Very frustrated about how my job has been recently. I got the job around a year ago knowing that I would have to take a month and a half off for a school-related study abroad internship this summer and the job said that was fine. Now they're saying they'll fire me if I go. Furthermore, there are supposed to be 8 people in my department but we've been stuck with only 3 for months, and we all get constantly berated for not having “adequate productivity”. Furthermore, other departments are often also understaffed and need help, yet multiple people in my department have been written up for taking a few minutes to help another department that's drowning in customers during a rush. It reached a head today when I was called in for “employee evaluations” and yelled at about the fact that I take my scheduled breaks and use the bathroom on the clock a few times a week, and then they said I was not to help other departments anymore even though another department's manager begged me to help recently. Finally, they said staff will be written up for having any “non-work related” conversations from now on because we were having a conversation about racism by customers a few weeks ago.
oh also! they scheduled me with back to back 12 hour shifts on the weekend that I'm supposed to visit my mom for the first time in 6 months and meet my little brother for the first time, despite asking for the time off 2 months ago lol. If I don't visit her that weekend I wont have another chance for 3-4 more months due to heavy international work/internship commitments I have.