Getting docked 3 days' pay right before Christmas

I used up most of my paid time off this year in January when my daughter Sarah was inpatient in Boston with her Crohn's, so, I'm out. Too bad for me.

Hey, I get it, that's how it works.

Except, they're already working on trying to reduce their liability in terms of paid time off the team has as a whole for this Peoplesoft project we're all working on, and in my case next year will be the critical year.

So.. seems to make sense that they might spot me 3 days from next year in order to reduce their liability next year and not have to worry about the under-the-table carryover they're doing for payroll staff this year, no?

Apparently, no. Tough ####, go #### yourself, seems to be the response.

I mean, I get that I'm not entitled to a favor or anything, but damn. Been here ten years, have pulled about half a dozen weekends this year unpaid.. can't spot me 3 days?

Ok then.

If it weren't the week before Christmas, I wouldn't even have asked.

What bothers me more than being turned down, because hey, I get it, is that my boss LIVES for #### like this. He's a passive aggressive little angry ####er and he loves the opportunity to kick somebody while they're down.

Yeah, probably not the healthiest place for me to work, but it's what I know for the past ten years. Not very happy today.

The real kicker is that I did as much work from my smartphone in the ICU last week as I would have done from the office anyway, by responding to and managing customers. We've been on the bench 6 months waiting for management to pull the stick out and get us on phase 2 (phase 1 staff is working 7 days a week while we twiddle our thumbs), so they literally lost NOTHING by my being out last week due to my cardiac arrest, but they won't extend me this kindness because they don't have to.

And that's their prerogative, but damn.

muppet said:

I mean, I get that I'm not entitled to a favor or anything, but damn. Been here ten years, have pulled about half a dozen weekends this year unpaid.. can't spot me 3 days?

...

The real kicker is that I did as much work from my smartphone in the ICU last week as I would have done from the office anyway, by responding to and managing customers.

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Sorry muppet, I wish I had a better answer. My only suggestion is if they are going to be strictly by the rules, then do the same. Stop giving them unpaid work time. If you work on the weekend or in the ICU, then it is work time. Either charge them for it, get comp time, or stop doing it.

Sorry to hear about your health troubles on top of it all. Hope you are at least feeling better but agree with jwfoise. Account for all hours, no more working from the ICU, especially that - Take Care of yourself.

worked hours should result in accrued PTO, so if they accounted for all the time you've worked unpaid, you should have something in your PTO bank. If they aren't willing to work with you on that, it's time to stop giving them anything for free. No more unpaid, out-of-the office work.

A major issue here is that there's no will to rise above the employee-hostile culture that has been well established over decades, especially in IT. I could fight that fight, but it would end badly for me unless I was willing to engage a lawyer over what amounts to a $600 issue, most likely at the cost of my job.

So yeah, I'll just stop working on call.

How unfortunate. Makes me grateful to work at place where employee support and engagement are considered very valuable As a member of the leadership team (I'm a supervisor) I feel it is my duty to ensure the satisfaction and support of my staff. I want them to be happy and satisfied and feel supported so they provide great care to their patients, as well as for their own well being.

Oh, we're a major hospital system and the clinical staff doesn't deal with nearly the hostility that we do, but heck, we're just IT.

OK to be fair, the nurses get some crap, but mostly that arises from the "new" trend of maintaining a constant state of just barely enough coverage...

That's really terrible. Here in the Midwest, quite a few hospitals have adopted Just Culture and Employee Engagement, and really work hard on appreciating and valuing all employees, including IT, Ancillary Services and Administrative Support. I've heard the East Coast is a bit behind in that trend....

I've tried to talk my wife into moving but she has elderly family and won't have it. Maybe I can find a telecommuting position. Ha.

Here it's a very New York mindset. "How much do you love us? Prove it!"

Then on top of this is that I can't drive for 3 months because of a seizure that stopped my heart last week. In Connecticut... that's next to impossible. I'm extremely confident that it's because of a medication overdose, but the docs are unconvinced (mostly I think because of the odds involved).

Why was I taking too much of my meds before accidentally taking WAY too much of my meds? Because I didn't want to miss work! ((rimshot))

Merry stinking Christmas

Anyway thanks for reading my ranting.

muppet said:

Oh, we're a major hospital system and the clinical staff doesn't deal with nearly the hostility that we do, but heck, we're just IT.

OK to be fair, the nurses get some crap, but mostly that arises from the "new" trend of maintaining a constant state of just barely enough coverage...

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My wife worked for a major hospital for 15 years and they eliminated her position and dismissed her with a week's notice (this was a number of years ago), so things are no different in the Midwest (at least in Ohio). And if you can't drive, things are tougher in the Midwest, generally little mass transit outside of the center of major cities. So I don't know that moving would help all that much.

I don't think there's decent mass transit anywhere in the US outside of major cities.

muppet said:

I don't think there's decent mass transit anywhere in the US outside of major cities.

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Yeah, we just all commute by car! My husband drives an hour each way every day for his job, because we live in the town where I work (I drive 5 minutes) and the town where his job is located is 48 miles away.