i would love feedback on my situation:
background, i work for a small business, probably less than 20 employees, for the past 6-7 months. in general i am happy to have this job because it took me a long time to find anything that pays enough to live on but is also flexible for my family care obligations (i cannot work full time bc my schedule is very restricted and most places i apply wont accept this, or the hourly rate is too low to live on part time). i worked as a cook for a long time and getting out of restaurants has been a huge plus too.
my employer, the owner, is mostly great: respectful, supportive, understanding and in general seems very fair about things, proactive about solving problems …..it also helps that the business REALLY depends on the employees: if they quit or don't show up one day, everything can fall apart because it would immediately cost the business clients. (so there is a real, actual incentive to keep the employees happy.)
the story: a few weeks ago i showed up to work (at a clients house) with my coworker. the client is an old lady and she had got confused that we were coming that day, although we were scheduled. she apologized a lot and gave each of us a $20 (i had expected to make between $50 and $70 for that job). this kind of thing happens from time to time. it's one of my few complaints about the job. and i do think it's unfair but it never occurred to me to say anything because i didnt think it would matter what i said.
my employer called us, also apologized a lot, but didn't come up with any other jobs for us to do during that time. in the moment i was ready to shrug it off as a loss and go back to running errands.
but then my coworker (who was already set up to be quitting that week) made a point to complain. he pointed out that it wasn't fair that we should have to get up and drive out somewhere for almost nothing, and that if the client scheduled us, they should have to pay the full price if they were the one who made the mistake. he pointed out 'you know i myself don't care about the loss because i've already got another job but the other person [me] has a kid and stuff, you should at least pay them what they would've gotten.' he also said, if you keep doing this to people, people will quit on you and burn out, if someone is promised their shift then you have to throw them more than $20 if a client makes a mistake.
he really went off in the group text. and i agreed with everything he said but i would have never thought to say any of it.
to my shock my employer immediately paid both of us the full amount.
now this is what i dont understand–why didnt it occur to me to complain? it was obvious we wouldnt have gotten anything without what my cowkerer said.
true, its easier for my coworker to not filter himself because he is already quitting and also because he has known the owner for a very long time. but still really its hard to wrap my mind around how this played out because at past jobs literally never ever if i asked for something do i ever get it.
i know its not usually that 'easy'–just demand something and then have it immediately handed over. but dang why did it not occur to me to say “yeah this is not fair to us”– and how can i get better at being ready to speak up in the moment?