boss sweeps issues under carpet what would you do? (employee, apply, employer)

[Dashdog]

I work a 12 hr night shift ( 6:30 Pm to 7AM) shift at a hospital. Have been at this hospital for over 28 years. The hospital itself is a great employer as we have great benefits and I really believe our CEO is a great guy and does care about the employees as he knows we are the ones that make or break the place. The place is over 400 beds and yet he knows most of the people that work here. We have had alot of traveling Nurses that claim it is the best place they have worked.So I have no beef with the actual hospital.

My department is a different story we schedule 6 weeks at a time and about 5 weeks before a schedule is done an empty one is hung up. Then every one has a couple weeks to put down their dream schedule as we do what is called self scheduling. There are rules like 4 people per shift currently we have that up to 5 as we have been very busy. We have to work at least 4 weekend shifts per 6 weeks (shift being a night in my case) . If the math is done and to be 100% fair it should be 6 weekend shifts but the fools that came up with the rules don't want to work that many weekends . Rules also say that you must work 1/2 of the legal holidays. No set schedules either so people are expected to be flexible. So there are the rules..now after everyone fills it in we get a week to make changes to try to balance things out. Then it goes to the scheduler that will make necessary changes to cover all the shifts.

So far so good? well this is where the problem comes, some people do not self schedule weekends or holidays and put the same set schedule everytime unless of course they have something that comes up where they need one of those nights off, then suddenly they can change a day. Then when things need to be changed because a Saturday is short staffed they do nothing to help with it and the scheduler moves usually me to cover it. Mind you I always self schedule at least 6 weekend shifts so I should be the last person moved but I am the first. I also get moved to holidays that are short staffed despite the fact that yes I do self schedule my share of them.

If I have plans and need a weekend off the only way I can make sure I get it is to request a vacation day. Others do not have to do this they just don't schedule the day and end up with it off. Alot of these people are young and have only worked here a few years and they are male and have kids. So the difference is I have 28 + yrs here, am female and have no kids.If anyone should be getting a set schedule or no weekends or holidays it should be the people with seniority as we have put in our dues for years but seniority means crap in my department.

I have been going to my boss for years and he listens and says I will have to talk to the lead therapist about this and that is always the end. In other words he just sweeps it under the carpet hoping time will fix it. This has been a major pet peeve for several of us for too many years.

I emailed my boss several weeks ago yet again about this issue. His reply was I am coming in on Thursady night to tell you about your raise so we can discuss this then. That was last night so what happens? He dicusssed the raise then says that other stuff will have to wait as I want to talk to the person that is doing the scheduling first ( well hello he had 2 weeks to do that so why tell me we would discuss it then not do it? Errr!). I tried to get him to talk about it but he just blew it off ...sweep that back under the carpet.

Right now I am furious as the new schedule just went up and there was a weekend I did not self schedule but because I do not want to waste vacation days on things that are not top priority to me I did not request it off. but I did have plans as there is a fun event I would have enjoyed going too.Well, I think you can guess the rest..I got moved to that Saturday, one of the young guys is not working even one weekend day the whole schedule and another had only 1 weekend day , I self scheduled 6 so they should have been moved not me.

I feel I have given my boss every chance to fix this problem and have even suggested he do away with the rules since they do not seem to apply to all and he just sweeps it under the carpet. Talking to the scheduler does nothing as she becomes very defensive and nasty so any suggetions on what to do next? Do I go to Human Resources and file some sort of complaint? Do I look outside the hospital for help as it does make it a somewhat hostile work environment especially when I have gone to the scheduler person and rules are not being followed which to me also drags in ethic issues.

I am getting back into dog sports as I once again have a young dog so I would like to have my share of weekends off as the events are on weekends so I can't just shrug my shoulders and say " I tried". To me if people take a job such as this knowing we do not close on holidays or weekends they should be willing to do their share of them. Don't pull the kid crap on me as if spending every weekend /holiday with you kid is that important then do not take a job that requires weekends.

I am done venting but if you have any suggestions I am open to hearing them..Change jobs is not what I want to hear as I own my own home and it would either involved giving it up or a long commute which when you work 12 hr night shifts and are over 50 is no easy task.

