Categories
Antiwork

Manager won’t give me shortened shifts for my health

I work at a national (edit: US) grocery chain. My previous scheduling manager was able to give me 6-hour shifts because of the chronic pain in my feet. Recently a different manager took the role, and has given me exclusively 8-hour shifts. After suffering through 3 full shifts and coming home unable to stand much at all, I called her to try to advocate for myself. She gave me the same explanation: “The needs of the store have changed.” I said I have to put my needs first, and if she can't give me shorter shifts then I'd be forced to either arrive 2 hours late or leave 2 hours early. “So it sounds like you're giving me an ultimatum.” No budging, just the vague threat of “disciplinary action.” I don't know whether I should quit now or wait for them to fire me. I've heard being fired looks bad…


I work at a national (edit: US) grocery chain. My previous scheduling manager was able to give me 6-hour shifts because of the chronic pain in my feet. Recently a different manager took the role, and has given me exclusively 8-hour shifts.

After suffering through 3 full shifts and coming home unable to stand much at all, I called her to try to advocate for myself. She gave me the same explanation: “The needs of the store have changed.” I said I have to put my needs first, and if she can't give me shorter shifts then I'd be forced to either arrive 2 hours late or leave 2 hours early. “So it sounds like you're giving me an ultimatum.” No budging, just the vague threat of “disciplinary action.”

I don't know whether I should quit now or wait for them to fire me. I've heard being fired looks bad to future employers, but is that really true? While I don't hate everything about this job (atmosphere is actually nice and I've made plenty of friends) I don't expect to spend much longer in retail.

Edit: I live in the US, the only place you can say “national” and assume everyone knows what you mean

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *