Wow. I messed up.

[sixums]

I just got hired to help open up a new sporting equipment store, which I will just use the initials SA for. I wasn't scheduled to work Friday or Saturday of last week, and they hadn't made up the schedule for this week.

I called in today to find out if I was working today. I should have called in yesterday or Saturday.

Manager: Did you work yesterday?
Me: ........No. Was I supposed to?
Manager: We had you scheduled. I do up the schedule Sunday-Saturday.
Me: *insert tons of apologies here*
Manager: You're scheduled to work today and Friday. *gives times* So we'll see you later today!
Me: *still feeling oh so horrible* Okay...
Manager: *hangs up*
Me:

Do you think they're gonna seriously get mad at me for this? I know it's stupid, but I thought they would at least call or something if I didn't show up to find out where I was... Blegh. I feel so awful now. I didn't mean to screw up. I'm seriously hoping they'll chalk it up to new hire screw up, but I'm so worried. I love the managers that work here, and I'm getting paid great. I really don't want to screw up this early in the game.

[RetailWorkhorse]

They should have called you the moment the schedule was finished being made to let you know what your hours were.

[Geek King]

Well, it depends. Technically, you should have called to check on the schedule if it wasn't posted by the time you left. Then again, a decent manager should make allowances when they're late posting the hours.

[Jay 2K Winger]

They should have called you the moment the schedule was finished being made to let you know what your hours were.

Don't I wish this were the case with all jobs, but it isn't. None of the jobs I've worked in my retail career would call me if I wasn't scheduled on the days the next week's schedule went up. I was expected to call THEM instead to find out what my next scheduled day was.

This actually got me in trouble once at my current job. Ordinarily, the schedule is up Friday evening, Saturday at the latest. This particular week, it STILL WAS NOT UP by the time we closed on Saturday. And I'd been working the opening shift on Saturday, had a bad day in general, and was just NOT in the mood to deal with that kind of B.S.

So I get home, tell my folks the situation, and tell them, "I'm not going into work tomorrow. So if the store calls, tell them I'm out, and you can't reach me."

I did get a call on Sunday, while I was at home, from one of the supervisors, the irritating egotistical bitch I like to call Ol' Scarface.

OS: "Jay, where are you? You were supposed to be in at [whatever time]."
J2K: "Sorry, was I scheduled? How was I supposed to know? The schedule wasn't up by the time I left yesterday."
OS: "Everyone else called to find out their schedule. You should have done that."
J2K: "Sorry, no, I'm not gonna do that, because it's horribly inconvenient to YOU GUYS to have to field calls from everyone on the employee roster."
OS: "So what time are you coming in?"
J2K: "I'm not coming in."
OS: "What?"
J2K: "I'm not coming in."
OS: "... let me get [the personnel manager]."

This is SOP at the store. If you're calling out, or anything like that, you have to talk to a manager. And she was going to put me in touch with the personnel manager, who had not gotten the schedule up in a timely fashion.

I, however, was not in the mood to deal with the store at that moment, and I didn't want to start yelling at a manager, even if he was one that had only been with the store for two weeks. So I hung up, and told my folks to just say I was out if they called back. Which they did. And Mom, bless her heart, said, "Oh, sorry, you just missed him. He just left."

I got a write-up because of the whole thing, and I apologized for putting them on the spot, being short an LP guy AND a cashier (as I'd been scheduled on a split shift), but I stood by my belief that it was horribly inconvenient to expect EVERYONE to phone in for their next scheduled day.

[Broomjockey]

Wait. You guys work places where they'll give out the schedule over the phone? Ha. They only did that under the most dire of circumstances at my old jobs, and only to tell you if you worked that particular day. They were *death* on calling in for your schedule. If you did it too often, they wouldn't even tell you if you worked that day. They also had a rule that unless you were unconscious, you had to be the one to call in sick. Absolutely no one else could do it for you.

[Lingering Grin]

Wait. You guys work places where they'll give out the schedule over the phone? Ha. They only did that under the most dire of circumstances at my old jobs, and only to tell you if you worked that particular day. They were *death* on calling in for your schedule. If you did it too often, they wouldn't even tell you if you worked that day.

That's why we never asked managers at my jobs, even though they usually would do it... it was just easier to call one of your friends who WAS working as ask them to check real quick... Text messages were also a great device to use for this type of things as they are discreet and can be kept hidden very well.

They also had a rule that unless you were unconscious, you had to be the one to call in sick. Absolutely no one else could do it for you.

My dad had to call me into work sick twice when I was working at the theater 5 year ago. I had laryngitis and couldn't talk at ALL. So even if I called them, the only thing they would have heard is a rasping whine over the phone. I couldn't even form words... just wheeze.

It actually was pretty nice, because when I did go back to work I still couldn't talk loud enough to be heard over the crowds, so I didn't have to work register

[Applerod]

Regarding getting your

schedule over the phone

, I'd never had a problem with that until my last job at Target. I understand why companies with large staff refuse to give you your schedule over the phone, which is purely out of legal liability, but it's certainly a case of tremendous inconvenience for every person who isn't in actuality a stalker trying to retrieve personal information about the whereabouts of an employee at a given time. It only took me 5 minutes to drive to Target but I worked with people who had an hour-long bus ride just to get their schedule. Their high turnover rate remains a mystery.

[smileyeagle1021]

Regarding getting your , I'd never had a problem with that until my last job at Target. I understand why companies with large staff refuse to give you your schedule over the phone, which is purely out of legal liability, but it's certainly a case of tremendous inconvenience for every person who isn't in actuality a stalker trying to retrieve personal information about the whereabouts of an employee at a given time. It only took me 5 minutes to drive to Target but I worked with people who had an hour-long bus ride just to get their schedule. Their high turnover rate remains a mystery.

you would love how the call center I worked at did schedules... the were posted online... what you'd do is log onto the company website using your username and password and you could look up your schedule that way... for that matter they had no problem telling you the schedule over the phone... but they would never ask your name, they didn't want it... they wanted employee number only, which I'm sure Target could have done, do schedule by employee number only.

[cinema guy]

They got fed up of us calling in for our schedule, that they now send it out by email.

[Apallo]

When I worked at a certain major theme park (associated with a mouse-like creature, but not the main park), we HAD to call in for our schedules, there was no other method for getting them. They dealt with the high volume of calls by using an automated system. Punch in your employee ID and it would tell you your schedule in that inhuman robot voice. I actually liked this setup, because you could call any time of the week and get your schedule (just where did i put that damn paper anyway). When I worked at a competing theme park (beagle instead of mouse) they posted our schedules on boards outside the HR department, which was kind of a pain because the ride where i worked was on the other side of the freakin park, and lunch wasn't long enough to get there and back to the break room and still eat. That and if i lost the paper that I had written my schedule on (i can be absent minded), i would have to hike all the way back over to get my schedule. They WOULD NOT give out our schedules over the phone. Now though, i have a regular 8-5 job where i don't have do deal with that anymore, YAY!!!