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Antiwork

Irked by My Supervisor’s Attitude Towards Time Off (Venting)

I was hired for this position in August of last year, working Saturday and Sunday mornings as a supervisor (read: low to mid level manager). About a month ago I was sick (thought it may have been COVID, but tested negative) and missed about three or four shifts. During my illness, I was guilted for calling in, even though I gave plenty of notice since I know that it’s hard to fill my weekend shift. I offered to bring in a doctor’s note; I was told it wasn’t needed, but I did anyway to cover my butt. Her attitude didn’t thrill me, but I figured maybe she just was frantic and worded her messages poorly. Fast forward to yesterday. Since I’m only in twice a week, I usually spend my Saturday mornings catching up on work emails from the week. Most are irrelevant to me, but an email from this…


I was hired for this position in August of last year, working Saturday and Sunday mornings as a supervisor (read: low to mid level manager).

About a month ago I was sick (thought it may have been COVID, but tested negative) and missed about three or four shifts. During my illness, I was guilted for calling in, even though I gave plenty of notice since I know that it’s hard to fill my weekend shift. I offered to bring in a doctor’s note; I was told it wasn’t needed, but I did anyway to cover my butt. Her attitude didn’t thrill me, but I figured maybe she just was frantic and worded her messages poorly.

Fast forward to yesterday. Since I’m only in twice a week, I usually spend my Saturday mornings catching up on work emails from the week. Most are irrelevant to me, but an email from this same supervisor caught my attention. She pointed out that since we are so short staffed, it’s hard to get coverage for weekend and evening shifts. This is where she pissed me off: she suggested that instead of requesting vacation time, maybe we could just swap shifts with other supervisors.

I admit, I may be feeling overly sensitive since the illness situation, plus I have just recently requested vacation time… for July and October (so plenty of time to find coverage), but seeing as I am one of only three folks who only work weekends and/or evenings, her wording really rubbed me the wrong way.

I know two things hardly makes a pattern, but it made me see that my supervisor didn’t just poorly word one message to me while I was sick. This email was sent to all people on my level but made a specific point of focusing on me and two other peers – for what? Requesting the time off that we are allowed per the workplace policy with plenty of notice?

I knew back when I interviewed that this job would always be just that: a job – not a career, not a passion, just a job. But now I am actively looking for other positions. I am debating not giving two weeks notice – not just because of this, but because I have other stressors in my life unrelated to work that require my attention – but I also don’t want to screw myself if I need a recommendation some time in the future.

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