[kodaka]

stop self-scheduling yourself for 'your share' (just like what everyone else is doing). likely you'll still get scheduled for some weekends and holidays but not more than anyone else.

If they do keep scheduling you unfairly, I would start looking for a new job.

[RMD3819]

How long has this been going on?

How many people are in this pool?

Look in the employee handbook. There must be steps to resolve problems. Start using them.

I don't think this qualifies as a "hostile work environment". Don't go to any outside agency. That will only inflame the situation since you haven't gone through the in-house procedures.

[antiquesmountainapache]

Your boss sounds like one I had long ago. He takes the path of least resistance. Are you planning on retiring at 30 years? If so, given our current employment situation I would plan on putting up with most of the scheduling issues until then.

No, it's not fair, but what are the other employment options? You might try following the pack and stop scheduling yourself for what's required, as Kodaka suggested, but I'm not sure I would even try this if I was so close to thirty years. Before I would attempt this tactic I would make certain there wouldn't be any ramifications for not scheduling according to the rules.

No, this isn't a fair situation, but tread carefully. At 28 years of service and over 50 I would work on being perfect and ignoring everyone else's behavior. Don't take any rope they give you! Remember that the hospital will save a lot more money if you leave than they will if someone fairly new exits. Don't give them any excuses to write up things against you, etc. After two more years you can, hopefully, do a lot of things you want!

I considered many factors before I gave my two cents. The home is the major one. Certainly you don't want to give up your home for some weekends, do you? Also, your age is another factor. I'm in the same 50+ boat, athough I'm not in a field that's desirable like medical. I'm not being nosy, but is your mortgage paid off? If it is and you can retire at thirty years, I would rock along. This is JMHO!

[malamute]

Maybe because you self-schedule weekends and holidays, they got the wrong impression that you prefer to work them or at least don't mind working them.

You could start doing what the others do or why don't they just make one schedule that works and repeat it over and over? That self-scheduling looks like a poor management technique. To me it would be better to have a repeating schedule with flexibility in trading weekends with an equivalent.

[Dashdog]

Thanks for the replies, I have been considering doing what some of you have suggested and not self scheduling any weekends on the next schedule and see what happens. I really have no worries of loosing my job or being forced out so they can replace me with a younger worker.


I live along the California Coast and the next bigger cities are a 30-45 minute drive in either direction and it is quite expensive to live here so the hospital has a very hard time finding and keeping employees due to that. To get fired you would have to do something that is really really bad like abuse a patient or coworker.

When they hire in new people they tend to be very excited at first then when they are shelling out a ton for rent ( more then my mortgage) and living in a small cramped space for a few months they realize that unless they win the lottery buying a place here will be extremely hard so they leave. The ones that decide to make the commute from the next larger towns soon decide 12 hr shifts and commutes of 30-45 or even 60 minutes each way just do not work out so they leave too. We sit with open positions forever. One of our new guys has only stayed because this is where his and his wife's families live and now that they have a child they want to be near to family after having lived a good 4-5 hrs away for several years.



There are about 12 of us that work full time nights then there are a handful of per diems .It did work best when I started here and we were required to work every other weekend of course it was 5- 8 hr shifts back then.It was enforced but then the 12 hrs shifts and self scheduling thing happened and different people run the department and it is a mess.

I was talking to another long time person ( 40 yrs in the department ) as she just got back from a LOA and she was telling me how she and a few others on days have been going to the boss with a serious complaint and he is just sweeping it under the carpet and told them that everything is fine nothing needs fixing...boy he either has blinders on or never comes out of his office and takes a real look . So we discussed on how maybe we need to get someone from HR to come meet with a group of us and our boss and have us bring up the issues.

I wish I was retiring at 30 yrs but I will probably have to work until 65 Or I die which ever comes first as it will hake a huge difference in how much I will get in my retirement and I will also have medical/ dental coverage. And as I said I really do not want to give up my home and move some place new just because my boss isn't doing his job and making sure all the rules are being followed. I also know alot of the doctors well and have their trust which makes a world of difference when you do have to work with them.