Not sure what to do?

[Kiwi]

When I started at the gallery, I had an interview my first day. In that interview my boss said my normal week would be 3 days (around 20 hours) and I straight out told her that while the gallery would be my main priority, with that few hours I would need to get a second job.

She said that she could bump up my hours to save me that hassle and asked me for a minimum number per week that I would need to prevent it. She is a GREAT boss and doesnt want me to have such a jumbled schedule. But she knows I need something near full time hours as I consider this my full time job. Part of the EA I signed stated that I have to inform them if I get a second job.

I was honest and said 40 would be ideal but anything from 30 would mean I could make rent. Next month I have two weeks where I dont even break 25....I cant pay rent on 25 hours a week! The other two im at 30 just....This week, I only have 20 hours

I cant change the schedule for next month now, but I dont know what to do, I can dip into savings to make sure everythings paid but what if it happens again! I cant work at a place and not even break even....and believe me Im living cheap because of loans and wanting to go get my masters.

Moving across the world isnt cheap either, Im still desperatly trying to pay off my debts just from that.

Should I email her (shes now on christmas vacation!) and let her know that I cant take even one more 25 hour week, literally, this has to be either my full time job or not. We arent getting the pay rises in the new year as usual because of the STUPID government cuts wiping our funding, so its not like my pay is increasing to help keep a balance.

I just dont know what to do.... I knew there wasnt alot of money in a state funded gallery, but Ive cut off cable completely, we dont eat out, our phones are on the cheapest packages, we have cut corners so much our household budget is round. I dont have any more wiggle room left.

What should I do....quit the dream job....or have money in the bank?

[Gurndigarn]

What should I do....quit the dream job....or have money in the bank?

Take the second job you threatened her with at the start?

Failing that, start looking for a job that may not be a dream, but at least isn't a nightmare?

[Primer]

When I started at the gallery, I had an interview my first day. In that interview my boss said my normal week would be 3 days (around 20 hours) and I straight out told her that while the gallery would be my main priority, with that few hours I would need to get a second job.

She said that she could bump up my hours to save me that hassle and asked me for a minimum number per week that I would need to prevent it. She is a GREAT boss and doesnt want me to have such a jumbled schedule. But she knows I need something near full time hours as I consider this my full time job. Part of the EA I signed stated that I have to inform them if I get a second job.

I was honest and said 40 would be ideal but anything from 30 would mean I could make rent.

You told her up front what you needed, and she agreed with it.

Find a second job, or find a different first job. JMHO

[Becks]

Keep this job while looking for another one.

If you absolutely need to, dip into the savings account, but promise yourself that you'll replace the money and MEAN IT.

[Maevis]

Sorry for the extremely long winded post...



Forgive me if I'm a bit blunt but it sounds like this:

You were hired for a part-time job at 20 hours/week
Your boss likes you and your work, and so has gone out of her way to provide
you with extra hours.
However, the fact remains that you were hired at 20 hours a week and most likely the company you work for is under no obligation to provide more than that number of hours no matter what the oral contract is between you and your boss.

Things to consider: How long have you been getting extra hours? Since your boss is out of town, is someone else doing the schedule who may not be aware of the oral agreement between you and the boss? Is it a particularily slow time for the business? When your boss gets back and the Holidays are behind us, will your hours be increased again? It may be that if you can ride the storm out so to speak, things will be o.k.

According to you, the EA states that you only need to inform them WHEN you get a second job, but nothing that doesn't state that you would be terminated for HAVING a second job.

It sounds like you do NOT want to give up working for the Gallery and are only considering it, because you would like to be able to eat not to mention meet your financial obligations.

Here's another question: IF you found a second job, and that meant that you would only be available to work at the Gallery for 3 days a week at 20-25 hours/week as opposed to the extra hours you put in there, would the company be willing to keep you on? Are there any other job openings within the said company that you could take on...either FT positions or is there a cleaning service or other type of service that the company either does in house or hires out of house to do? Great way to get a reference for a second part time job there.

