'I didn't come in early': Shrewd supervisor gets back at employer by working scheduled hours

Author image for Brad Dickson
Brad Dickson • Managing Editor
Aug 31, 2023 9:00 AM EDT

Agreeing to something only to find that the terms of that deal have changed is an altogether disappointing experience. And why wouldn't it be? An expectation has been set that hasn't been met, and usually not in your favor. While sometimes you might fight and argue to reach the terms of the original deal… Sometimes, all you can do is pray that the deal isn't altered any further. 

Even though the terms of employment shouldn't be like making a deal with Star Wars Darth Vader—well… sometimes it is; with the agreed terms of your employment shifting under your feet like sand at the edges of a sarlacc pit.

This is what happened to this new supervisor at a manufacturing plant who was hired for an 8-hour shift, only finding once he reported for his first day that the shift was actually 8.5 hours. This would have been well and fine if the lazy second shift supervisor wasn't frequently absent, leaving the new supervisor to cover his shifts too, unwilling and unable to leave the plant unattended—other times needing to come in early for shifts where the other supervisor would leave inexplicably early. 

Needless to say, this made for some long shifts and even longer weeks, racking up overtime like it was hotcakes on the shelf of a bakery that was making hotcakes at a rate that far outpaced the demands of its clientele. 

SARAH enters stage left 

A new boss named Sarah started, bringing with her all the things that a terrible new boss brings—namely, changes to things that she didn't fully understand. Sarah wanted him to work even longer scheduled hours, stretching the now not-so-new supervisor's hours out to lengths that would make it completely unmanageable for him to cover both shifts when the lazy second-shift supervisor was absent. All the supervisor could do was comply with her new demands.

This meant that the employer would now have to hire last-second cover in the form of contractors who charged obscene rates for their services, making Sarah's little change more costly than it was ever intended to be. This led to Sarah's eventual removal from her position.

