Thread 33542943

A few months ago, I transferred from a life guard position in a water park to a maintenance position in that same water park.
This is technically considered a rehire to a different department under a new manager.

My new boss is a cunt sometimes. Maybe a lot of the time.
But her main problem with me is, rather bafflingly, the extra work I’ll do.
Like;
>actively looking for frequently damaged water fountains and sinks.
>helping the food and beverage department unload shipments.
>listening to the aquatics radio channel to know where everyone is and wants going on, so I can respond quicker if I’m needed.
>talking to these departments in case they need anything.
She says
>I’m paying you to stay in the pump room.
>you don’t work for them anymore, you work for me.
>I need your focus here.
>who even asked you to help them?
I can not get her to point to a single task I am not completing before noon.
I get all the checklist done in time.
I 50 to 60 hour weeks in a job that was listed for 40 hour weeks.
I do work for these other departments. I’m a technician for this company.
It’s not my manager’s name on the back of the paycheck, it’s company.llc
The way I see it, we’re all in this together. Her included!
And hey, you know who asked for all these extra hands to show up? Me! Every time I needed to unclog a toilet and the technicians had the toilet plunger. Every time I reported a broken rope and nothing happened. Every time I couldn’t get a sink reset and no one came.
Now, I am the person to call, I have the equipment, and you tell me I can’t do the work I wanted done so badly for two fucking years? And why? Because you’re in this power trip of being a manager?

But at the same time, maybe I’m looking for reasons to hate her. Maybe she just wants me to find things to do in the basement. Cleaning doesn’t do much to help that pump room desu. Especially a second or third hour on top of what I do now, but hey, it’ll kill time I guess.

Your new boss is somehow in a fight with your old boss over ??? and she's using you being now "hers" as some kind of way to get an advantage and you're ruining it. It sucks. IDK, just sit in the pump room. Boomers in the workplace are just like this sometimes. They want to pretend their shitty jobs are like a fucking tv drama

It honestly sounds like you're working too hard and there's no way for her to tell you that without sounding like a retard.
It's cool that you want to help, but it can create issues regarding other employees who do not share your good attitude. They'll using your help as an excuse to not fulfil their own duties. It gets toxic quickly, it burns out the guy who's doing it, and when that guy does burn out and throws his hat because he's walking around doing fucking EVERYTHING, the manager is just left with a bunch of lazy retards who forgot how to do their job.

I'll give you an example of how you're kinda on a high horse that you need to get off of. Imagine I go and pay a lawncare company to cut my grass. I tell them "cut everything, except THAT patch right there. I want that grass to stay long for a practical purpose." I would be rightly pissed if they did it anyway, or told me, "I have to do it all, it's my job! Us and your other lawncare providers are in this together!"

>>33542943 (OP)
I'm glad H.R. at my employer isn't quite so barbaric, but they will be H.R. reps if they have to.

Yes, you are absolutely in the wrong. Don't do other people's jobs, and don't do extra work so others look bad. You are not on managements side. Don't help them maintain their property or contradict the stupid ways they fail to maintain it. Do exactly as much as they say, take your remittance, and live your real life.

>>33542943 (OP)
>I’m paying you to stay in the pump room
>I need your focus here
What happens if some shit goes down at the pump and you're not there (off doing other people's jobs for them)? I think this is her point, but she's a woman so won't be direct and just state it.

>>33543397
>and there's no way for her to tell you that without sounding like a retard.
>Let other people do their own job. If they can't get it done that's on them. They need to work harder, not you. Besides, we're not gonna pay you for all the extra work you do. We don't want you burning out.

>>33542943 (OP)
I don't suppose it has occurred to you to talk to your boss and ask her nicely what it is that she needs you to do? You just pro-actively decided to ignore her and do your own thing instead? She clearly thinks you're *not* doing all the stuff she needs you to do. And you don't even *know* what she needs you to do, because you haven't asked.

Look, maybe she is in the wrong, I don't know. But if I have learned one important lesson in life, it is that it is NEVER a good idea to turn a situation into a confrontation unless you absolutely have to. As soon as you turn something into a battle, you turn the other person doing what you want into a defeat - which makes it far less likely that they'll want to do that. If you do want someone to do something for you, make them feel magnanimous for doing it.

You need to suck it up, go to her, talk calmly and politely, smile, be friendly, say "Like, you're obviously not happy with the job I'm doing at the moment. I'm worried that I'm missing something important. Could you please explain what it is that you need me to be doing that I'm not doing?" If absolutely everything she comes up with is something you are actually doing already, then gently point that out. And you can also explain what you've said to us: that you've been on the other end of things needing fixing and maintenance not showing up. But she may also have a point that she needs you to be *available* in case something comes up, and if you're off doing a job for someone else, you won't be; so bear that in mind.

