Brace yourself, this may be a long one.
About three months ago I started a new position that gave me a better work environment, better pay/benefits, better title to elevate my career, all that good stuff. My position requires me to be on call and as of right now it is just me and one other person, although we have a third starting Monday, so I am on call every other week.
My new job allowed me to move in with my amazing girlfriend and only be about two hours from home. I have a daughter who I see frequently and while her mother is an amazing mother she has her faults (as we all do). She is a trust fund child so she only has to work part time to get by. This leaves me with paying for my child’s current medical expenses, her pre school, carrying her on my insurance etc. no big deal for me. My new position elevated me financially so I can financially provide for her, pay child support, and still live comfortably.
When I interviewed for this position the on-call schedule was discussed and they prefer that you be within an hour of the building in case of emergency. No big deal, I also discussed my family situation and that I pick my daughter up every Thursday/Friday and take her back on Sunday/Monday which at some point in that day would put me roughly two hours away from the building. Was told that this was no big deal, family always comes first, and that on those days it wouldn’t be an issue for my boss to cover for me in that small timeframe that I am on the road.
Upon arriving to work today, which is my birthday so I am already in a shit mood knowing I have spent another year working my life away, I am informed by my boss that he had sat down with our boss and discussed the situation. I will need to figure out another way to get my daughter here on my on call weekends because 1) big boss doesn’t want me to be any more than an hour away from the facility (and I live about 45 minutes away) and 2) little boss isn’t going to cover for me. At this point I am fucking furious. Thought family came first?
So my immediate response to this is “okay, thanks for the heads up, I want you to know that my daughter comes first so if this is an issue then I will be looking for a new job”. And that was that. I am now spending the rest of my day in the utilities closet reorganizing things because at this point I can’t be bothered. Am I overreacting considering we have another worker starting next week and I will only be on call once a month or am I justified in my response? Either way I’m already sending out applications.