Manager ignores grocery store worker's availability with Friday night text message, says their personal life shouldn't interfere with work : 'I make $14 an hour stocking shelves'

A grocery store worker with strictly no weekend availability found themself the target of late-night messages from their boss trying to get them to take up weekend shifts and questioning their commitment to a job that paid $14 an hour.

As much as your boss would like you to believe it, your job isn't your entire life.

When we think about work-life balance, the insinuation is usually that the two have equal footing, that your work and your life are of equal importance, and that the two should be equally balanced in order for you to lead a fruitful life.

I'd even argue that this is an intended effect, a clever phrase that originally was intended to spark conversation about flexible schedules and toxic workplace cultures of overwork had its meaning shifted in the 80s and instead has since been used by managers to encourage their workers to spend a little bit of extra time at the office and to be more dedicated to their work so that it is in balance with their life.

This phrase has become culturally ingrained to the point where we no longer question that work and life should be balanced with one another. Really, though, work is a component of life, a subserving part of it. If work and life are to be "balanced," work should never get in the way of life itself and your other wants, needs, and pleasures.

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My manager actually said "your personal life shouldn't interfere with your availability" after I declined a last minute Saturday shift

via Sensitive-Pen4002
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via Getty Images

_{The image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.}
This grocery store worker had established their availability when they were hired and had it approved, something that is usual in types of shift-work roles that rely on a rotating schedule. The pay was low, but the ability to set hours around other commitments made the jobs appealing, where other commitments necessitate this sort of flexibility.
However, their availability was for weekdays only, something that is difficult to get approved for where there are weekend shifts, which are less desirable. Even if you manage to get yourself marked unavailable on the weekends, eventually, whether it be due to turnover in staff or actual complaints from other staff members about it being "unfair," eventually, some manager is going to come calling, looking to make you take up weekend shifts.
Lo and behold, the first for them to work a weekend shift came late on a Friday evening, which led to their "commitment" being called into question.
Really, the best thing that they could have done here was not to open the door to late-night communication. By responding even once, they have set the expectation in their boss's mind that future messages WILL be seen and thus must be replied to, or else they are being intentionally ignored. This is a slippery slope to go down, an eroding boundary that won't lead to anything positive. You might think that you're working your way toward that promotion. Instead, your inability to escape your work will slowly lead you closer and closer toward burnout.
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via Sensitive-Pen4002
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via DuoNguyen

_{The image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.}
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