>>33542943 (OP)
Working too hard is a thing. It can make you unpopular because it gives the impression you're trying to make other people look bad. But also it can mean you're too tired or too distracted to do your *own* work or properly. Be careful you're not burning yourself out. If you're working 60 hours a week, you probably are.

>>33543869
We actually have a water park walk through as part of our checklist.
We’re supposed to leave for calls throughout the day.
The guy I replaced was fired because he never left the basement and played Minecraft all day.
Walking back down and checking chemicals and water levels is great and all but only needs to happen every two hours.
>>33543397
> They'll using your help as an excuse to not fulfil their own duties.
Well, you ain’t wrong. I have had a few people get complacent and say “I don’t need to do that, anon will.” I just don’t think this falls under that category if I’m not doing their job every day.
I also feel like the things burning me out are my actual job’s hours, not little things like moving a few boxes.

>>33545171
>>33545171
> I don't suppose it has occurred to you to talk to your boss and ask her nicely what it is that she needs you to do?
It has occurred to me, it’s just the way she talks to me when upset often requires a lot of talking her down from an enraged state. She’ll say “we talked about this” when we haven’t, she’ll say “you’re not responding to your radio” When my shift starts at 7 and she called at 6. She’s also just known for wild and random outbursts. It’s leading an animal. Sometimes it’s best to avoid her.

But you are right that a conversation where I explain my work ethic might be necessary. I just don’t think she’ll listen.

>>33545707
>She’s also just known for wild and random outbursts. It’s leading an animal. Sometimes it’s best to avoid her.
Well, for the moment, she's your boss. I don't know how bad things are; clearly, if they're bad enough, then by all means make a formal complaint to *her* boss or to HR. But if it's not *that* bad then the more you can calm things down, the more comfortable your life will be. It's usually better to de-escalate where you can, even if the other person is actually being unreasonable. If you always act calm, reasonable, polite, and friendly, it's much harder for other people to stay angry at you.

>>33542943 (OP)
>I 50 to 60 hour weeks in a job that was listed for 40 hour weeks.
That might be getting her in trouble with her boss. Possibly legal/financial trouble. What if you're recording your unpaid overtime and submit a state workplace claim the day after you leave for $$$$. (And if you're only getting 40 hours pay why aren't you planning to do this?) For all you know your predecessor or some moron in another department just did this and there's all kinds of legal settlement stuff about keeping in quiet.
Another problem is once everyone knows OP does everything, then everything that goes wrong is blamed on the guy in the other department, aka OP, and OP's boss gets yelled at (WTF someone broke a dozen eggs unloading the food truck they don't want to take the blame they say OP did it now your boss is in trouble)
Meanwhile every time your bosses boss wants to find OP, OP is F-ing around in some other department making OP's boss look bad.
Basically, do your job, not whatever random crap you think might be fun.

>>33545803
> What if you're recording your unpaid overtime and submit a state workplace claim the day after you leave for $$$$. (And if you're only getting 40 hours pay why aren't you planning to do this?)
You’ve actually stumbled upon a company wide drama.
So I am scheduled for 40 hours exactly. 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. Same with the night shift. But there is no crossover scheduled. We have to explain what’s been going on day to day simply to not throw away one guy’s welding project. This can take 30 minutes a day.
Doing the bare minimum, I would still have 4.5 hours of overtime a week.
We also do most of our work outside of operating hours. This is squeezed into one to two hours. Add literally any task, you have to either show up early or stay late.
We do get paid for this. It’s a selling point of the job to most people. And it’s the reason I say I’d burn out regardless.
But recently, the head of finances wanted to cut down on “time theft.” So he made it impossible to clock in early or clock out late.

This was immediately challenged by me, my coworkers, my boss, and every line worker in the same position. So a light roll back was agreed upon. We now have our time retroactively added back based on our attempted clock in. This is very stupid and we still watch our time for a later labor dispute.

This unfortunately ties back to my problem in OP. Because my manager is the one responsible for monitoring my time. If I go down to HR, I’m directly threatening her job. So she will have very little reason to not commit labor theft as a form of retribution.

TLDR; I’m working extra hours because my job actually does require me to. My overtime pay is in my manager’s hands. This is an unethical system, but it’s what we have.

Are you taking unauthorized overtime OP? Because even if your employer didn't authorize it they are required by law (at least in the US) to pay you for it, but then will almost certainly fire you as a result.

She wants you to remain idle during downtime so that you aren't occupied by something else when there's some sort of unplanned matter that needs to be addressed.