Sorry this is long, but TL;DR: I was promised a different position in the business by my boss ages ago if/when it ever opened up. This job was more or less the same as what I had responsibility/duty wise, mostly just different hours and a different priority in tasks. When this position opened up, my boss changed her tune and called it a “promotion” I had to earn, while also handing me a PIP. I worry I'm being strung along and about to be canned or forced to quit, but another trusted coworker who is close with both me and the boss doesn't think this is the case. (There is also a full possibility my boss doesn't even know what a PIP is, and just googled some random form to be “professional” about it and doesn't know the red flag she just sent me)
For background, I work for a small pet care business and have been here a couple years now. My boss is very wet behind the ears in being the boss, I was her first ever employee and also I think her guinea pig in some circumstances as she figured out how to create and manage a team for the first time (which I was, and am, more or less OK with. I've always been willing to work with her on this stuff.) As such, a lot of how this business works is very… messy and crude. Its def not like working for a major corporation or anything. Its also important to note that our facility was never designed to be a pet care facility. Therefore how we handle certain parts of the job can be very different from the “norm” in the industry. (This has been something told to me by my more experienced coworkers, I have no context for what other pet care businesses are like as this was my entry into the industry. But they have said the protocols are very very different from their former jobs). Additionally, my boss struggles to keep staff. Most people last less than 6 months here before bailing. I have been loyal to her for 2+ years now.
As we've grown as a company, we hired on new people, and had new positions open up. We now have settled into 3 core positions, a day shift, a night shift, and a cleaning crew. The latter of which was where I was.
When my boss first created the night shift about a year ago, I was extremely interested in taking that role, and I told my boss as much. At this time though, she brushed me off stating that for day and night crew, she wanted prior experience in the pet care industry. I'm admittedly a bit of a pushover, so I accepted this response at the time. But as I thought on it, I realized there was a bit of a fallacy in this logic. I wasn't inexperienced. I had been working FOR HER for over a year at this point. Nobody knew her specific business better than me, not to mention, I personally had filled in for night shifts whenever my boss couldn't. Hell, I worked Christmas night so she could visit family, one of the busiest nights of the year. I thought, if I was good enough to fill in as needed, why wasn't I good enough to do it full time!
So I tried again, pointing out what she was telling me was that if my experience here didn't count, then she was saying I had to quit working for her, work for someone else, and then come back. And I didn't think thats what she really wanted.
She agreed, but told me she had already interviewed for the position and was about to give the offer to them. However, she told me at this time if it didn't work out or if this person quit, she'd let me have the position. I was happy with that outcome, since I did waste time by not arguing my case more promptly.
Well, this night person ended up working out very well, sticking around for over a year. Within this time period, my job responsibilities and hours had changed in ways I wasn't very happy with, but had reached an agreement with my boss about with some special provisions and a slight pay increase. When she extended my responsibility and hours, I mentioned the night job again, reiterating that if my hours were going to be the way they were (very early AM), I'd still be happier in the night role. She reconfirmed a few times throughout this period the night job would be mine if the position opened up.
So, now it is finally opening up. I was excited, as I am extremely burnt out on my job. And then, yesterday. We go into the office to discuss the move to nights, and she hits me with these bizarre sequence of events. First of all, she refers to this move as a “promotion”. I disagree with this notion, as this would not be the case for anyone else. I think she's just using this word bc she knows I actually want the job. There is a minimal pay increase in this move (50 cents/hr), however there is no additional power/authority. The current night shift people are not considered higher than me in the company. We're all on the same level underneath our boss.
Second of all, and more worryingly, she hands me a PIP. She tells me I need to prove myself to get this “promotion”. I won't say everything in the PIP wasn't fair, I know bc of the burnout I have been slacking a bit and I own up to that. However some of the stuff in this list is a bit… deranged. Theres literally a bullet point about the “pattern in which I vacuum” the hardwood floor. She has always had issues with micromanagement, but this kinda takes the cake for me lol.
Theres also the classic red flags such as “clocking in late” to which shes referring to literally 1-3 minutes. Something I also contest bc since major roadwork started nearby, she has told me before that being 1-5 mins late bc of it isn't a big deal. I was given direct permission to arrive anywhere between 5 and 5:05 when I agreed to take on the earlier hours. The other major red flag being the dreaded “and other tasks”. The vague statement that can mean anything and everything. If I fail to do any of these supposed “other (unnamed) tasks” I'm getting docked.
And finally, a lot of the other notes on this PIP are flat out things that are not happening to begin with. I'm being accused of not finishing my tasks, when I am, and I suspect this is coming from coworkers shit talking me behind my back bc we're all overworked and they don't understand what my role and my duties fully are. My boss is rarely physically there when I'm working, so she doesn't usually get to see the fruits of my labor. There are also things that she is taking back in this, such as I was offered a single 20 min break for my 6+ hour shift from her rather than a 15, but she is now saying I cannot take any more than 15. She's basically changing the rules on me and calling it a disciplinary problem.
So I asked how long I'd have to prove myself, she told me until the night person's 2 weeks are up. When asked “if I am expected to prove myself before getting this role, I'm assuming you intend to keep the position open until you've decided I'm good enough or not yet then, correct?”
She responded “I do have applicants interested in the role. But I'll keep it open for now”
So my feelings are basically, I suspect she never intended to give me the job, however she knows if she goes back on her word I'll walk. Likewise, being down a man abruptly is a serious threat to her business, so she doesn't want me to quit without notice. I think this is her way to try and trick me into working the next 2 weeks, and working my ass off at that, while she finds a replacement for both me and the night shift.
I did talk with the one coworker I do trust, who has always been a reliable go between for my boss and us when we have issues. She tells me this isn't the case and that my boss actually likes me and wants to keep me and that she's defended me against other coworker accusations before. But she just doesn't wanna stir the pot with the other employees by just handing me this job. (I guess they don't have confidence in me? Bc my boss has also said to my face she believes I would thrive much better in the night role.)
So I just don't know what to think about all this. I'm leaning towards making this my final day here, theres been a lot of other issues that aren't needed in this already novel length post, i think this is just kinda the last straw for me, but I also just kinda… idk need some validation that I'm not just overthinking all this. If you made it all the way down here, thank you for your time! Lol