I am sooooooo PISSED OFF!!!!

[fordmano]

Sorry to all of you, and I will ask for forgiveness before I start,,,, Ok thanks.

I was planning on ridding from San Jose CA. to Las Vegas NV. on Tuesday. Sept-30th at 04:00 in the dark time and returning on Sunday Oct-4th sometime in the afternoon and be back in San Jose CA. by the latest sometime on Monday??? taking the long way back home. All with 7-9 other friends/riders for Bike Fest.

Well this is ALL gone now,,, after telling my boss that I and 2 other coworkers wanted to take these days off  for the last 10 months he finally got back to us and told the entire dept. that we will not be allowed to take any of these days off.......

Ok, I work in the I.T. services Dept at Stanford University the night shift and we are a very lean crew 3 people on 3 seperate shifts 7x24x365 so our boss told us if we could get other team member to cover our shifts for us we could go. Well the Students come back to schoool and our services are increased dramatically from middle of Sept. thru the middle of Oct. so he said we just can't properly cover the shifts we would be gone. All along he had been telling us that it would be NO problem for us to be gone and after we got the coverage all lined up HE DUMPS this on us. ??? ??? ???

DARN IT!!!! I have spent several hundred dollars in preperation for this trip extreme heat clothing and a few accessories for the bike that I could have done without.

The 3 of us here were planning on making hotel arrangements the night he told us, I guess it is a good thing we waited the extra day to make the reservations....

[junior]

dude, i would shove I.T. right up my supervisers hoohoo and pull it out his left nosteral than hand it to him, then be on my way  for my vaca. and aint it the supervisers job to cover any empty spots in the absents of his crew?

[Puffs Daddy]

dude, i would shove I.T. right up my supervisers hoohoo and pull it out his left nosteral than hand it to him, then be on my way  for my vaca. and aint it the supervisers job to cover any empty spots in the absents of his crew?

Absolutely! After all, IT jobs in Silicon Valley are going begging. Not nearly enough unemployed IT folks in the area to cover the demand. And heaven knows a union wouldn't help.

[junior]

dude, i would shove I.T. right up my supervisers hoohoo and pull it out his left nosteral than hand it to him, then be on my way  for my vaca. and aint it the supervisers job to cover any empty spots in the absents of his crew?

Absolutely! After all, IT jobs in Silicon Valley are going begging. Not nearly enough unemployed IT folks in the area to cover the demand. And heaven knows a union wouldn't help.

i dont know about the IT techs ratio to IT jobs, but if the man isnt of his word then is he really worth working for?

[Goody]

My Boss said I couldn't have off for Inzane.  I had worked for 3 years while we built a new plant without vacation that I found out that I unknowingly forfieted.  I had 2 weeks on the books for this year and asked for it off and was told no.  Told the boss he didn't understand the fact that I didn't care If I had a job when I got back.  I went, had a great time and still have a job.  Had An atitude adjustment while I was gone.  Realized there more to life than that plant.  His latest responce was , I knew I shouldn't have left you out of here for two weeks.

[Karen]

Sorry to hear this, the man is a manipulator. Life is simply too short to waste time being upset, or to not do what you really want to do. Whatever you decide, do it & don't look back.

[2tonevalk]

My suggestion to you is go over his head.  Take a greivance to his boss.  He told you it was ok, and you made plans and spent money in good faith.  I would also make sure you tell his boss how long this has been "on the board".  With the amount of time you gave him, he should have been able to have made plans to cover your shifts while you were gone.  I would also get a copy of the "vacation policy".  Look it over carefully.  I think if you both have vacation days available you should be able to take it whenever you chose.
I now I have a great boss.  She works with us on covering our call and place in working.  She has even worked shifts for people so they can have off.
Hope it works out for you.  There is some beautiful riding country over there.  I was working in Santa Barbara and bought my Valk in Sacremento.  I had a blast over there riding around.  Took a weekend and rode over to Las Vegas.  Desert riding is a great ride.

Ride safe
Robert

[Varmintmist]

What 2tone said.

Get a copy of the vacation policy, go to his boss, MONDAY AM. This isnt a "Hey, can I get out of here 2 hours early today" You planned this and spent $$ with his approval.

[Madmike]

Sounds like you and your co-workers proceeded in good faith and that you have all your shifts covered by others in the Department.  I assume that you normally cover vacation shifts with overtime and so any extra hours and costs incurred by the department in this instance are not any different and will be incurred at  other times in the year when you take your vacation.

This reflects badly on your supervisor from several perspectives: his inability to make an assertive decision and his lack of awareness on the role of the workload of the department - unless something in manning or workload has changed in the past short while he should have rejected the absences and coverage plan a long time ago.

If you decide to go to your supervisor's superior you should first tell him that you are unhappy with his recent decision and that you and your coworkers have made your plans and spent money etc in good faith based on earlier conversations.  That the time is covered by capable people from the department.  Ask him for the reasons why your requests are being turned down - if it is workload then it sounds like you guys already have it covered.  As others have said - get the policy and read it.  For example - if your vacation year is Jan 1 to Dec 31 and you have put your vacation off based on the fact that you were told you could have it at the end of September then time is running out on the year.  Don't let what happened to Goody happen to you - maybe the entire department should let the year run out and then demand Christmas week off on about the 23rd of December. 

When you go to the head boss you will likely want to be prepared, leave personalities out of it and keep it to simple facts - don't make threats.  Lay out the shift schedules day by day for the three shifts with who is the scheduled person and who the coverage will be.

An alternative to vacation is trade days - trade time with your coworkers so that there is no overtime worked and so no costs to the employer.  If you have three shift coverage the try and split your shift between both ways so that the coverage works 12 hours rather than 16.  Some guys like doing this as the payback can add to annual vacation and give you extra time off when you want it with no loss of pay.  The disadvantage to the company is that the extra time off decreases availability of workers for other coverage at the company's need.

I have worked rotating and variable shifts for years and there is always a way if everyone is on side and willing to put in th effort - he will see that if he works with his staff then they will go the extra mile for him when he needs it.

Good luck.

[HotRod]

Thats too bad man, I could of taking you guy up to Utah for a little site seeing.

[petevenne]

As a unvalued state employee that works in the telecom field, we get 18 unpaid days as furlough.. 9 days we can pick any time..
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/N/NH_STATE_WORKERS_NHOL-?SITE=NHMAL&SECTION=STATE&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2009-08-29-15-54-49

[kiwi#9582]

My wife works H/R for IT for H.P.   I can appreciate all the problems IT puts up with...  sorry... but LV is better in cooler weather, anyway.  I lived and visit a lot still... have family and friends there.  Let me know when you will for sure be able to go and I will maybe meet you there and show you around.

Take care and at least you got to vent.