Weird bosses

Savvy_Sue

Fayelizabeth wrote: »

They would also pay me whenever they felt like it and my DD's would fail and my rent would be late - another meeting. I told them I'd need a strict payday and that I'd need to be paid by that date every month, if not before. They argued with me for a while but finally agreed.

This, if nothing else, would have had me job seeking elsewhere.

How are they with booking leave arrangements, disciplinary and grievance procedures?

If you are the first person they have ever employed, they may well be ill-informed about the legal requirements, although there's no excuse for it.

Murphybear

If you are the only employee and they can't manage without you for a few minutes in the morning, what do they do for 4 weeks a year when you are on annual leave?

rtho782

Sounds like you need a new job in Bristol!

Either that, or move to Bath? I know Bath rents are high, but so is Bristol!

halfone

Murphybear wrote: »

If you are the only employee and they can't manage without you for a few minutes in the morning, what do they do for 4 weeks a year when you are on annual leave?

I work in a small private healthcare clinic - my boss is the practitioner and I do admin/reception work. No other staff (except an out-of-hours cleaner). We schedule it so our holidays coincide.

The bosses don't seem to have given OP specific reasons for needing her there at 9am, and they aren't obliged to, so this is all speculation as my situation may be very different from OPs, but...

The first hour of the morning tends to be the busiest for me with people ringing in to make/change appointments. My boss could not treat patients and answer the phone/greet incoming clients - of course OP has stated she has two bosses so they may manage this between them.

There are also other issues specific to a clinic environment (confidential patient files temporarily in the reception area, for example, and issues surrounding vulnerable clients) that make it a sensible and necessary precaution to have another person around while practitioners are treating patients. My hours are tightly tied to the clinic opening hours.

[Deleted User]

Murphybear wrote: »

If you are the only employee and they can't manage without you for a few minutes in the morning, what do they do for 4 weeks a year when you are on annual leave?

6 begrudging days off in 6 months if lucky - they often may think a 'big' wage covers it

Employers really tiny want to pay staff leave rather than let them take days if at all. I've watched people weep over leave it ain't nice : (

paddyrg

The technology thing is a red herring, as is the 'are they trying to get rid of me' (they can lose you any time within 2 years with no repercussions), or the contact (verbal).

It is about reliable timekeeping. They clearly like you, or you'd be gone already, so they realised they really need someone for their core hours. In some jobs, flexible hours are fine, in public-facing service industry ones, fixed hours need to be met.

So, as mentioned above, bike to Keynsham and hop on the train or at least bike to a different bus route which runs earlier (maybe Keynsham again, or X39 bus route). 95% reliability (when the lift isn't on holiday or sick or broken down etc) is 5% unreliability. If the lift is on holiday, and they're not the same weeks as you are, there's a problem as it'll be closer to 12% unreliability. If you live somewhere inconvenient, that's not your employer's problem. They actually seem to be trying to make it work, but 'doing your best' isn't doing what they need.

Sure, nobody is on time 100% of the time, but more than once or twice a year would really, really infuriate me as an employer

paddyrg

BTW, which bus do you catch? Oldland Common is on/dead close to the #19 bus, first one is through Cadbury Hearth about 6:38 am, then 7:30, around 8 to Bath, all in safely before 9:am. Maybe the solution is to discuss with the surgery if you can start earlier, not later?

I do appreciate the reality of buses and not always being prompt, and traffic being uneven, but that's just a thing to factor in, even if it means catching an earlier bus and then having breakfast in town for instance. There seem to be ways for this not to be a problem if needs be!

Polarbeary

I guess it depends where you work? Working in a large, non public facing office job we don't have strict office hours. I generally do 9-5 ish. I allow an extra 20 minutes on my commute so rather than going in early I grab a coffee. If the tube or train is busted I then have extra time to play with.

Occasionally there are days where I am am 30 plus minutes late. If the tube line suddenly packs up (signal failure, person on the tracks, broken down train) there really is nothing I can do about it!

Jamiesmum

I don't understand why you think being late at least once a month is a normal thing. You keep saying in a blue moon but it's not. I personally think that is quite frequent.

My partner has never been late to work, even if he has to walk it (just over an hour) he gets up at 5 to leave at half 5 to get there for half 6 to start his shift at 7!

I'll admit I've been late occasionally because of childcare - My boss was made aware of this BEFORE I started my job. My wages get docked 15 minutes - that's life! If she ever called me out on it I would just deal with it and try harder. This has happened less in 5 years than yours has in 6 months, though.

It's a small business and obviously they needed to hire you so I'm guessing they need you there on time for a reason.

Polarbeary

This is why as much as I find my job boring I stick with it because I can work from home and my pay isn't docked if I'm late. The joys of flexible hours. I appreciate that in many jobs you have to be there on time.

How much extra times does one allow? An hour? Two hours?