really healthy, but still I need to go to the doc for me and my kids. My doc are really good so they’re time to make appts is duirng regular biz hours.<br>
I believe I’m the only one with this problem at this office. I think my boss doens’t trust or like me. I see other people starting to work late and calling sick very often. I’ve been keeping all the e-mail I get about X or Y being sick or starting to work late. Some people take 5 or 6 weeks of vacation time and leave early often. My boss has a reduced work schedule. So far, my time off that I need for my kids is non-paid, and time for appts is my sick time. Also, when I say i’d like to have some time to be involved at my children’s school, I mean I need the time to attend meetings such as back to school, PTA meetings, or be able to pick up my kid if she/he is sick. I’m not even thinking to have a regular volunteer assignment during regular school hours.
I think I’m too subjective to make sense of this situation. So I would like to know what you guys think. Is it me? or this job situation is really bad?
TIA</p>
<p>How much it stands out really depends on how frequent these outings are. If you’re taking time off for something or other pretty much every week or two then it’ll stand out and the reasons for them will be paid little attention - it’ll mostly be noticed that you’re frequently gone. 12 doctor appointments for someone who isn’t sick is a lot. If I had an employee who said they had 12 doctor appointments in a relatively short timeframe, like 6 months, I’d think they’re either really sick, a hypochondriac, or maybe just looking for an excuse to be away from work yet still be paid (i.e. the ‘sick time’). </p>
<p>Some suggestions - reduce the number of doctor appointments if reasonable or maybe make multiple appts on the same day and take the whole day off as a vacation day. I’ve noticed there are some people who seem to routinely take time off and others who rarely do. I’ve also known some who have an attitude that ‘sick time’ is owed to them and will ‘take a sick day’ even when they’re not sick - something I’d never consider doing. Maybe your boss thinks you’re one of the former even if you’re not.</p>
<p>There are jobs/bosses that are certainly more flexible than yours so maybe start looking around.</p>
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<p>I don’t think you will gain anything by comparing your situation to others since you do not have all of the necessary information. Maybe the people taking 5 or 6 weeks of vacation time have actually accrued that much vacation time (since vacation time earned often increases with increased longevity at the company/agency). Perhaps they had some unused vacation time from previous years (if the company allows rollovers) or maybe they are taking some unpaid time. Similarly, just because they are coming in late, they may still be working the required number of hours – perhaps they are taking shorter lunches or working late to make up for the lost time – or maybe they are working some sort of reduced schedule and consequently receiving a reduced paycheck. You simply don’t know their particular situations.</p>
<p>It sounds like this job is just not a good fit for you. Government jobs tend to have fairly rigid policies and don’t have the flexibility that you seem to want or need. I am very sympathetic to your desire to have more flexibility and time to be involved with your children because I too worked full-time when my children were young. But you gave that up when you opted for this job with higher pay and a shorter commute. I agree with the others who suggest that you start looking around for another job, because I don’t think your current situation will improve and you will become more and more frustrated.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>I recently had a manager who sounds like yours. No time off for 6 months, forced me to cancel dentist appt when things got busy, etc. She was arbitrary with her rules, letting others leave early with pay. I kept my complaints to myself, and then found that I could do her favors by coming in on a weekend. After year, she loosened up with me, tho I was never one of her “pets”.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, you have children and need some flexibility NOW, as compared to a year from start of job. I imagine your boss does not have children nor any health problems. I cannot understand why some people are inflexible with time, if the work is getting done. I’d probably suck it up and hope for a change in departments (if other bosses are less rigid.) Maye your boss will get a promotion?</p>
<p>PS–I’m self-employed again.</p>
<p>I have a lot of different people working for me now. When I say different, I mean different. As a manager it is also hard for me to adapt to different employees, it’s a two way street.</p>
<p>You say you had 12 doctor’s appointments in a year? That is a lot. I am a working mom, so I’ve had to juggle work and kids’ activities/doctor’s appointment. I would take a day off to do all my errands instead of asking for 1-2 hours off during the day. When I was more junior, I would work extra hours (even when I didn’t need to take time off), to let my boss know that I am a hard worker. I often volunteered for crappy work that no one wanted to do. I tried not to ask for special favors the first few months until I’ve had good relationship with my boss.</p>
<p>Now I do get annoyed if my staff is constantly asking to take one or hours off, or leave early. I have few working moms. They ask to leave early sometimes to go to school meetings (early is 5 or 5:30), but they often work additional hours when they get home.</p>
<p>Even if you find a new job, you won’t get the flexibility you want initially, unless you discuss it upfront. Most employers will not want to grant you the flexibility unless you are bringing some very special skills to the table.</p>
<p>My suggestion is try to organize your personal schedule a little bit better, suck it up to your boss for a bit longer, then maybe look for another job within the organization.</p>
<p>As an employer, you would have lost my trust, when you did not tell me straight away in your job applicant/interview process of your needs to make 12 scheduled doctor appointments. </p>
<p>As an employer, I fail to understand how parents do not expect the unexpected… there has to be a fail safe/ a backup plan set up for your sick school age children. I have children too.
Every working parent knows they may have to cope with the “what if” of sick kids. This is part of the cost of working born by the employee, just like having reliable transportation and meeting dress codes. </p>
<p>All of your flexible schedule needs should have been stated in the interview. Procedures to meet these flexibility needs should have been openly discussed before agreeing to a work schedule you would find uncomfortable. You are projecting your discomforts onto the boss.</p>
<p>I doubt if your co-workers are getting paid time off for all the things you mention. Your expectation of getting paid time off may be part of the problem.</p>
<p>As an employer, we are very generous when our employees ask for time off or to come in late or leave early… but they don’t get paid for it unless they have accrued the time off!</p>
<p>Doctors’ appointments? Most need to be worked into vacation days, or find doctors who have evening hours or very early morning hours once a week (many do). Back to school? Held in the evening at all the schools I’ve been involved in. PTA meetings? Not nearly important enough to miss work. Taking a sick kid home from school? This should be a rare event, unless your child has a serious medical condition–in which case it may be that you just aren’t in a position to fulfill the expectations of this kind of job. And if you can’t accept the above limitations, it’s hard for me to imagine how you could hold down any full-time job. But if you are willing to adjust, you may find that your relationship with your boss improves and you’re much happier.</p>
<p>I’d think that PTA meetings are purely optional and an employer shouldn’t be expected to give time off to attend them. PTA is a neat organization, but they should offer quite a few involvement opportunities on weekends and evenings that you can take part in in lieu of the meetings during the workday.</p>
<p>I read this thread yesterday and, honestly, thought the op was being unreasonable. I did not respond because I just didn’t get around to it. I was working.</p>
<p>I think every working parent would like to be more active in their kid’s school activities. That is called a stay at home Mom! </p>
<p>And I think your stating that you think you do most of the work and your stating that you want more flexible time are two different issues.</p>
<p>As a thread said above, the flexible time issue should have been addressed during your interview or onset of your employment.</p>
<p>You are being paid to do a job. The payer dictates the job requirements, the job duties and the time you have to work. If you accept the money, you accept the terms. You need to work your life around your work hours and not the other way around.</p>
<p>In a better economy, and/or if you had special skills, you might get to dictate more.</p>