So I work at a daycare, 9 hours a day, 5 days a week. My boss puts out flyers for a Christmas party for the kids this coming Tuesday. It assures the parents that their child’s teacher will be in the classroom. But then I’m told in the chat they use to harass us with work announcements at home that it’s volunteer and we won’t be paid. “Cool” I think, “I’m not going.”
Keep in mind this “kids party” is us standing in our uniform shirts, professional, entertaining the parents every question and their children until each child gets an individual photo with Santa. It’s supposed to last only an hour but there’s no guarantee and since my class has the oldest kids I would be the last to leave. So after 9 hours of work with the kids I would then have to stay my 10 and maybe 11th hour for free and still work the next morning for another 9.
So my answer was no. But when my boss got wind of my “lack of team spirit” she was taken aback. She messaged the employee chat “some people don’t want to go and that she’s never had trouble with staff going before” basically shaming anyone who would dare not attend. I was told by my co-worker I would be in trouble from her and that management would remember, I wouldn’t be accommodated. I’ve started to get snubbed and left out by co-workers, who I guess are standing by management. All because I don’t want to volunteer to to my job at a place that can more than afford to pay me for the time.
Despite criticizing me for my lack of team spirit they have already collected 40 dollars for the owner of the daycares present (yes I was told if I didn’t give the owner a gift she would give everyone else a gift who contributed and remember all those who didn’t) and 18 dollars for the supervisors and 20 dollars for a secret Santa. Also a former employee told me the owner uses the Christmas gift money for her vacation and she got sunglasses the year she worked there.
My sister says it’s a cult and it’s creepy they all think this is okay.