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Backstory-Hospital boiler room. We maintain and operate the hospital’s HVAC system, medical gas system, fire alarm monitoring system, potable water system, elevators, general building maintenance, and first responders for non medical emergencies (flooding, fire, elevator entrapment, etc). Our hospital is over 10 stories tall and has greatly expanded since I started working here 19 years ago. The position of plant operator works a rotating shift schedule of 11am-7am 7 days straight, 2 days off, 3pm-11pm 7 days straight, 2 days off, 7am-3pm 6 days straight, 4 days off (our one weekend a month), then repeat rotation. Because of how the work week is broken up we only work 5 days during each pay week to prevent us from receiving overtime for working 7 days straight. As new regulations and requirements are added, they’re automatically dumped upon our department. Though our hospital and duties have expanded, our workforce and pay have remained stagnant. With the local economy improving people of our job skills can easily find work elsewhere for higher pay and less responsibilities. Fully staffed our department is 10 people including the supervisor. In less than 5 years our second supervisor has quit, an AC mechanic has yet to be replaced (top hourly rate is nearly $10 below starting hourly rate for AC certified mechanic straight out of trade school), a general mechanic position still not filled, and two other people have already submitted their 2 weeks notice to go work elsewhere for more pay. This leaves our department at half staff. We have one guy with health problems who
May not be here for much longer and another guy with 19 years on the job who’s just about had it now that he’s earning money from renting property.
I have 19 years with the company and a wife with ongoing medical issues. She not only knows the hospital, she knows the people because she use to work here before her health got worse. I enjoy making the patients comfortable and safe but I don’t enjoy regularly training new hires, dealing with the administrative junk running down hill to us, and the ever increasing responsibilities with no increase in pay nor support from above. With so many leaving is now a good time to ask for a raise? I’ve already written my concerns to HR so should I wait and see if things are changed (like pay) through HR? I have Aspergers, a high functioning form of autism. This has been an asset to this line of work but not for confronting the bosses for things like this. My verbal communication isn’t very good.
Oh, forgot to mention. Monday-Friday 3:30pm-7am there is only one of us covering the entire building by ourselves. All weekend, Saturday & Sunday, there is only one of us covering the entire building by ourselves in 8 hour shifts.
I am noticing a proliferation of jobs requiring irregular schedules and people mostly dont like working irregular schedules so they will leave as soon as they possibly can. I am working an irregular schedule at low pay and I will leave as soon as I find something better.
If I am not working 9-5 four days a week M-Th 9/80 at 60+/hr then rest assured I am looking for a new job.
Is the supervisor of the physical plant fighting for more money and more people or not? If he or she is not, don't expect HR to care that much. If the pay is that sub par, they can't expect anyone to stay.
It can't hurt to ask your boss for a raise. First write down what you want to say, practice (role play) having the discussion with your wife, and then set up a meeting with your boss to discuss getting a salary raise. Good luck!
Is the supervisor of the physical plant fighting for more money and more people or not? If he or she is not, don't expect HR to care that much. If the pay is that sub par, they can't expect anyone to stay.
He had been trying to get us more people and more money. His two bosses fought him every time. Their perspective is so skewed that one of them is now focused on hiring a contractor to strip and paint the equipment concrete foundations as well as seal and paint the boiler room concrete floor. We have very caustic chemicals used in boiler water treatment. Even when diluted it strips the paint.
He had been trying to get us more people and more money. His two bosses fought him every time. Their perspective is so skewed that one of them is now focused on hiring a contractor to strip and paint the equipment concrete foundations as well as seal and paint the boiler room concrete floor. We have very caustic chemicals used in boiler water treatment. Even when diluted it strips the paint.
They want to paint the housekeeping pads?! Why would anybody do that?
Unfortunately, senior administration in most industries does not value infrastructure and maintenance, viewing it as a cost center rather than as an investment in maintaining costly assets.
Typically, plant operations only gets an increase in budgets when something fails catastrophically. Otherwise they are funded at the lowest possible level. In our current booming construction economy, qualified carpenters, plumbers and HVAC guys are going into construction rather than maintenance and operations because of the higher pay. This is going to lead to more and more open positions and deferred maintenance until construction retracts or companies are forced to raise pay rates. Either solution may take years.
Leave. Hopefully you can find another employer that is accommodating to workers with Autism.
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