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  • 01
    Grinding
    via Josh Beech
  • 02
    Font - Posted by u/dorky_dad77 Was told I had an 8 1/2 hour shift and not to leave early, so I started working for only 8 1/2 hours. I work as a supervisor at a manufacturing plant, and I was hired for an 8 hour shift as the night time supervisor. As soon as I started, they changed, and said they really considered the shift to be from 11 pm to 730, so they would need it to be 8 1/2 hours. I'm salaried, there wasn't much I could do, and it wasn't a big deal, so I said okay.
    via u/dorky_dad77
  • 03
    Font - As I get into a groove working there, I find out that the 2nd shift supervisor is a train wreck. No one would describe him to me, just saying I had to meet him. He leaves an hour or two early from his shift 2-3 times a week. Friday nights he leaves the plant at 530, and tells them to call him if there are any problems. He calls out, at a minimum, once a week. Its psychotic.
    via u/dorky_dad77
  • 04
    Font - Every time he is out, I come in at around 8 pm to cover the last 3 hours of his shift and my full shift. At least once a week, I just do it. I figure the company is going to deal with it, but as time passes, they obviously aren't. Structurally, the company is just as bad as him. Infighting, rivalries, backstabbing, all of that, but I stay on nights so I don't see it much.
    via u/dorky_dad77
  • 05
    Font - Then Sarah starts as my boss. I actually have 2 bosses, which is how every successful employee works. Sarah is a nightmare. Sarah wants me to work 11-11 on MTW, and 11-10 on Friday. I dig in my heels, document like crazy, and after a couple months of harassment, HR actually backs me up and she has to stop.
    via u/dorky_dad77
  • 06
    Font - But now Sarah is angry, and she sees me leaving at 715 one morning after coming in 2 hours early. She sends an email clarifying our time expectations. 2nd shift train wreck calls in that night, so I come in at 8, and the next morning, Sarah sees me leave at 7:10.
    via u/dorky_dad77
  • 07
    Font - I get an email saying she is coming in early to talk to me, and when she shows up, I'm getting a formal warning for my early departures, going into my personnel file. I've never been written up in my life. During the meeting, with HR in attendance, she said I am expected to be there for my 8 1/2 hour shift. I made sure that the expectation was on record for an 8 1/2 hour shift, which HR documented.
    via u/dorky_dad77
  • 08
    Font - The next week, the 2nd shift supervisor is out two days. After the first day, Sarah asks me the next morning why I didn't come in early, as there were problems on his shift, and I said I fulfilled my 8 1/2 hour shift, and I'm not responsible for his. They had to hire a contractor at $125 an hour to cover all of his missed time, which amounted to 19 weeks this past year. Eventually they hired a 4th supervisor at $85k per year to cover his gaps. Sarah got demoted, and I only ever work 8 1/2
    via u/dorky_dad77
  • 09
    Font - CoderJoe1 That's what they get for playing f fax games. Wage theft is one of the most common crimes and it can happen to salaried employees too. Reply Share 8.5k ●●● dorky_dad77 OP We were arguing at one point about her time expectations, and she said "You're a salaried employee. There are no time protections for you.If i ask you to work, you have to work." I responded by saying "Okay, then let's head over to HR right now and make sure that's the correct policy to pursue." They wound up s
    via u/dorky_dad77
  • 10
    Font - ChaplainParker What do you mean you don't want to come in for massive amounts of unpaid OT, we made you salary you should be thankful! People blow my mind with the thought process of work expectations. Good for you! 470 Reply Share ●●● dorky_dad77 OP I grew up in an anti-union household. My grandfather had been a union welder for 40 years, and not long before he retired in the early 80s, a union official took off with the pension fund. It wiped him out. So there was no love for unions in
    via u/dorky_dad77
  • 11
    Font - Now, I worked here for 3 years. Pro- union. Completely see their use, and why they're important. It's insane. 476 Reply Share
    via u/dorky_dad77
  • 12
    Font - [deleted] What morons. It baffles me how stupid some management is at large companies. Petty and incompetent are just the tip of the iceberg. 183 Reply Share dorky_dad77 OP Oh, this company has some incredible decision making ability. They buy equipment, keep it on a shelf until the warranty and coverage is expired, and then install it. Now we have to pay the company to come in at contractor rates to show us how it works, when it was included in the original coverage that expired. All. Th
    via u/dorky_dad77
  • 13
    Font - shag377 You did well ensuring things were documented with HR. 131 Reply Share ●●● dorky_dad77 OP I had a 15 page word document. My favorite part? She asked me why I was unwilling to extend my hours, and I said I have a specific sleep schedule so I can see my children. She asked how old my children are, and I said 12, 14 and 17. Her response was "They're all basically teenagers, do they even want to hang out with you anymore?"
    via u/dorky_dad77
  • 14
    Font - I kept my cool, and said yes, we're al tight knit family. She then asked me for examples of how we were tight knit. I told her I am not required to justify the time I spend with my family. And into the word document it went. ✩ 457 Reply Share
    via u/dorky_dad77
  • 15
    Font - ElleCBrown What the f That made me angry just reading it. These people really think they own your whole life. 259 Reply Share dorky_dad77 OP Yes they do. 177 Reply Share ●●●
    via u/dorky_dad77
  • 16
    Font - Shadow569 How did the trainwreck not get fired? That's theft of time and money if nothing else. 109 Reply Share dorky_dad77 OP He lives in a world without consequence, it would seem. 100 Reply Share
    via u/dorky_dad77
  • 17
    Font - random63 I wonder what dirt that psycho supervisor has that he keeps getting away with this.. 51 ↓ Reply Share dorky_dad77 OP He's been there for 35 years or so, and our one boss seems to think he's irreplaceable, which is insane. Friday nights, when he leaves at 530, his crew leaves at 6, and then comes back to clock out at 11. 472 Reply Share
    via u/dorky_dad77
  • 18
    Font - PR2NP Sounds toxic and I'd be getting the ho out of there. Failure of leadership at multiple levels. 40 Reply Share ●●● dorky_dad77 OP I'm desperate to find something else, but no one is hiring in my salary range right now. 31 Reply Share ●●●
    via u/dorky_dad77
  • 19
    Font - Kaneshadow Every time he is out, I come in at around 8 pm to cover the last 3 hours of his shift and my full shift. Dude no, why would you do this without renegotiating to begin with Reply Share 29 dorky_dad77 OP Well, when I first started, the supervisor training me switched shifts to be on mine for 2 months, even though he is senior to most of the people in the plant. He trained me, worked extra time, things like that. I thought it was a situation where we would help each other out,
    via u/dorky_dad77
  • 20
    Font - and there would be some type of compensation time to even it out. I didn't realize that one supervisor would abuse the system so badly. While I thought I was helping out 'the team', it turned out that it was becoming the expectation. ↑ 22 Reply Share
    via u/dorky_dad77

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jobs malicious compliance machinist work trades supervisor workplace Horrible Bosses shift work manufacturing employment
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