Overworked
Not particularly Aspie related but I like the advice this community gives -
I started working at this company 2 weeks ago (It's a ambulance company, mostly hospital to hospital transfers with some emergencies), and they severely overwork me. Last week I clocked in 70+ hours (not a exaggeration, we sign a paper weekly agreeing on hours worked) and this week I've worked a twenty hour shift on top of a 11 hour shift and a 13 hour shift.
I don't mind the shifts so much as the lack of any notification (keep in mind I don't have a car so I have to arrange transport); Just yesterday, I was scheduled to work the night, but my boss calls me at 7am wanting me to come in for a 12 hour shift at 8am. If this happened once or twice it'd be one thing but this consistently happens even on days I am supposed to be 'off'.
Last night (I wanted to have plans today) I explicitly texted my boss asking if I am working today, and if I am I need to know tonight. He said he didn't have the schedule infront of him but he'd let me know, then he didn't respond, so I assumed I was in the clear, at 8am today he texts me saying he needs me to come in. I suppose it wouldn't be so bad if he wants me to come in for a few hours because of high load, but routinely "can you come in for 4 hours" turns into me staying for 10 or 12+ (That 20 hour shift was supposed to be a split 4 hour then 12 hour shift). I'm fed up with planning every day around being called into working 12+ hour shifts with no notice and so I told him politely to give me today and tomorrow for 'me' time. But I'm not sure if this will fix itself or if I should look for another job, and how I should go about approaching him on trying to get more strict boundaries so I can have a decent amount of time off. I kind of have a issue saying no to someone (aspie issues) so this is kinda outside my comfort zone as is.
Opinions?
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Diagnosed Asperger's DSM IV ~2003.
nick007
Veteran
Joined: 4 May 2010
Gender: Male
Posts: 27,641
Location: was Louisiana but now Vermont in capitalistic military dictatorship called USA
I think you need to tell your boss that you can not be on call anymore & come in as needed. If he doesn't seem to accept that, tell him that you'll quit because of it but hopefully it won't come to that.
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"I don't have an anger problem, I have an idiot problem!"
"Hear all, trust nothing"
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Burn out is real and it sucks. I'm pretty burnt out at my job right now and from my depression and anxiety attacks that came back a few weeks ago, but I get no paid time off (unless you count a meager "3 paid days off a year" as anything lol) or sick leave so I can't afford to take a week or two off. I told my agency I needed 2 Wednesday's off (last week and this week, to go with my regular days off of Thursday's and Friday's). Thankfully there is someone able to cover for me. That's helped some what, but I can't afford to make a habit of it, as they've already asked me twice now if I'd like to cut my hours down by working 4 days a week instead of my usual 5. Unfortunately I had to decline because of my financial situation.
It's f****** bs how some companies get away with s**t like this. I don't care if the majority of their funding comes from patients on medicare, because they're still a multi-million dollar corporation and have been for almost 20 years! The fact that they FINALLY gave the nurses a $4.00 raise after years of paying us less than what a lot of nurse's aides are paid means you have the cash to give us at the very LEAST, a week of paid vacation time. The only reason they gave us a raise at all was because they've been unable to attract any new hires or get people to stay for very long with the crap wages they were (and kind of still are for the area I live in) paying us. They couldn't even get new grad nurses to come work for them, when before they wouldn't even hire someone with less than a year of experience.
Last edited by Stardust Parade on 22 Mar 2017, 2:31 am, edited 3 times in total.
I started working at this company 2 weeks ago (It's a ambulance company, mostly hospital to hospital transfers with some emergencies), and they severely overwork me. Last week I clocked in 70+ hours (not a exaggeration, we sign a paper weekly agreeing on hours worked) and this week I've worked a twenty hour shift on top of a 11 hour shift and a 13 hour shift.
I don't mind the shifts so much as the lack of any notification (keep in mind I don't have a car so I have to arrange transport); Just yesterday, I was scheduled to work the night, but my boss calls me at 7am wanting me to come in for a 12 hour shift at 8am. If this happened once or twice it'd be one thing but this consistently happens even on days I am supposed to be 'off'.
Last night (I wanted to have plans today) I explicitly texted my boss asking if I am working today, and if I am I need to know tonight. He said he didn't have the schedule infront of him but he'd let me know, then he didn't respond, so I assumed I was in the clear, at 8am today he texts me saying he needs me to come in. I suppose it wouldn't be so bad if he wants me to come in for a few hours because of high load, but routinely "can you come in for 4 hours" turns into me staying for 10 or 12+ (That 20 hour shift was supposed to be a split 4 hour then 12 hour shift). I'm fed up with planning every day around being called into working 12+ hour shifts with no notice and so I told him politely to give me today and tomorrow for 'me' time. But I'm not sure if this will fix itself or if I should look for another job, and how I should go about approaching him on trying to get more strict boundaries so I can have a decent amount of time off. I kind of have a issue saying no to someone (aspie issues) so this is kinda outside my comfort zone as is.
Opinions?
Here is a link to a FAQ on wages and hours in Pennsylvania
GENERAL WAGE AND HOUR QUESTIONS
Your industry might have some specific provisions that differ from those listed here though, so you should contact your local labor board to find out if what your employer is doing is legal or not.