Boss denies college student bakery employee a weekend shift, wants them to work 6 AM - 5 PM during school: 'I would have to FIND A WAY to go to college'

When a boss doesn't respect their workers, they can't expect respect in return.

Most jobs require some amount of sacrifice. It's just a matter of what sacrifice he'll put up with in order to be gainfully employed. We all make different compromises at different points in our lives in order to get by. Maybe early on, we would take a job with rough hours and with Little pay in order to get experience. Maybe, as we get older, our standards start to rise for ourselves. We want more for ourselves, and we're able to use our experience to our advantage. Maybe we've been taking advantage of one too many times, and we're not gonna let that happen to us again. But this can take a while to get to. You have to suffer through a lot of not-so-great jobs before you can truly learn what you're good at and what you deserve. 

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  • A college aged bakery worker attends to a tray of cookies in the kitchen.
    via Unsplash+ (Jordan González)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • The employee in the story was just starting out in their working life and was trying to do everything they could to make ends meet. They demonstrated loyalty in their workplace and did everything that they were asked to. But loyalty doesn't always get you loyalty in return. They had to learn that the hard way. After being flexible for a while with their shifts, they understandably had had enough. They were going to school, and school always comes first. They expected their employers to be able to understand that, but unfortunately, they were mistaken. They were left in a difficult situation that they weren't quite sure how to handle. On one hand, they could stick around and try to make the most of the job they were given. On the other hand, it was a turning point for them to learn how to stick up for themselves. So they reached out to the Internet for a little bit of perspective and advice, which it provided. Sometimes it takes somebody outside of ourselves to point out when we're being taken advantage of. We don't always get to see it from the inside. So read on to see what happened in the story and see what you think.

  • My co-worker requested a change of shifts, and when I denied, she forcefully changed my Sunday shift.

    I work in a bakery and we open every day 07am to 8pm and on sundays til Midway. i always take the nine a.m shift on sundays. in the past, the owner came to me and asked if i could change shifted my shift (on week days 06am to 5pm and shifted for theirs 9am to 8pm) to
    via u/anac1902
  • accommodate their needs (i have told them that it could only be temporary, seeing as i was going to start college soon). i did, but now that i have started college, i need my shift back. they denied me MY shift I, saying that i already changed. they told me that i was to do Saturdays instead
    via u/anac1902
  • (9am to 8pm) or they would take THEIR two days back and I would have to FIND A WAY to go to college (starts at 7pm) and i could change, but i dont want to. on saturdays i sleep at my grandmothers house because my cousin is out of town and she's alone. the were angry at me and told me that im going to do their shifts on sunday, now. can a coworker do this? what should i tell my superior?
    via u/anac1902

  • Commenters gave their takes on this work dispute.

    Large-Client-6024 Tell your boss, not the coworker, that your school is started back up. If they want you to keep working for them, you need your hours back. Your boss's reaction will tell you which of you is more valuable to the store. Either way, start looking for a job elsewhere just in case...
    via u/Large-Client-6024
  • Longjumping-Air1... Tell your supervisor they can figure out the shift changes when you quit.
    via u/Longjumping-Air1489
  • Githyerazi How long was the "temporary" change? Once or twice is just trading a few times. If the change was several months long without being in writing it is hard to get them to switch back.
    via u/Githyerazi
  • A college aged bakery worker looks stressed as she tends to a tray of bread
    via Unsplash+ (Pablo Merchán Montes)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • King_Michal Time to start looking for a new place to work. You're obviously not respected there.
    via u/King_Michal
  • RandomPersonOf... Tell your supervisor this is your availability. Schedule you in those times or you just won't be there. Put it in writing, in an email, cc'd to yourself. That's their notice you won't be there outside of available times. No call needed. You are covered.
    via u/RandomPersonOfTheDay
  • And first time they try you, just don't show up. When they say something, refer them back to that email in writing. They had plenty of notice to fill that shift. They chose not to.
    via u/RandomPersonOfTheDay
  • tomberty Think you need to self value how important you rank in that company. If you think you got some leverage use it and get what you want.
    via u/tomberty
  • Ynguer Well, its a matter of prioritizing. Are you by any reason considering not going back to school to keep this particular job? If not, alert you boss, not your cowork, of that and tell them if dont have the the shift
    via u/Ynguer
  • that works for your study you will be quitting day one it starts. Dont make it a me vs them thing, say you agreed to the change temporarily and now you need to go bacj or you are out.
    via u/Ynguer
  • DyogramPop When I was going to college, I worked for a franchise of a famous Canadian coffee house. I worked mostly overnights but would cover the evening shift from time to time. Finals came around and were scheduled at 6pm.
    via u/DyogramPop
  • After informing work about this conflict two weeks ahead of time, wouldn't ya know, I was scheduled during my final. Brought this "obvious" mistake to management. The reply was "You need to think about your career here. There will be other tests. I was making
    via u/DyogramPop
  • minimum wage in a company with very little mobility. What career? My point being you are a number. You are a replaceable number. Do with that what you will my friend.
    via u/DyogramPop
  • markdmac Talk to the manager, let them know if they cannot accommodate switching you back you will have to quit because your education comes first. Let them know the coworker will have to work all shifts if they won't switch back.
    via u/markdmac
  • Blackbear8336 Your coworker is not your boss. School is more important than a minimum wage job. Tell your coworker to get fucked and tell your supervisor that you need your shift back or you quit. As others said, look for other jobs just incase.
    via u/Blackbear8336
  • Kamurai You're availability is not actually a request. "I'm not available for this shift during this time period. You'll have to figure that out."
    via u/Kamurai
  • Explain the whole scenario, note it was intended to be temporary. Sure, they can fire you, or you quit, but then they have to figure that out, plus all the other days.
    via u/Kamurai
  • lizzyote Your coworker is not in charge of the schedule. Stop talking to them about it and go to your boss.
    via u/lizzyote
  • 6feet12cm Fuck your coworker. Talk to your bosses, lol.
    via u/6feet12cm
  • Desert_Fairy My available hours are xxxx if there is no work available during those hours I guess I'll need to find a place that does have those hours. and as others have said, get your resume out there.
    via u/Desert_Fairy
  • The worst thing they can do is fire you. Now, that may be worse than you can afford. In that case, you will have to decide which is more important.
    via u/Desert_Fairy
  • ChefArtorias This is kind of hard to read because you say "they" so much but are referring to two different people. So your manager is refusing to change your schedule to accommodate school? Time to become unavailable that day completely or find a new job.
    via u/ChefArtorias

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antiwork employee bakery work story work employees minimum wage college
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