Part-time Flexible jobs that would work well with staying at the Gallery:

Home Health Aide: I've done this type of work off and on. The night shifts are great if you can swing them. Basicaly you show up, help the person you are caring for get ready for bed, and then spend the night there just in case they wake up and need assistance getting to the toilet, or want a glass of water, or a little chat, then back to bed. Then you fix them breakfast or assist them if they want, and you go home.

Dog Walker/Sitter...my sister does this in her spare time and gets paid $20/hour...sure it's only a few hours a week, but that's some nice cash.

Housekeeping/Apartment Cleaning: There are a ton of maid services that have very flexible hours/days. Most of them want you to have your own car as you can end up driving to several jobs in one day. Or you can work independently and try to find a few clients for yourself. Personaly, I hate maid work because Everyone has Their Own Way of Doing things. BUT I love cleaning apartments when people move out. No one there to bug you, crank up the radio and just go to town...you can make between $15 to $60.00/ hour on that gig...and that's generaly 4 hours/apartment. The best way to get a job like that is to go around to the apartment complexes in your area and find out who they use and get their contact info and then talk them up and see if they need an extra hand.

I did that this summer...worked as a fill-in for a service when they got busy. Not steady work, but when you have it, it's some nice extra cash.

Temp Agencies both Clerical and Labor...They often don't pay as well, but they tend to be pretty flexible with availablity.

Already have a college degree? What about substitute teaching? Depending on the school district, they might just take you on even if you only have a 2 day a week availability.

Oh, and check out your local food bank. They often have work for food programs that are fantastic! Basicaly you work in the warehouse making food boxes one weekend a month and you get paid with...you guessed it Food! It's a great way to help your community and stretch out your grocery budget at the same time.
PLUS they can put you in touch with all sorts of resources that will help you remain on your feet during this time.

In the meantime you may want to contact your creditors (for instance if you have credit card bills) and inform them that you are going through a financial hardship and ask if there is anyway they could temporarily decrease your monthly bills until you can get things sorted out. When I've been in tight spots, I've never had any problems with them giving me a few months grace period.

[Kiwi]

wow, you were right that was blunt. thanks for the help but maybe I wasnt clear on a few things.

I was hired and my regular hours were to be 3 days a week and I said straight out that I would need a second job if that were the case...and my boss was basically "I dont want you to have to get a second job, how many hours do I need to give you to prevent that". when I was hired they couldnt get people to work enough hours...now it seems to be the opposite

Im struggling to eat and pay rent, its not like i want play money to eat out and live up the good life. I have never been late with my bills before and the last six months I have been late on just about every one, and thats with cutting back on everything.

My degree is in Art history, I plan on going back to get my masters, I also plan on working in the art field my entire career, getting another job is a last resort believe me! I cant move up without that, unless I move to a larger city, and im stuck here because of my BF...I dont have the option to move for work unless I give up my relationship which is why I moved half way around the world in the first place. The moving isnt the problem, its where I had to move to....in my line of work the bigger the city the bigger the gallery...im no where near a big city

The schedule is done a month in advance always by my boss, the week I have under 20 hour, Im not even scheduled to work one of my regular days, she has always said to come to her if there are any problems, it just seems that when the part time students want more hours, mine are the ones that get cut.

Im also limited on the work Im allowed to do, I cant work with children, in the health sector or for care establishments, Im on a work visa so those are off limits. Im a pretty movtivated person, I dont need advice on how to get a job or whats availible, in fact Ive never had an interview where I didnt get offered a job. Finding work isnt the problem, im just devastated that I finally thought I was there, great job...just no hours. I also dont have a car, which again wouldnt be a problem in if the city im in had anykind of reliable public transit system.

