Can't help but laugh

Call me evil, but I just love to say no when The Company really needs me. Actually, when they msged me for help today, I would've done it, but I have class til 6 on Tuesdays. Next week is a study week though, and I could've done it then, but ... too bad, they need me the week after.

Here's the dealio with The Company that I work for.

Each store has a store manager who works there full time Tues-Sat, and there are usually about 3-4 casuals to fill in on weekends and do covers. The majority of the time, our stores are run by the one person. The managers usually work all day by themselves, with a casual to come in for about 2 hours (more, or less, if you're so lucky) so they can have a lunch break, as the maximum time worked without a break is 5 hours.

'Casual shifts' are Sundays, Mondays, and Thursday morning and Friday night. As a full time student and experienced staff member, I usually work Friday night, a few hours on Saturday for the lunch cover, and all day Sunday. I'm not usually available outside these times.

Our stores are sorted into regions, which are under the control of an Area Manager. They organise their staff to work in their stores, often moving between different stores, but usually within only their region.

Because of the way The Company is run, with all stores run by just the one person, all the time and all the responsibility thrust upon that new person, it can be frustrating and overwhelming. I often work 9-2 by myself until someone else comes in to 'relieve' me so I can have a half hour lunch break. But what happens if it gets busy? Do you still only have one person serving? (Keep in mind we still need to complete all our store tasks and unpack stock on the floor as well.) What if you need to go to the toilet, you ask? That's our daily dilemma. Too bad. Sure, The Company won't disallow you from going to the toilet, but really, how are you going to go when your store is swarming with customers? And personally, sometimes, when I need to go, I really need to go. It's not like I haven't been sick at work before.

Also, new staff have 2 weeks of training, what 30hrs or something, and then they can be thrown into the deep end and expected to run a store alone. Yes, that's right, The Company will stick them in and expect them to perform like a Store Manager who has been there full time for years.

So, you can probably start to see why we have such a high staff turnover. So back to the story...

Today, I got a call from one of the city stores trying to organise stocktake for a store in a different region that I don't usually work at. I used to work there, but for reasons I won't go into now, I don't work there anymore (only to do covers if they're really desperate). One of the newer staff is rostered to do stocktake that Tues night and they need someone, hopefully, me to train them. SORRY! No can do, cos I have uni and I'm not skipping any more classes or failing any more subjects for This Company. I had to laugh, cos they were so desperate, and this whole situation could've been avoided and shouldn't even be happening. Because they chose to demote their Store Manager back to a casual.

So, Jason, as a manager, had been moved from our region to this store, Dunedoo, because the previous manager had quit (for the same reasons I moved into my current region from Dunedoo's region). He was set with the mammoth task of turning the store around under tight budgets and staffing. Needless to say, it was quite stressful and challenging. I think The Company had it in for him, as Jason was having a hard time coping as well, and after many unveiled threats, warnings (formal interviews), intimidation from Upstairs and apparent poor performance, they finally got the chance to demote him. A swift slap in the face after all his hard work. And now he's there working alongside 'his' casuals, fighting for shifts! hahah! At least it'll give him more time to look for a better job. So now, the manager, who is in charge of stocktakes and training of their staff, is no longer, and they have to rely on us. I'm sure under other circumstances Jason would've been happy to help, but somehow, I just don't see him bending over backwards to offer any more assistance.

So, it's in times like these, that the ever so willing, eager to please casuals like me come in. Usually more than happy to help, even despite the hiccups from last week's rostering, I just can't this time. And I can't help but laugh. And I'm sure Jason and others are laughing with me too.