When I was 16, I enrolled on and completed my Lifeguard and Swimming Teacher qualifications (UK) and soon after started working at our local University swimming pool as both.
While I was attending college, I was working two or three night shifts (7-10pm) and teaching on a Saturday morning (9-12). During the summer though, I ramped up my shifts significantly, saving as much money as I could for University. I was doing the 7-8.30am swim, kids sports camp from 9 – 3pm, swimming teaching 4-5pm and them lifeguarding 7-10pm, pretty much everyday. And then teaching the Saturday mornings, and lifeguards Sunday daytime. The managers loved me as they could basically rely on me to cover any shift they couldn't fill with someone else.
I left town for Uni and obviously couldn't work during term time but during the summers reverted back into the same routine.
When I eventually graduated, I managed to find myself a job on the same campus but in the University offices. I still did the occasional early morning shift before work, and some evening shifts if they needed me, but the one thing I carried on weekdays was the teaching from 4-5pm. I adjusted my lunch appropriately and made sure my work was done, as the woman in charge struggled to find enough teachers to cover all the lessons.
I also continued to teach on Saturday mornings, but eventually felt I was burning out and couldn't face getting up early after a long week. So I withdrew from Saturday teaching. No big deal and no questions asked. Loyal servant and all that.
Fast forward 6 months. I rock up to teach on a Monday afternoon, head swimming teacher is there and tells me I'm on shift on Saturday morning. I tell her I don't work Saturdays any more. She tells me tough luck, she's short and got no one else.
I argue a bit but eventually make a decision. I could not turn up, but they're not going to fire me. I'd be repremanded but expected to carry on. At this point I'm only continuing to work out of goodwill. My name is on the schedule for Saturday, so I'll turn up and teach (looking miserable throughout).
I finish at 12 noon as normal and on my way out pop my head into the office and ask the pool boss to cross my name off the teaching schedule for the following week, and then to cross my name off the lifeguarding schedule as of two weeks later. She looks confused. I tell her what the head swimming teacher had done, and said I'm only doing any of this as a (paid) favour. I don't need this stress. I'll give you two weeks to find new cover for my Lifeguard shifts, but I'm done teaching immediately. It's really inconvenient for my day job finishing at 3.50pm, and I don't need to be treated as a body in return.
So instead of respecting my right to a weekend, they had to find a number of new swimming teachers to cover 5 sessions a week, lifeguards willing to cover the 7-8.30am shift, and backfill a number of 7-10pm shifts. Stuck to my guns and have never looked back. Maintained an excellent relationship with the big boss for the rest of the 4 years I worked on the campus. The swimming lead was never the same again…