Im also not behind on my bills anymore, like I said I have dipped into my savings to keep everything current once I found out that bills just werent being paid (I have also taken over the financial side of the relationship to make sure that wont happen again)

I just dont know what to do, I wouldnt have to automatically give up my gallery job, but im worried what im going to do if I got a second job and then both employers cut down my hours....then I would worse off than before....

Im not a citizen here, so im not entitled to any kind of help, im not formally an immigrant either so I cant get offical help. God I hate this, every other place ive worked Ive had more hours than I could handle....

[protege]

Kiwi, if I was in your position, I'd think about getting a second job.

It's good that you're not behind on bills anymore. If you do that too often, you can screw up your credit--some employers actually look at this when hiring people.

[powerboy]

Kiwi, if I was in your position, I'd think about getting a second job.

It's good that you're not behind on bills anymore. If you do that too often, you can screw up your credit--some employers actually look at this when hiring people.

I would do the samething. Just keep the job you have now, but also look for a second job. I am kinda thinking of doing the samething.

[Kiwi]

Im drafting an email for my boss, I think the fair thing to do would be to let her know what my situation is and basically give her two options

they know that my boyfriend has a well paying job, but that doesnt mean I am or want to be dependant on him financially so maybe she thinks its not a big deal.

Once I have her responce I will have a clearer picture.

please excuse my dramatic post...I was really overwhelmed yesterday lots of little things building up and this was the straw that broke the horses back so to speak.

Thank you all for your advice, as usual venting has allowed me to sort out the emotion from the actions I need to take.

[Department stores *sigh*]

i would think about a second job for the time being. The reason is from my experiance the january-march time is usually a hard time to get hours as customers are spending a lot of time enjoying gifts they have already recieved and recovering from boxing day and such. So hours should pick up again. But two jobs with20ish hours should be perfect for now.

[Kiwi]

UPDATE

So there was a major drama over chrismtas (a staff member basically abandoned her job) and I was left alone at the gallery....and had to pull major magic out of my ass. So the big boss saw that I really stepped up to the mark and was determined to put the gallery first.

So she had to come in to check up on everything after this drama went on, and we talked about the email, and she said that she totally understood and she would do her upmost to give me as many hours as I could possibly do.

I got the schedule today and Im working on average 33 hours a week!!!

YAY! Im so happy, its like a weight has been lifted. After my post I sat down with my partner and we really hit the budget hard, he agreed that he didnt need a $100 a month cell phone plan and dropped it my plan ($25 a month) and with other stuff that we (he) didnt really need we trimmed another 300 a month off on top of that. He even spent a couple of hours spreadsheeting our debt repayments (yeah we can actually make them now) will take 44 months.... if .... we dont sell any of his cars...

thats right, my partner finally agreed to sell TWO of his cars!!! That should clear at least 10 grand off our debt. If we both get pay increases this year it will cut it down even more. We even managed to scrape together enough extra cash to pay off our bed before the 30% interest kicks in!

So yeah, I feel so much better, Im still not at where I want to be, were only saving 60 a month.... but I put big posters up with each debt and we both relish putting big black X's through them as they are being paid off. We should have 6 small debts paid off by the end of May!!!

[Gurndigarn]

So yeah, I feel so much better, Im still not at where I want to be, were only saving 60 a month.... but I put big posters up with each debt and we both relish putting big black X's through them as they are being paid off. We should have 6 small debts paid off by the end of May!!!

Best of luck finishing off the debt... and then staying off!

[Der Cute]

Kiwi:

GOOD JOB!

I've done the same thing: made a spending plan for the next 90 days..every dang penny.

High five to BF for making the mature decision, and high TEN to you for getting it done & getting the job recognition.

Woot Woot!

Cutenoob

[wagegoth]

Awesome, Kiwi! I'm so happy for you.

[tollbaby]

Congrats!!!! I know you were worried about having to interfere with your work at the gallery. I'm glad you get to keep them as your primary place of employment Your boss obviously appreciates what a dedicated employee you are, and is willing to accommodate your needs Go you!